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May 13, 2026

What makes a good phone cord? A buyer's guide

A phone cord is something you use every single day. It carries your phone, it moves with you, it's visible. We want it to look like jewellery. But we use it very differently. Jewellery sits. A phone cord pulls, catches, carries something that actually has weight, gets hooked on a bag strap, survives a full day of movement. That's a different ask entirely. So it's worth knowing what you're buying.

What to look for in a phone cord: the beads

The beads are the first thing you see, and in most cases the first thing that tells you what you're dealing with. Mass produced cords use whatever is available. We handpick every single bead in our phone cords, and for some designs that isn't enough. When we have something specific in our heads and can't find it anywhere, we have it made. The Cloudy 2.0 is the clearest example: the pearls in that cord are produced exclusively for us, in a specific shape, from recycled material. Because we couldn't find what we wanted anywhere else.

Every phone cord in our collection is designed in our studio in Amsterdam. The bead combinations, the colour stories, the proportions; everything starts there.

Phone cord quality: why the inner wire matters

A thin or low quality inner wire is the most common reason a phone cord fails. It frays, it snaps, or it stretches until the cord stops sitting right. We recently moved to a stronger gauge wire throughout our collection, and the difference in how the cord holds up over time is significant. When you're wearing your phone crossbody every day, that matters.

The knot and the hook: where most phone cords fail

Where the cord meets the hook is the point of most tension. Normally it’s two crimp beads to secure the connection. Standard for jewellery, but jewellery doesn't carry the weight and movement of a phone all day. We now use a knotting technique with a gold filled bead over it, developed with industrial design agency. The result is a connection that holds significantly better over time.

The hook itself matters too. Our hooks have a clean profile and our logo, and are designed to not catch on fabric or the lining of a bag. Because a phone that stays on its cord is the whole point.

Every phone cord in our collection is designed in our studio in Amsterdam. The bead combinations, the colour stories, the proportions; everything starts there.

Why phone cord coating matters more than you think

Gold that stops looking like gold within a season is a problem. We switched to a gold filled coating that holds considerably better over time. The hardware on your phone cord should look the same in October as it did in May.

How a good phone cord wears

A good phone cord should feel like it disappears once you put it on. Not because it's invisible, but because it just works. It sits right, it moves with you, it doesn't pull or slip. 

Length matters here too. Our long cords are designed to sit at hip height when worn crossbody, which is where the phone feels most secure and most natural. And for those who need a little more length, we have extra long cords as well. Because the right fit is different for everyone.

Why it's worth investing in a quality phone cord

We love the idea of switching up your phone cord, mixing and matching with different outfits and cases. That's exactly why we keep expanding the collection. But changing your cord because it broke, faded or fell apart after a few months? That's a different story. A cord should last. It should hold its colour, keep its shape, and do its job every day without asking anything of you. We built Ateljé around that idea, and it's what we keep coming back to every time we design something new.

Shop the full phone cord collection at shopatelje.com.