Pick the width, then the length, and know .925 from palladium silver before you buy
Choose the width first, since in silver it sets both the look and the grams on your neck. Stay at 4 mm or under if a pendant will hang on it or you want a quiet chain for every day. Go to 8 mm and up when the Cuban is the whole piece. Then pick the length, and read the grams on the listing before you add it to the bag.
Width: what width silver Miami Cuban chain to wear, 2 mm to 9.5 mm
Choose the width by the job the chain does. A thin Cuban carries a pendant or sits quietly under a collar, and nearly eight in ten pieces sold here in the year were under 5 mm. The 2 mm sold most often in the year, with the 4 mm close behind. Around 6 or 7 mm the chain starts to carry the look. The 8 mm and the 9.5 mm are the heavy look, and those two took about a third of the year's sales here.
Grams: how much a silver Miami Cuban weighs, by width
The grams climb far faster than the width. The 4 mm lists 27.5 grams. The 9.5 mm lists 141, about five times the silver for under two and a half times the width. Each .925 listing prints one weight for its whole menu of lengths, so before you compare two chains, ask the live chat which length that weight is for. The palladium chains are weighed at their one length. In 14K gold the same Cuban would weigh about a quarter more.
Length: what length silver Cuban chain to wear, 20, 22 or 24 inches
Start at 22 or 24 inches, and take a wide link a step longer. Every .925 chain here comes in 18 through 24 inches. Five of them, the 4.8 mm and most of the wide ones, add 26. Your neck and your build move a chain more than your height does. The men's silver chains guide has a length finder that shows where each inch falls. For 30 or 36 inches, put the question to the live chat, or call or text 212-872-9692 from 10 AM ET. A chain altered to your length cannot come back, so settle the inches before you order.
Palladium or .925: palladium silver vs sterling silver Cuban chains
Take .925 for the full run of widths and lengths, and palladium silver if you want a whiter chain. .925 is the sterling standard, mostly silver with a little copper, and all nine .925 descriptions here call the chain solid. The three Palladium Silver chains are another alloy. Their listings call it over 90 percent silver with zinc, copper and palladium, and say it resists tarnish. An alloy is mixed through the metal, not plated on top. They come at 26 inches only. Ask the desk which stamp a palladium chain carries before you buy.
Care: does a silver Cuban chain tarnish, and how to keep it bright
Yes, silver darkens over time, and a soft polishing cloth brings a Cuban back in a minute. Sweat and chlorine darken it faster, so take the chain off to swim or lift and wipe it dry afterward. Wearing it often keeps it bright. Keep it in a closed pouch, apart from your gold, so the links do not scratch each other. The silver tarnish guide explains what causes the darkening.