If you are in the market for a tennis chain, this is the article for you. We are going to go over all the important parts when you’re going to make your very first purchase. We’re going to talk about diamonds and size, we’re going to talk about carat and most importantly at the very end, we’re going to talk about price. 

What Makes a Good Tennis Chain?

If you guys are in the market to buy a tennis chain there are some things that you guys want to look out for. Let’s start things off by what makes a good tennis chain. What about the construction am I looking for? Are there any things that I should be looking out for? I’m going to explain those things to you right now. Here in my hand we have what’s called a tennis chain with no diamonds. There’s actually not a name for it but this is what it looks like. Essentially, not all tennis chains are created equal. There are very bad examples of tennis chains out there and it is very important that you guys go for a very good manufacturer. Now truth be told here at Gus Villa Jewelry, we do not make them ourselves. We pride ourselves in making of course, Cuban link chains and Miami Figaros but tennis chains require a certain type of skill that we here just don’t have.

So what did we do?

We went out there and tried to look for the best tennis chain manufacturers and we found out that they are actually overseas. More specifically, Korea. So when we purchase them we look for certain things:

The Soldering

When you look at a tennis chain it should lay flat this way, when you lay it on anything as far as your chest or on a table, when you put on a tennis chain the latches should be secure. They shouldn’t ever just come apart by just pulling on them. They have to have some sort of tension when you pop them in. And of course, when you pull on them they don’t just loosen up. The latches should be secure. Every single one of the mounts should be identical. It is pretty important when it comes to tennis chains as far as if they hang straight. Now they don’t have to hang perfectly straight but what you want is a nice beautiful straight line. You don’t want them to wrap around. There are a lot of tennis chains that are crooked, there are a lot of tennis chains that wrap around like a rope chain. Those you want to avoid because they’re not constructed well. They should be handmade and hand-assembled. The back of tennis chains should also be flat. I’ve seen a lot of them that they’re mounted incorrectly so you have a lot of bumpiness. The biggest one that I always look at is the polish as well, that someone hand-polished them. There are a lot of them that are very rough a lot of times you get stuff from China, it’s mass-produced and they’re just horribly put together…because they’re mass-producing these and not really caring about the quality. 

Choosing the Right Stones 

Let’s talk about what sort of stones you should be putting on a tennis chain. Now truth be told, this video is not going to be whether you should be buying lab diamonds or natural diamonds. I’m just going to talk about your options. Normally, there are 3 options:

Diamond Simulant

This would the very, very cheap route. For instance, a CZ or a moissanite. You’re going to get those stones they’re going to be very flashy, very nice. They’re typically either D color or E color, in other words, they don’t have much color and they are the cheapest route that you can go. I would recommend you go with something that’s solid gold and then of course you could put the moissanite on there. They’re going to hit positive on the diamond tester if you guys are into that. They’re going to be nice and shiny and the good part is you’re not going to be breaking the bank. Because tennis chains can get really, really expensive. 

Lab diamonds  

It’s 99.99% crystallized carbon, which makes it a diamond. It is the exact same thing as a natural diamond but you’re going to be saving a lot of money in the process. So lab diamonds are going to be cheaper and I think it’s probably going to be your best bet, especially for something that you’re going to be wearing on a daily basis.

Natural Diamonds (of course)

It’s the same thing as a lab diamond, but these are created in the Earth and mined from the ground. This is going to be your most expensive option. Let me give you guys some pro tips as well. Usually tennis chains start off at 1mm they go all the way up to 7mm because tennis chains are so incredibly expensive it’s something I don’t recommend you go with such a big stone. There are some people out there who are going to say, “Oh, I want 5mm or 10mm stones.” I’ve seen even 20mm stones which is just insane and they go the moissanite route, it is so obvious that is is not real. It’s not natural diamonds because diamonds like that would be something to sell to a celebrity. So if you’re going to go for the moissanite, which of course you’re going for the look, please stay with more moderate sizes. It’s just more believable. If you are going to go natural diamonds please make sure that either they’re GIA-certified if they’re anything over 4mm. 

As I always say… trust but verify. 

Length

Typically, tennis chains are meant to be worn much shorter on the neck than let’s say, a Cuban link chain, so the average sizes for males, tend to be anything from 18mm to 22mm to 24mm being the longest that you usually go. I’d never even go 26 unless, of course, your neck requires you to go with a bigger size. For instance, I would probably need a 26 to make the chain look or feel even shorter because I do have a wide neck. But for normal guys you’re going to want to go either 20 or 22, especially if you’re going to combine it with a pendant. For ladies, you can go 14mm or 16, 18mm would probably be the longest because again you do want to keep it a little bit short. Tennis chains tend to be thinner and thinner chains look better when they are short. Tennis chains are also something that you very often accessorize with. It’s not say,  a Cuban, which I could rock with just a regular black shirt. Tennis chains you may want to put a pendant on there or stack it with something else. 

Color

It really just boils down to what you like. I happen to like yellow gold for tennis chains but white gold is very popular. White gold will typically make the color of the stone blend in a little more. So what do I mean by that? Say, for instance, you don’t necessarily want to spend on a decolored natural stone and you have your budget really looking at maybe something with a little bit of a tint, like a G or H color. If you put that stone on a white gold tennis chain you’re going to hide that color a little bit more. People do the same thing with engagement rings, people do it with earrings. You put something white behind it and it just looks better.

So white gold is very popular in tennis chains but that’s just really going to boil down to what you like. Same thing goes for carat. Carat is really up to you. Some people only like 10K, some people say 14K and up, and then of course, you got those guys that say 18K or higher, but keep in mind 18K tends to be just a little bit soft. Due to the construction of tennis chains, you want them to have some sort of sturdiness to them if they’re holding stones. I personally recommend just 14K and up. If you do want something 10K, you can, of course, get it but I would recommend you get something 14K. It’s just a perfect balance, the color itself doesn’t really dictate that it’s even less than a tennis chain because the alloys that they use are usually sturdy alloys to make that tennis chain really really stiff.

Price

The type of stones you purchase is really going to dictate the price. The cheapest route you could probably think of is going to be moissanite. You’re going to be paying anywhere from $40-$60 per carat if you’re getting an okay deal. On the higher end you’re going to be paying anywhere from $70-$80 on lab diamonds. Again, they just depend on the color and the clarity but you could expect to pay per carat anywhere from $200-$300. If they’re really really clean you’re going to be paying anywhere from $400-500 but that’s on the very high end. Or if the stones are very very small, you always pay a premium for very small stones, because they’re harder to cut as far as natural diamonds. I can make a whole video on what you should be paying for natural diamonds but as far as carat goes, rule of thumb, any colorless diamonds you should be paying from $800-$11,000 a carat. If they’re smaller stones expect to pay a premium and if they’re bigger stones with a GIA certification expect it anywhere from $1,100-$1,500 a carat and of course, the total weight depends on the size of the stone, and how many stones the chain has in total.

So prices can vary big time. Here at Gusvilla Jewelry I put out a lot of lab diamonds. Lab diamonds, to me, just make the most sense. Of course, you don’t have the resale value when you go to resell these chains, but the reality is you have even less when it comes to natural diamonds. You don’t spend so much money and you get something that’s very beautiful that you can rock on an everyday basis.