Hermes Chaine D’ancre Pendant Necklace Sterling Silver H104141B 00

The anchor link has been drawn, redrawn and enlarged in this house for decades, and in solid silver it finally looks like what it is: a piece of a boat. This pendant is the link itself, 0.74 of an inch long and 0.44 wide, strung on a 15.7 inch chain made in Italy from 925/1000 silver.

Silver suits the shape better than any warm metal, partly because the link is a little chunky and partly because the grey tone keeps it casual. I wear mine over navy knitwear and a denim jacket and never think about it again, which is the highest compliment I can pay a piece of jewellery.

On the neck it sits high, close to the collarbone, and the pendant turns freely on the chain, so sometimes you get the oval face and sometimes the bar. That movement is worth knowing about if you are particular: it never looks wrong, but it never stays perfectly still either.

Trade-offs. Sterling will tarnish if you leave it in a humid bathroom, so mine lives in a drawer with a cloth, and the weight of the link means the chain takes the strain, so I check the clasp every few months. Made in Italy, 925 silver, no plating to worry about.

A practical point in its favour: the link has enough weight that the pendant hangs straight and never drifts off-centre, which is a small pleasure when you are eating or leaning over a desk. And silver means there is no plating to wear through in the first place.