News

The cuban link is hip-hop's defining chain shape. Not the rope chain, not the figaro, not the tennis chain. Here is the structural reason cuban won and why it will not be replaced.

A tennis chain is a continuous line of stones held in tiny prong settings. The name comes from a 1987 US Open accident that changed the jewelry market.

Iced-out pendants tell hip-hop's visual story from Slick Rick's heavy crown in the 1980s to Migos' multi-tier diamonds in the 2010s. Each era's pendant defined its sound.

B.G. dropped the term in 1999. Cash Money built an empire on it. Twenty-five years later, 'bling' is in the dictionary and the chains that defined the era still set the language.

A tennis bracelet is a flexible line of stones held in a continuous prong setting. The name comes from a 1987 US Open mid-match incident.

The cuban link is the most-recognized chain in hip-hop. It's also the most copied, the most counterfeited, and the most misunderstood. If you've shopped for one and felt...