A suitcase is the worst place a necklace will ever be: a pile of chains, shaken for six hours. Wrapping them in a scarf does not work, and the hotel drawer is where earrings go missing. Here is what does work, from free to about twenty-five dollars.
The short version
Thread each chain through a drinking straw and fasten the clasp. It costs nothing, takes ten seconds per necklace, and beats every jewellery roll on the market for preventing knots. Everything below is a variation on keeping the chain straight.
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The free methods, which are genuinely good
The drinking straw
Thread one end of the chain through a straw, then fasten the clasp on the other side. The chain is now held in a straight line and physically cannot loop through itself. Cut the straw shorter for a 16-inch chain, use two joined for a 30-inch rope.
This is the only free method we would trust in checked luggage.
Cling film
Lay the necklace flat on a strip of cling film, fold it over and press. The chain is trapped between two layers and cannot move at all. Works well for several necklaces at once, laid side by side without touching, and it takes no space.
A button or a press-stud card
For fine chains, thread the chain through two holes of a shirt button and fasten the clasp. It stops the chain sliding, which is what starts the knot.
What to avoid, including one thing everyone recommends
Do not use a plastic zip bag for silver.
It is the most-recommended travel tip on the internet and it is wrong for sterling. A sealed plastic bag traps humidity against the metal, and a week in a warm climate will bring a piece out darker than it went in. Zip bags are fine for stainless steel and gold; for silver, use a proper anti-tarnish pouch or leave it breathing.
Also avoid: rolling several necklaces together in a scarf, which is a pile with extra steps; and packing jewellery in checked luggage at all, if it has any value. Chains belong in hand luggage, both for security and because hold temperatures swing more than people realise.
If you travel often, buy the thing
Once you are packing jewellery more than three or four times a year, the free methods start to feel like a chore and you stop doing them, which is when chains get knotted.
A leather travel jewellery case with individual zipped compartments, around $25, is the version that solves it properly: each chain gets its own compartment, so nothing can meet anything else. Look for zipped compartments rather than open slots, because open slots empty themselves when a case is upside down in a bag.
For silver specifically, pack the pieces inside anti-tarnish pouches, around $11, and then into the case. That covers both problems at once: no movement, and no humidity against the metal.
Before you pack, and when you arrive
Wipe each piece with a soft cloth before it goes in. Sun cream, perfume and sweat left on a chain for a week do more damage than the journey.
On arrival, take everything out of the bags rather than leaving it sealed for the trip. And if something does come out knotted despite all this: it comes apart with two pins and some baby powder.
Related
How to store necklaces at home covers the same problem for the other fifty weeks of the year.
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