SILVER CHAINS · MIAMI BEACH

SONNY SILVA

THE SILVER TO THE BOSS'S GOLD. SINCE 1982.

Find the cart on the boardwalk behind the pink hotel, noon to sundown, seven days a week. Rope, Cuban, figaro and the best mirrored aviators south of Orlando. No gold. Gold was the guy next door.

SEE THE SILVER ABOUT THE BOSS
Sonny Silva in a hot-pink blazer and a turquoise flamingo shirt, a red-rose bandana tied around his head, shrugging beside his wooden cart of silver chains on the Miami Beach boardwalk at sunset
Me and the cart, '83
ON THE TRAY TODAY

THE SILVER

Every chain on the tray is real silver, and you can try any of them on. I don't do mail order. I don't do layaway. I do handshakes.

Rows of silver chains laid out on the black velvet tray of a wooden cart
THE TRAY. COME SAY HI.
SS-1

The Rope

Thick silver rope, 24 inches. The one I wear.

INVESTMENT$40
SS-2

The Cuban

Silver Cuban links. Like the Boss's, only it doesn't need to show off.

INVESTMENT$45
SS-3

The Figaro

Three short links, one long. For the man who's going places.

INVESTMENT$30
SS-4

The Box

Thin, square and quiet. For your mother.

INVESTMENT$20
SS-5

The Bracelet

Chunky silver curb links. Goes with a handshake.

INVESTMENT$25
SS-6

The Aviators

Mirrored. Not silver, but they reflect it.

INVESTMENT$12
SS-7

The Anklet

Thin silver with one little charm. For the beach. Where else?

INVESTMENT$15

At the cart only. Nothing ships, nothing's on credit, and nobody asks the price. ...Really.

Sonny Silva shrugging with both palms up, one eyebrow raised, on the boardwalk at sunset
...REALLY, BOSS?
NEXT DOOR, 1982–1987

THE SILVER TO HIS GOLD

For five years my cart stood next to Manny Mayhem's gold-chain stand. I was twenty, selling sunglasses off a beach towel. Manny was the best salesman on the beach, five foot two in a pastel suit. He took one look at me and said, "Kid, you're selling silver now."

He taught me everything. Never say price, kid; say investment. Always let them try it on. Never sell gold to anybody who should be wearing silver.

This summer the Boss's store went under. He packed what was left into one cardboard box, kept the one gold chain he wouldn't sell, and drove home up north. Now he runs a wrestling show. Forty women answered his ad. Forty! ...Really, Boss?

The gold's gone from the boardwalk. The silver's still here.

P.S. BOSS: YOU STILL OWE ME FORTY DOLLARS.
THE BOSS: MANNYMAYHEM.COM HIS WRESTLING SHOW HIS LEFTOVER GOLD
PAINTED ON THE CART

SONNY'S RULES

  1. Silver, never gold. Gold is the Boss's.
  2. Never say price. Say investment.
  3. Try it on first. Always.
  4. The bandana stays on.
  5. If it turns your neck green, it didn't come from my cart.
OVERHEARD AT THE CART

WHAT THEY SAY

"Never say price, kid. Say investment."
THE BOSS, 1982
"Such a nice boy. Tell my son to call his mother."
BEA, COLLINS AVENUE
"I came over for sunscreen and left with three chains."
A TOURIST FROM OHIO