I believe they are both trademarked, "bead" and "ball" chains.
From my notes, I don't remember who originally did the research and posted this:
"Apparently, there were two different companies involved in the production of those bead chains. It would appear that
Coach has used both BEAD CHAIN and BALL CHAIN at different times in the past.
First, there’s the company that used the imprint BEAD CHAIN. They started in 1914 under the name Bead Chain Manufacturing Company. They began making bead chain in 1916, producing pull chains for electric lights in their new factory in Bridgeport, CT.
As other uses for the chain developed, they branched out. For instance, during WWII, they made more than 22 million dog tag chains for US & Canadian military personnel.
Over the years, through expansion, acquisitions, and consolidations, they began manufacturing numerous other product lines, as well, ultimately taking on a new corporate name, Bead Industries, in 1987.
Bead Industries moved the production of bead chain from the US to the UK in the early 2000’s. Since then, chain production has been moved again, and all their bead chain is now made in South Korea.
Then, there’s a second company, Ball Chain Manufacturing, that used the BALL CHAIN imprint.
Ball Chain Manufacturing, still in operation in Mount Vernon, New York, claims to be the world's largest manufacturer of ball chain. They have been making ball chain in the US since 1938.
Their current online site shows ball chain available with either a nickel plated steel or a brass plated steel finish. (The price is the same for both.) The balls themselves come in “round" or “faceted" (what I think has been called “square” here.)
I imagine that both companies originally may have used solid brass for at least some of their chains.
That’s as far as I went in looking into the manufacturers of those chains. I don’t know about what years either firm supplied them to Coach. I figure that the chains used today are probably made in China (!)"
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