Edwardian Rolled Gold Guard Chain

Rolled gold, Edwardian muff guard chain.

This is a truly beautiful piece from the 1890s and is long enough to be worn around the neck three times for a layered look.

CONDITION: In good antique condition with some wear to the gold overlay, no kinks or broken links and the clip in perfect working order. Please refer to photos.

‘Rolled gold’ has 1/20th of pure 14 kt gold content by weight. The material is made by pressure bonding multiple layers of solid 14 kt pure gold to a core of high quality jeweller’s brass, creating a durable material which has a high quantity of ‘pure gold’. Rolled gold has many times more pure gold than gold plated pieces and the bonding process for rolled gold results in a much more durable material than gold plate. There are very strict standards for the manufacture of rolled gold and 14 kt rolled gold must have at least 5% solid gold content. There are no official standards for gold plate and ‘gold plated’ jewellery could have any thickness of gold in the plated layer.

People sometimes think that rolled gold is a less valuable material than gold plated sterling silver (also known as vermeil) because the core metal of rolled gold is jeweller’s brass rather than sterling silver. Rolled gold is actually a more valuable material than gold plated silver, because it is the solid gold that is the most valuable material and rolled gold has more solid gold than all gold plated material. Rolled Gold is also created in a way that the pure gold layer won’t wear off over time and is a more long-lasting and durable product than even heavy gold plated silver jewellery.

An antique guard, or muff chain, is one of the most versatile pieces of jewellery to have in your wardrobe.  At the height of their popularity in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, they were used to carry keys, scissors, pens, watches and muffs, as well as meaningful pieces of jewellery such as lockets.

This particular muff guard chain is an extravagant 75cm (150cm total) in length and comes with an Albert clip for you to attach your talisman.