Cuban Link vs Miami Cuban: Is There Any Real Difference

There is no official difference. No lab, trade group or government rule defines a "Miami Cuban" separately from a "Cuban link." The two names grew up together in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s and are used interchangeably by most jewelers, including us. Our catalog lists a Miami Cuban Chain 5mm, a Flat Miami Cuban Chain 5mm and a set of Hollow Cuban Chains, and all of them belong to the same chain family.

Some sellers do use "Miami Cuban" as a marketing tier for their heaviest, tightest, roundest links. If a store uses both names on different products, ask what changes between them. The answer will be one of six specs, covered below, and those specs are what you are really paying for.

Every "some sellers" in that table is a store convention, not a rule. Two jewelers can sell the identical chain under different names, or different chains under the same name.

Shop around and you will see three patterns:

1. Same thing, two names. The most common case. "Cuban," "Cuban link," "Miami Cuban" and "Miami Cuban link" all point to one chain style. Search engines and shoppers use all four, so stores use all four.
2. "Miami" as a premium tier. A store calls its heavier, tighter chain "Miami Cuban" and its lighter one "Cuban." Within that store the names mean something; outside it, they do not.
3. "Miami" as a style tag. Some sellers add "Miami" to any chunky curb chain because the word sells. That is where buyers get burned, because a light, open curb chain can carry the name.

Sellers even contradict each other on which of the two names means tighter links. That is the clearest sign the names are not a spec.

Our own catalog shows why the name tells you little. Both of these chains are 5 mm wide, 10K gold, and carry "Miami Cuban" in the name:

Same width, same name family, and one costs more than twice the other. The difference is profile: how thick each link is from front to back, which drives how much gold is in the chain. That is the spec to compare, and it does not appear in the name at all.

The same logic runs across the range. A Miami Cuban Link Chain 1.50mm is $495, a Flat Miami Cuban Chain 3.7mm is $1,355 and a Hollow Cuban Chain 8.5mm is $4,870.

What makes a chain a Cuban at all is the link: an oval curb link, twisted a quarter turn so that the whole chain lies flat, set close to its neighbors. Better Cubans are tighter, with the links nested so closely that you see almost no gap between them. Tightness is what gives a Cuban its solid, rope-like look on the chest.

Then comes the finish. Many Cubans have their top surface diamond-cut, with flat facets cut into each link so it flashes. Others are high-polished and smooth. Iced versions have diamonds set into the links; see diamond Cuban link chains.

None of those choices change the name. A tight, rounded, diamond-cut chain and a looser, flatter, polished chain can both be sold as Miami Cuban.

The chain's exact origin is not well documented. Most accounts trace its popularity to Miami's Cuban community in the 1970s and 1980s, when local jewelers made heavy, tight curb chains that became a signature look of the city. From Miami the style moved into hip-hop in the 1980s and 1990s and became one of the most recognized men's chains in the world.

The trade press calls the name's origin uncertain, but agrees Miami jewelers helped make the style famous. "Miami" in the name is a nod to that history, not a separate design. For the longer story, read the history of the Miami Cuban link.

Franky Diamonds was founded in Miami in 2010, and our family has been in the jewelry trade since 1990. In our showroom, the names mean the same chain.

When two Cuban listings look alike, compare these six specs. They decide the look, the durability and the price.

If a seller cannot give you the weight in grams, keep looking.

Since the name does not set the size, here is how Cuban widths read on a man of average build, with the Cuban-family chains in our 10K catalog at each step:

The Cuban link width guide shows how each width looks by neck size and build.

When "Miami Cuban" is doing all the selling, look harder at what the listing leaves out:

• No weight in grams. The single most important number for a gold chain. Missing weight usually means a light or hollow chain.
• "Gold" with no karat. Often plated brass or steel. Real gold is stamped 10K, 14K or 18K, or 417, 585 or 750.
• A wide chain at a very low price. Either hollow, plated or both. Gold has a floor price, and a solid 10 mm chain cannot sell for a few hundred dollars.
• "Iced" with no stone named. Usually cubic zirconia. Real diamond listings name lab-grown or natural.

Before you pay, read how to tell if a Cuban link is real.

The Cuban look often comes as a set: a chain plus a matching Cuban bracelet. When you match them, keep the same gold color and the same link profile, and size the bracelet one or two millimeters wider than the chain or the same width. A bracelet much thinner than the chain looks like an afterthought; one much wider overpowers it. Matching the name does not guarantee a match, since "Miami Cuban" from two makers can differ in profile and polish. Buying both from the same maker is the easiest way to get links that look identical.

Miami is full of Cuban link sellers, from the downtown jewelry district to neighborhood counters. In person, you can do what no listing lets you do: hold two chains of the same width and feel the weight difference, check the tightness against the light, and work the clasp.

Our showroom is at 7900 NW 27th Ave, Unit 506, in the Northside Shopping Center area. You can put our flat, full and hollow Cubans side by side on the counter. See the showroom page or our page on Cuban link chains in Miami.

When diamonds enter the picture, the name matters even less and the paperwork matters more. An iced or "diamond" Cuban can be set with natural diamonds, lab-grown diamonds, moissanite or cubic zirconia, in gold, silver or plated brass. "Miami Cuban" on the label says nothing about any of that.

For an iced Cuban, add three questions to the six specs above: what the stones are (lab-grown or natural diamond, or a simulant), the total carat weight, and how the stones are set (prongs, pavé beads or a channel). Answers to those decide sparkle, durability and price far more than whether the word Miami appears. Read moissanite vs diamond if a listing is vague about the stones.

Do not choose by name. Choose by the specs:

• Daily wear, lifetime piece: a solid, tight Cuban in the width you like, with a box clasp and safety latch.
• Big look on a budget: hollow or flat profile, knowing the tradeoffs.
• Carrying a pendant: a slimmer solid Cuban or a Franco.
• Iced: a diamond Cuban, with the stone type and carat weight stated.

Shop all Cuban link chains, gold Cuban link chains and matching Cuban link bracelets.