How Miami Cuban Links Are Made

How It's Made: Creating a 400 Gram, 26-Inch Miami Cuban Link Chain

Hey guys, welcome to "How It's Made" with GusVilla Jewelry! Today, we're crafting a 400-gram, 26-inch Miami Cuban Link chain, all handmade by us. Here's how we get it started.

Step 1: Melting and Forming

First things first, we melt down the material and stretch it into a gold bar.

Each time we run the bar through the rolling mill, we turn the levers to compress the rollers, making the bar thinner and thinner.

Step 2: Drawing the Wire

Next, we run the wire through draw plates until we reach our desired size.

This process is called annealing, which makes the gold softer and easier to work with.

Step 3: Creating the Links

Now that the wire is nice and soft, we wrap it around a copper mandrel to create the links.

Next, we cut the rounded wire, split it down the middle, and create jump rings. These jump rings will be soldered together to eventually form the chain.

Step 4: Cleaning the Jump Rings

We clean the jump rings by placing them in a tumbler that spins magnetically with thousands of needles, wiping away any impurities the jump rings may have.

Step 5: Soldering the Chain

Now begins the delicate process of soldering. We introduce solder to close up all the rings one by one until we achieve the desired length of the chain, which in this case is 26 inches.

Step 6: Finalizing the Links

This step involves a machine that helps us turn the links to lay them flat. Afterwards, we manually finish about the last 20% of the chain, ensuring that the spacing is correct, it lays completely flat, and no rings are out of place.

We then melt shellac and pour it over the chain to attach it to the board for filing.

Step 7: Filing and Polishing

Arguably the most important part of making a Miami Cuban Link chain is the filing, where you can really show your style.

Next is the pre-polish stage, where we remove the last remaining scratches, making it much easier when we go for the final polish.

Like every other gold order with Gus Filler Jewelry, we hand-make all of our lock boxes.

Finally, we reach the polish stage. Here we remove any remaining scratches, giving the chain a beautiful shine. When you open that box for the first time, it truly gives you that "wow" factor.