Sell Cuban link chains for the highest cash in LA
Sell a Cuban link chain in Los Angeles at a counter that weighs it in front of you. Solid, semi solid, or hollow, we price the real gold content and pay before you leave.
The best place to sell a Cuban link chain in Los Angeles
If you want to sell a Cuban link chain in Los Angeles, what decides your offer is not the karat stamp and not the width across the links. It is how much gold is inside them. South Bay Coin has been a licensed, bonded, and insured precious metals dealer in Lawndale since 1980, and the Cuban is one of the most frequent chains to cross our counter.
Cuban links are the one chain style routinely built three ways. Solid, semi solid, and hollow chains can share the same karat, width, and length and still differ by a factor of three in gold weight. Most sellers have no idea which one they own, and a buyer who quotes by eye has no reason to raise it.
We do not quote by eye. Every chain is tested for karat and weighed on a calibrated scale while you watch, and we name the construction before we name a number. Because we operate an in-house refinery, no middleman sits between your chain and the melt, and that margin stays in your offer.
We are also a coin store with a resale platform rather than a melt-only buyer, which matters more for Cubans than for almost any other chain. A clean, heavy solid Cuban is liquid, so it can be worth more intact than melted. Bring one chain or a whole drawer of gold jewelry you no longer wear, and every piece is appraised free.
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Solid, semi solid, or hollow decides the whole offer
Hold two 14K Cuban chains side by side at the same 6mm width and 24 inch length. One weighs around 25 grams. The other weighs around 60 grams. They photograph identically and one holds well over twice the gold. Hollow and semi solid Cubans are real gold, simply built around an empty core so a wide chain stays affordable and light on the neck.
You can usually read your own chain before you visit. Heft is the first clue, since a solid Cuban feels dense out of all proportion to its size. Hang it from the clasp and watch it fall, because a solid chain drops straight while a hollow one bunches and kinks. Look at the links for a seam, a small dent, or a flattened edge, all of which point to a hollow build. What you paid originally is a clue too.
None of that replaces the scale. We verify karat with electronic testing, confirm with an acid test when needed, and weigh the chain in grams in plain view. The stamp on the clasp tells us the alloy. The scale tells us the quantity. A number quoted without both is a guess. If you are bringing a mixed lot, our gold buying counter handles chains, rings, and scrap in one visit.
When a Cuban is worth more intact than melted
Most gold jewelry has one destination, the refinery. Cuban links are the exception. The pattern has not fallen out of style since the 1970s, so there is a live secondary market for a good one at any moment. A solid Cuban in clean condition, with tight links, a working box clasp, and no repairs, can be worth more as a chain than as metal. That gap is the difference between a melt-only buyer and a store that also resells.
Condition decides which side of that line your chain lands on. Stretched or gapped links, a kinked section that will not hang straight, a snapped and rejoined end link, or a replacement clasp in a different color of gold all push a chain toward melt. Crushed hollow links are the clearest case, since a dented hollow chain is difficult to bring back and rarely returns to a wearable state.
Stone-set and iced Cubans are two valuations at once. We weigh the gold and assess the stones separately, and in this category the stones are frequently cubic zirconia, moissanite, or lab-grown rather than natural. Bring any paperwork you kept. Signed pieces are worth showing us too, since our luxury jewelry desk prices those against the resale market rather than by weight.
Cuban link jewelry we buy for cash
We buy Cuban links in every construction, karat, width, and condition, from a slim everyday chain to a heavy Miami Cuban.
Solid Cuban Link Chains
Miami Cuban and classic Cuban links in 10K, 14K, 18K and higher, in yellow, white, or rose gold, any width or length.
Hollow & Semi Solid Cubans
Real gold built around an empty core. Lighter than they look, bought all the same, and weighed in front of you.
Diamond & Iced Cubans
Prong set, channel set, and fully iced chains. The gold is weighed and the stones are assessed separately, whether natural or lab-grown.
Bracelets, Links & Clasps
Cuban bracelets, loose links, snapped chains, spare box clasps, and pendants that came off the chain. Damage disqualifies nothing.
Sell a Cuban chain in three steps
Visit, Call, or Text
Walk into 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale with no appointment, or text a photo of the chain and clasp to (310) 363-2697 first.
Free Testing and Weighing
We test the karat, identify the construction, and weigh the chain on a calibrated scale while you watch. Every reading is shown to you.
Get Paid on the Spot
Accept the offer and take payment before you leave. Most visits run about fifteen minutes. Bring a valid government photo ID.
South Bay Coin vs other Cuban link chain buyers
A gold chain sells in four different places, and the number you hear depends less on your chain than on which door you walked through. Here is the honest version, including the row where we are not the answer.
| South Bay Coin | Pawn Shops | Custom Chain Jewelers | Mail-In Buyers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weighs the chain in front of you | Sometimes | Sometimes | ||
| Names solid or hollow before quoting | Always | Rarely | Usually | Rarely |
| Can pay above melt for a clean solid chain | Store credit | |||
| Buys stone-set and iced chains | Varies | Varies | Rarely | |
| Pays cash, not store credit | Varies | |||
| Trades toward a new custom chain | ||||
| Owns refinery | Varies | |||
| Walk in with no appointment | Varies |
What our customers say
Common questions about selling Cuban link chains
Three things set the number when you sell a Cuban link chain: the karat, the gram weight, and the live gold market that day. Construction is what surprises people, since a hollow Cuban can weigh a third of a solid one at the same width and length. We weigh yours in front of you first.
Heft is the first sign, because a solid chain feels dense for its size. Hang it by the clasp and watch it fall, since solid Cubans drop straight and hollow ones bunch. Look for seams, dents, or flattened link edges. A scale settles it, and ours is free to use.
Yes. A hollow Cuban is real gold with an empty core, not a fake, and we buy it like any other chain. The offer simply follows the gram weight rather than the width, so expect a lighter chain to bring a smaller number than its size suggests.
Yes, and 10K is the most common karat for wide Cubans because the alloy is harder and holds a broad link better. A 10K chain carries less pure gold per gram than 14K or 18K, but Cubans in 10K are usually built heavier, which narrows the gap considerably.
We do. The chain and the stones are valued separately, since the gold is weighed while the stones are assessed on quality and setting. Many iced Cubans in this market are set with cubic zirconia, moissanite, or lab-grown stones, so bring any paperwork you have with the chain.
Always. Damage changes which market the chain goes into, not whether we buy it. A crushed hollow link or a snapped end usually sends a chain to the refinery rather than the resale case, but the gold content is unchanged and so is our willingness to weigh it.
Our counter sits at 16916 Hawthorne Blvd in Lawndale, minutes from Torrance, Hawthorne, Redondo Beach, and Inglewood, and an easy run from anywhere in Los Angeles County. Sellers who want to sell a Cuban link chain in person regularly drive an hour to us rather than mail it away.
In our experience yes, and the reason is structural. A pawn counter resells your chain to someone else and prices that markup in. We refine in-house and resell wearable pieces ourselves, so there is no middle step to fund. We are also glad to look at a written offer.
Plated, bonded, and coated chains built over steel or brass carry too little gold to hold melt value, so we cannot make a meaningful offer on them. Bring the chain anyway if you are unsure. Testing is free and takes a moment, and guessing wrong costs you far more.
The chain and a valid government photo ID. Bring the clasp even if it has come away, plus any box, receipt, or appraisal you kept. If the chain has a pendant on it, bring that too, since a pendant is weighed and valued as its own separate piece.
Ready to sell your Cuban link chain?
Walk in with no appointment, or text a photo of the chain and clasp for a ballpark first. Free testing, free weighing, immediate payment.
