Jewellers make wearing your mask both practical and chic

Mask chains, a hygienic way to hold on to your mask, also look good as a stand-alone accessory. As the new normal evolves into routine, it is becoming more natural to grab our mask as we head out the door along with our keys, phone and purse. But what then? The etiquette for masks when they aren’t needed isn’t yet clear, but leaving them in a pocket or dangling from a wrist clearly isn’t the most hygienic way forwards. Jewellers are solving the problem for us, redefining functionality in aesthetically pleasing new ways.

Munich-based jeweller Saskia Diez has created a series of cotton masks and detachable chains with the signature edge which undercuts everything she does. Her jewels often offer barely perceptible twists on classic design; worn in unexpected ways or crafted from surprising materials, they encapsulate contemporary cool.

This mask chain in fat black nylon offers new juxtapositions; despite a heavy industrial appearance, its lightweight nature means you’ll barely even notice you are wearing it.

Jill Martinelli and Sabine Le Guyader, the duo behind Lady Grey, learnt jewellery basics while working in prosthetic dentistry and orthodontics as teenagers. It was a fitting training for jewellers whose pieces, playing off the curves of the body, have a thoughtful wearability at the heart of their design.

They have been quick to catch on to the need for a new kind of functional adornment. ‘At first we made mask chains just for ourselves and family to have but they became so crucial to our everyday lives we decided to make them available for our customers,’ they say. ‘We found ourselves pulling our masks below our chins or hanging off one ear when we had a minute alone and it wasn’t comfortable.

Our mask chains keep your mask clean and accessible, and out of your handbag, picnic blanket or floating around your desk, plus they look cool and can be worn as a necklace.’

The chains are available in tightly knitted or more generously proportioned links of rhodium- or gold-plated brass. ‘They really do make mask wearing so much easier – and any little thing we can do to encourage people to continue wearing masks is so important,’ Martinelli and Le Guyader add.