The links: diamond tennis chain, iced Miami Cuban, prong set Cuban chain
Buy a tennis chain when the diamonds are the point. It is one row of single stones, each in its own hinged seat, and tennis chains take nearly all of this page's sales. An iced Miami Cuban keeps the heavy link and sets stones into it. The prong set Cubans run wide, many with two or three rows of stones.
The setting: how the stones are held, prong set, pave or bezel diamond chain
Most listings name their setting, and on nearly all of those it is prong: short claws of metal bent over the edge of each stone, which sits high and open underneath, so light comes through. Every prong set Cuban and every tennis chain that names a setting is held this way.
Pave, named on a few listings, sets small stones close together across the gold, so the link reads as one surface of diamonds. Most of them are Miami Cubans, and the 5.5 mm square one is micro-pave. Two chains are bezel set, each stone wrapped in a rim of gold that takes knocks better, and one custom cable chain names a flower setting. No listing here names a channel setting.
Prongs are the part to watch. Hold the chain by one end and shake it gently near your ear: a stone that clicks or turns is loose. Have a jeweler check the prongs from time to time. A few listings, most of them tennis chains, name no setting at all, so ask the desk before you pay.
The stones: diamonds, lab-grown or natural, pointer size, black diamond chain
Every piece here is set with diamonds, grown or mined, and a few add colored stones: sapphires on most of those, a ruby on one, alexandrite on one. The origin is printed on every listing, lab-grown on about a third, each with Lab in its title, and natural on the rest. In sales, about four in five of what this page sells is lab-grown. The tennis chains come both ways, a little more often lab-grown, while the Cubans are mostly natural.
Both are diamond, the same carbon crystal, and your eye cannot tell them apart; the listing tells you which one you are buying. The full comparison is in lab-grown or natural diamond.
The pointer in a title is the size of each stone in hundredths of a carat. Black diamonds have their own page, men's black diamond chains.
Width and weight: how thick a men's diamond chain is, what the grams mean
Let the link set the width. Tennis chains stay near 3.5 mm, while the Cubans go past 20, up to 30.
On a diamond chain the grams are not a gold weight. The listing does not say whether they take in the stones, so ask the desk. As a rough guide, the middle tennis chain lists about 39 grams.
Metal and length: 14K or 10K diamond chain, yellow or white gold, 22 inches
Take 14K. It is on most chains here and on nearly all of what this page sells, and the 10K chains run wider and heavier. Most listings come in yellow, white and rose gold. Karat and the stamp are on the men's gold chains guide.
Wear it at 22 inches, the length most chains here come in. A stone-set chain sits higher than a plain one because it is worn to be seen. Most listings come in one length, so choose before you order.
Buying: the clasp, stock or made to order, shipping and returns
The clasp is where a stone-set chain gives out first. A few chains name their lock in the title, a diamond, custom, barrel or hidden lock; for the rest, ask which lock yours has and if a swap is possible. Ask the desk for the timing on yours, too. It ships under the shipping policy.
A ready-made chain may be sent back within fourteen calendar days of confirmed delivery, new, unworn and unaltered, only on a label TraxNYC issues once the desk says yes; a length made to order is final, and so is custom work, so ask the desk which yours is. The refund policy deducts the 5 percent restocking fee and the return shipping, and an altered chain is final. Start with the live chat, or call or text 212-872-9692 (a person answers from 10 AM ET).