Hand chains are a jewelry wardrobe must-have, says Honey by Kait founder Kaitlyn O’Neal, whose hand chains sold so well in 2024 that she is adding a new design and predicts it will sell out in 2025.
O’Neal knows a jewelry trend when she sees one—her jewelry brand has gone viral on TikTok multiple times now and has captured that “it” girl zeitgeist. As her company celebrates its five-year anniversary, O’Neal has been adding several capsule collections and started to look toward an expansion into fine jewelry. But it was the hand chain that really took off for Honey by Kait this year, she says.
“It was our No. 1 best seller of 2024. It sold out five times. It’s been absolutely incredible,” O’Neal says. “People are just obsessed.”
Honey by Kait’s first hand chain that sold out was a three-bezel piece in its Swiss Alps collection. The original was called Classic Gold, and O’Neal and her team quickly debuted two more versions: Mediterranean Bleu for the summer and Emerald Green in the fall as part of its Tennis Team drop.
“I have received so many positive messages about how much [our clients] truly love the hand chain and had previously been looking for the perfect one. They receive so many compliments and never take it off,” O’Neal says. “I love how this dainty and subtle gold detail makes girls feel confident and beautiful. That is my biggest goal at the end of the day and nothing is more rewarding.”
Honey by Kait’s newest hand chain is in the Arctic Collection and is meant to be stacked with bracelets. Curating a core collection bracelets to wear stacked gives O’Neal confidence, she says, and she wants that for her clients as well.
“When I got to work on this winter collection, I wanted it to be different from anything I’ve ever done before or what I’ve seen done before in the fashion industry and on social media,” she says. “This time, I wanted to do something niche that combines cozy with the beauty of the great outdoors during the winter.”
Her inspiration is the Arctic Circle. O’Neal visited the northernmost part of Sweden in January 2024—“the coldest yet some of the most beautiful days of my life,” she says.
“It hit a record low temperature of minus-40 Celsius, but it was absolutely gorgeous,” says O’Neal. “From the frozen trees to the crisp air to the stars and everything in between, I knew I had to make a collection that reflects this beauty and bring the Arctic to my community.”
With ice and frost as her design inspirations, O’Neal says she chose to use cubic zirconia stones in several sizes to create interest and 14k gold vermeil to add quality while maintaining an entry-level price point for her clients. The new hand chain style has round bezels along the wrist and one stone, in either a marquise or rectangle shape, across the hand.
To make sure she keeps the tennis-bracelet crowd happy, she included two tennis bracelets in the Arctic collection. The new styles use round bezel stones to create a fresh look in this traditional bracelet, she says.
“These four pieces all match and are perfect for the winter season,” says O’Neal. “I can already envision them being dressed up in black and red for Christmas or with a sparkly outfit on New Year’s. They’re the perfect pieces to start building a stack for 2025 or add to an existing stack and make it elevated.”
(Photos courtesy of Honey by Kait)
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