Cuban Link Chain Gold Iced Out (6mm, 8mm & 10mm)

Cuban Link Chain Gold ICED OUT (6mm, 8mm & 10mm) With Blocks of Sparkle in a Warm Gold Tone

Where a tennis chain has a single row of stones, here every Cuban link is set individually. Light therefore breaks per link rather than along a continuous line, and you get blocks of sparkle that travel with the movement of the chain. That makes the iced out Cuban heavier and more emphatic than most other iced out chains. The gold-tone finish is applied in five layers of PVD.

Product details

• Base material: copper alloy, nickel-free

• Finish: gold-tone, 5x PVD

• Stones: VVS CZ (simulated diamond)

• Widths: 6mm, 8mm and 10mm

• Lengths: 50, 55 and 60 cm

• Clasp: lobster clasp

• Delivered in a Carpe Ice jewelry box

Why a Copper Alloy and Not Stainless Steel

On an iced out Cuban every link has to be set separately, with settings that follow the curve of the link. Copper can be worked more finely than stainless steel, so that setting closes tightly around each stone and almost no metal stays visible between them. On steel you do not get that density, which is why virtually every serious iced out piece is built on a copper base. Copper is also denser than hollow steel, which at 10mm is the difference between a chain that genuinely weighs and one that feels hollow.

Five Layers of PVD Over the Copper Base

The gold color is applied with PVD, physical vapor deposition: the material is bonded at molecular level inside a vacuum chamber rather than electroplated on top, and Carpe Ice applies it in five layers. That makes the finish noticeably harder and more scratch-resistant than an ordinary gold layer. On a Cuban that matters even more, because the links move against each other and it is exactly at those contact points that an ordinary layer would wear first. The alloy underneath is nickel-free.

6mm, 8mm or 10mm, and Which Length

The 6mm is the everyday version: iced out, but quiet enough to wear under a collar. The 8mm is our best-selling width and hits the point where the chain is clearly noticed without taking over. The 10mm is a statement and nothing else: there two rows of stones run across the link, where the 6mm and 8mm have one. The chain comes in 50, 55 and 60 cm (20, 22 and 24 in); at 50 cm (20 in) it stays high, 55 cm (22 in) falls just below the collarbone and 60 cm (24 in) hangs on the chest. If you are wearing it on its own, 8mm or 10mm is the logical choice; if you combine it with a pendant or a second chain, 6mm works more quietly.

Keeping It Sparkling

A copper alloy is more sensitive to moisture than steel, so this is a piece for going out rather than for the gym. Take the chain off before showering, swimming and training, apply fragrance and deodorant before you put it on, and store it dry in the box it came in. There is a layer on it, including on the silver-tone version, because that color is PVD over copper here; only the silver-tone pieces in bare steel have no layer and can stay on. Dust gathers between the links faster than on a smooth chain; lift it out with a dry, soft toothbrush. That is what dulls the sparkle first, not the stones themselves.

Styling

An iced out Cuban is emphatic enough to be the only piece you wear. If you want a set, the Cuban link bracelet in the same width and finish is the most obvious addition. If you combine it with an ordinary link chain, choose a clearly different length so the iced out field does not compete with the link.