Cuban vs Figaro Chain: How the Links, Weight and Look Compare

Cuban vs Figaro chain is a question of rhythm. A Cuban chain repeats one thick, rounded curb link over and over, packed tight so the chain lies as a smooth, unbroken band. A Figaro chain uses flattened curb links too, but it groups the short links and breaks each group with one long link, so the eye reads a pattern instead of a surface. Our Cuban link chains run from 2.60 to 8.00 mm and our Figaro chains from 3.00 to 6.60 mm, and the table below lists all sixteen necklaces from their own listings.

Cuban vs Figaro Chain, Side by Side

Five Figaro necklaces come first, then eleven Cubans. Each row is copied from that necklace's product listing: its width, the lengths it is made in, the gold weight listed for each length, the clasp, and how the links are built where the listing says so. Figaro weights are the yellow gold listings. Pavé-cut and faceted describe cuts in the gold surface; none of these chains is set with a stone.

Read across the rows and the Cuban turns out to be the denser chain. At 24 inches our 2.60 mm solid Miami Cuban weighs 12.5 g, while the wider 3.00 mm solid Figaro weighs 8.5 g. The same holds further up: the 4.0 mm solid Cuban is 29.1 g at 24 inches and the 6.00 mm solid Figaro 26.2 g, so the narrower chain carries more gold. Packing every link against the next is what a Cuban spends its metal on.

Construction can turn that around. Our 4.50 mm solid Figaro weighs 18.1 g at 24 inches, and the 4.50 mm semi-solid Miami Cuban at the same width and length weighs 13.3 g. The Figaro range also has two lighter builds, at 4.70 and 6.60 mm, that give a wide pattern for very few grams. Every Figaro we carry closes with a lobster clasp; the Cubans use a lobster clasp or a box clasp.

Mentioned in this piece Solid Figaro Chain Necklace in 14K Gold | 4.50mm $4,319.00 View the piece

What Is a Figaro Chain?

A Figaro is a chain with a count in it. Several short links run in a group, one long, oval link interrupts them, and the sequence repeats from clasp to clasp. The short links are curb links, twisted a half turn and pressed flat so they lie down rather than stand on edge, and the long link is pressed the same way. That is why a Figaro stays face up on the skin and shows its pattern instead of rolling onto a thin edge.

The alternation also changes how the chain catches light. A uniform chain gives an even shimmer; a Figaro gives a repeating sequence of long and short flashes, so it reads as detailed from a little further away. Our narrowest is the 3.00 mm Solid Figaro, fine enough to sit under a shirt collar and made in five lengths. The 4.50 mm Solid Figaro is wide enough to wear alone at an open collar, and the 6.00 mm solid is the chain to choose once the fine ones are already in the drawer.

What is the difference between a curb chain and a Figaro chain?

A curb chain is made of one link size from end to end, each link twisted and pressed flat so the whole chain lies smooth and even. A Figaro starts from those same flattened curb links but sets them in short groups, with one elongated link after each group, so the chain shows a repeating long and short rhythm. The Cuban is a heavier member of the curb family, with thicker, rounder links packed tightly together.

What Is a Cuban Chain?

Where a Figaro leaves space and rhythm, a Cuban closes every gap. Its oval links are thick and rounded, each turned so it lies flat on the one beside it, and they sit so close that the chain reads as a single ribbon of polished gold. There is no interval to follow; the appeal is the mass and the smooth top surface, and the chain settles face up and stays there.

Our Cubans split by build. The 2.60 mm Solid Miami Cuban and the 4.0 mm are solid through every link. Five are semi-solid, with links left partly hollow inside, which is how the 7.00 mm chains reach their width at a weight a person can wear all day. At the wide end sit the 8.0 mm polished chain and the 8.00 mm two-tone, whose white gold top faces are pavé-cut: faceted gold, not set stones.

How can you tell if a Cuban or Figaro chain is real gold?

Start with the stamp: 14K gold carries the fineness mark 14K or its number, 585, and 18K carries 750. Then weigh the chain and compare the grams with what the listing gives for that width and length; a plated or hollow copy usually comes in well under. Last, look at the edges of the links, where plating wears through first and shows a different metal. Every DEEVE chain is hallmarked solid gold, never plated.

How They Look and Wear

From across a room a Cuban is a band and a Figaro is a line with a beat in it. That difference decides most choices. A Cuban suits someone who wants the chain itself to be the statement, a broad, smooth piece of gold at the collarbone. A Figaro suits someone who wants gold that looks considered rather than heavy, since the open, repeating pattern makes it look like less metal than it is.

A pendant favors the Figaro. Its long link is the one opening wide enough to take a pendant bail without crowding the links around it, so the pendant hangs square. A Cuban can carry a pendant, but a small one tends to disappear against the dense band, and a Cuban is usually worn alone. For layering, the two contrast well: wear the finer of the two higher, at the shorter length, and the bolder one below so the textures stay apart.

Color is the other split. The 3.00, 4.50 and 6.00 mm Solid Figaros come in yellow or white gold, and the two lighter builds in yellow. The Cubans come in yellow gold, in white gold at 5.50 and 7.00 mm, and in the yellow and white two-tone. The 5.50 mm white gold chain has a matching 5.50 mm white gold bracelet, so the two can be worn as a set. Our 4.70 mm Figaro is the lightest chain in either range, at 4.6 g for 18 inches.

Which is heavier, a Figaro or a Cuban chain?

Width for width, the Cuban is usually heavier, because its links are thicker and packed tight with no long link to open the pattern. At 24 inches our 4.0 mm solid Miami Cuban weighs 29.1 g against 26.2 g for the 6.00 mm solid Figaro. Build can reverse it: at 4.50 mm and 24 inches the solid Figaro weighs 18.1 g and the semi-solid Cuban 13.3 g.

Lengths and Clasps

The Figaros are made from 16 to 24 inches, with the 3.00 mm covering all five lengths; the Cubans run from the 16 inch choker to 26 inches on the 4.0 mm solid. As a guide, 16 to 18 inches sits at the collarbone, 20 to 22 inches just below it, and 24 inches toward the middle of the chest, where most men wear a chain of either kind. Our chain length guide shows each length on the body.

Every Figaro closes with a lobster clasp, the spring hook opened with a fingertip. Among the Cubans, the semi-solid 4.50 mm, the 8.0 mm polished chain and the 8.00 mm two-tone use a box clasp that sits in line with the links, and the 4.0 mm solid adds two safety latches to its box clasp; the rest close with a lobster clasp, between end caps on the 2.60, 5.50 and 7.00 mm.

Which One to Choose

Choose the Figaro if you want pattern and a chain that carries a pendant well: the 3.00 mm for every day, the 4.50 mm to wear on its own, and the 6.00 mm solid for real weight. Choose the Cuban if you want a smooth, close band of gold: the 2.60 mm solid for daily wear, the 4.0 mm solid for weight, and the 7.00 and 8.0 mm chains for a statement. Both clean the same way, with warm water, mild soap and a soft brush; our guide to cleaning a gold chain has the method.

For more side-by-side reading, our Franco vs Cuban chain and rope vs Cuban chain comparisons set the Cuban beside two other patterns, and our guide to the types of gold chains covers every pattern we carry.

Compare the two in our Cuban link chains and Figaro chains collections, or start with the 4.50 mm Solid Figaro in 14K yellow or white gold, made in four lengths from 18 to 24 inches.

Warranty. Every DEEVE chain carries a lifetime manufacturer's warranty for the original purchaser, serviced in-house, with complimentary cleaning, inspection and prong tightening for the life of the piece and rhodium re-plating on white gold at no charge. Read the warranty.