One chain, one lens, both reviewed
Two very different Sunstone products that end up in the same kit: the Chelsea gold-filled chain your client wears home, and the eclips™ auto-darkening lens that lets you see the weld holding it together. We looked at what each one is actually made of, what it costs per inch or per unit, and where each has a catch worth knowing first.
Both earn their place — for completely different reasons
One is inventory you resell by the inch. The other is a one-off tool purchase that changes how precisely you can work. Scored separately, because they are not competing for the same money.
Chelsea Cable with Silver Beads
A gold-filled cable chain with groups of three 2mm sterling silver beads — mixed metal without being loud. Made in Italy, Sunstone Certified. The design is the easy part to like; the pricing tiers are where you need to pay attention, because the 5-foot spool gives you no discount at all over buying by the inch.
Full review ↓Sunstone eclips™ Lens
A handheld auto-darkening lens that slides onto your stylus, with built-in 4× magnification — the first of its kind in this trade. Shade 3 at rest, shade 12 the instant you weld. The one thing to check before ordering: it does not fit the base Zapp®.
Full review ↓Chelsea Cable Chain with 2mm Silver Beads
Gold-filled cable chain, sterling silver bead accents, made in Italy. Sold by the inch or on spools.
Mixed metal, quietly done
The Chelsea runs groups of three 2mm sterling silver beads at even intervals along a 14/20 yellow gold-filled cable chain. That is the whole idea: warm gold carrying cool silver, so a client gets a two-tone piece without committing to anything bold. It reads as texture from a distance and as deliberate detail up close.
For a permanent jewellery artist, the practical appeal is that it solves the most common consultation problem — the client who wears both gold and silver and cannot choose. This chain does not make them choose.
- 14/20 yellow gold filled — a bonded gold layer, not plating
- Sterling silver beads, 2mm, in groups of three
- Made in Italy and Sunstone Certified, tested for permanent-wear applications
- Cable satellite construction — flat-lying and comfortable for daily wear
The pricing tiers, and the one that is not a deal
Sunstone sells Chelsea by the inch and on three spool sizes. Working out the cost per inch shows something the product page does not spell out.
| Option | Length | Price | Cost per inch | Saving vs by-the-inch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| By the inch | 1 in | $2.08 | $2.080 | — |
| 5-foot spool | 60 in | $124.77 | $2.080 | none |
| 15-foot spool | 180 in | $310.16 | $1.723 | 17% |
| 50-foot spool | 600 in | $819.95 | $1.367 | 34% |
What works
- Solves the gold-or-silver consultation without a compromise piece
- Gold filled rather than plated — the right choice for something worn permanently
- Italian manufacture and Sunstone certification behind the durability claim
- Sold by the inch, so you can test a design with almost no inventory risk
- Real volume discounts once you commit — 34% off at 50 feet
What to know
- The 5-foot spool carries no volume discount whatsoever
- One metal option only — yellow gold filled, no white or rose
- Sunstone does not publish the chain gauge or bead spacing in numbers
- Mixed metal is a style commitment; it will not suit a client who wants pure gold
- Silver beads are sterling, so they will patina differently to the gold over time
Sunstone eclips™ Auto-Darkening Lens with Magnification
A handheld shield that slides onto the welding stylus, darkens on arc detection, and magnifies 4× while it does it.
Eye protection that also solves the seeing problem
Permanent jewellery work happens at a scale where the thing you are welding is smaller than the tip doing the welding. The usual answer is a dark lens that protects your eyes and makes the job harder to see. The eclips™ goes the other way: it protects and magnifies.
At rest it sits at shade 3 — light enough to line up a jump ring without lifting anything out of the way. The moment a weld is detected it snaps to shade 12, which Sunstone puts at 150 times darker than the OSHA requirement, passing only 0.003% of light.
- 4× magnification built in — Sunstone calls it a first for the trade
- Removable magnifier, so you can run the lens plain when you prefer
- Glass lens without the heavy green cast of typical welding optics
- 2800K white LED illumination, dimmable with the Orion mPulse® and Zapp Plus® 2
- 1.5″ view window and a 7-foot flat cable
Built to travel with the stylus
The form factor is the quiet argument for it. Because the shield clips onto the stylus rather than sitting on your head or on the bench, it goes wherever the stylus goes — which for most artists means pop-up events, markets and client homes rather than a fixed studio.
The magnifying lens comes out with a screwdriver and two screws, so switching between magnified and plain is a bench task rather than a purchase decision.
What works
- Magnification and eye protection in one device, rather than two
- Shade 3 at rest means you can aim without removing the shield
- Shade 12 under arc — well beyond the OSHA minimum
- Clearer glass than the green-tinted optics common in welding
- Mounts on the stylus, so it travels for pop-ups and mobile work
- Magnifier is removable, not a permanent design decision
What to know
- $312 is a real outlay on top of the welder itself
- Not compatible with the base Zapp®
- LED dimming works on only two welders in the compatible list
- 4× is fixed — no adjustable magnification
- Sunstone does not publish a switching speed for the darkening
- A 7-foot cable is one more lead on a busy pop-up table
Which one first?
They are not alternatives. If you are building a permanent jewellery business, they sit at different points in the same workflow — and the order depends on where you are.
| If you are… | Buy first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Just starting out | Chelsea, by the inch | Test whether the mixed-metal look sells before tying up cash in a spool or a tool. |
| Welding daily, straining to see | eclips™ | Magnification plus protection fixes the slowest part of the job. Confirm your welder is on the compatible list. |
| Chelsea already selling | 15 or 50 ft spool | 17% and 34% off per inch respectively. Skip the 5-foot spool — it saves nothing. |
| Working pop-ups and markets | eclips™ | It mounts on the stylus and travels with it, which bench-mounted optics do not. |
| Running a base Zapp® | Chelsea only | The eclips™ will not fit your welder. Budget for a compatible welder before the lens. |
Before you order
Is the 5-foot Chelsea spool cheaper than buying by the inch?
Is Chelsea solid gold?
Will the eclips™ fit my welder?
How dark does the lens get?
Can I use the eclips™ without the magnifier?
Do the LED lights dim on every welder?
What gauge is the Chelsea chain?
Are these two products related?
Both are sold direct by Sunstone
Prices, spool availability and welder compatibility are all confirmed on Sunstone’s own listings — and they change. Check the current figures there before ordering, particularly the spool price per inch if you are buying in volume.
Specifications and prices read from Sunstone’s published product pages on 18 September 2026 and subject to change. Cost-per-inch figures are our own calculation from those listed prices. Neither product was tested in person; where Sunstone does not publish a figure — chain gauge, lens switching speed — this page says so rather than estimating.