Necklaces come in all shapes, sizes, colors and designs. They are made out of various materials from silver to beads, necklaces made out of string and some made out of cords. Worn all over the world by both men and women, a necklace is probably one of the most familiar jewelry fixtures we can come across, because they are versatile and both men and women can use them. You have military neck chains for the men, and you have beaded necklaces – and basically every other type of necklace – for the women.

So with all the different sorts and different varieties of necklaces at our disposal, how do you differentiate one from the other? Through the material they are made of? The way they look? What color they are? What types of designs they have to offer for each variety?

Quite frankly it can be any number of things that sets one necklace apart from the other. We all know that in essence, necklaces are meant to be worn around the neck – hence the name necklace in the first place – so we look to other things to help us tell all the different necklaces apart.

There are plenty of different types of necklaces available. So many in fact that there is not enough room to list down the details of each different variety, because the list could probably go on and on. Some have different qualities from one another, and some necklaces happen to share similarities with one another. But here are a few necklace types in the list that you could look at and how they are different or similar to one another:

- Military neck chains: these are easy enough because we know that it they are usually worn by military or army men. If you have watched plenty of army movies in your time, then you know exactly what these are. They are also sometimes known as dog tags. This necklace variety is used mostly by the men, and they are made out of dull, finished stainless steel mostly, although they do also come in bright stainless steel or brass finishes depending on the kind you prefer. They are available in materials like aluminum, anodized aluminum, stainless steel or brass, and they feature rounded edges to protect the user against cuts.

- Brass beaded neck chains: the description is rather self-explanatory on this one. It is a necklace, or neck chain if you want to call it that, which happens to be made out of brass beads. For this kind of necklace variety, brass beads will simply be strung together by a durable string or chord which is tied together at the end until you have what it is called a brass beaded necklace, or brass beaded neck chain. The beads can come in different types, shapes and sizes and even colors depending on the type of brass beads you choose.

- Plastic beaded neck chains: again this is similar to the necklace made of brass beads, except instead of brass, this time the beads are made out of plastic instead. And just like the necklace variety above, plastic beads will be strung together by a durable string or chord which is tied together at the end to form what is called a plastic beaded necklace, or plastic beaded neck chain. And just like the brass beads, plastic beads can come in different types, shapes and sizes and even colors depending on the type of brass beads you choose.

- Tubular neck chords: these neck chords are more of the economical kind of chords that are great for use if you are looking for something inexpensive that you can use temporarily. Lightweight and inexpensive, these tubular neck chords are ones you will find people who are attending conferences, seminars, or meetings wearing around their neck to display their badges or identification cards. They come in an assortment of colors too, so you could just take your pick of anyone that you like.

- Elastic neck chains: this type of necklace is made out of an elastic or stretchy type of chord which can come in three different lengths – short, medium or long. Elastic neck chains can be worn both ways, where you can either wear them on their own if it is the colorful type or if it already comes with a pattern of its own, or you can choose to add on a few items to it to make it stand out a little bit more, such as beads, shells, even some gemstones if you like.

Those are just some of the basic types of necklace varieties you will come across, and there are many more varieties. Each necklace is different from the next, and it is merely a question of picking out which ones you like best.