For us and many of our readers, the details of an outfit – no matter how small – really matter! Among the minute items that serve both aesthetic functional purposes are cufflinks, which are currently experiencing a bit of a renaissance. Discover the accessory’s history, the different mechanisms, materials, styles, what you should go for, and more from this comprehensive guide!
Historically, cufflinks have been a popular accessory in menswear. Because of that, you’ll probably have hundreds if not millions of different patterns and designs. So, it can be quite difficult to find something that works for you and your style.
Apart from the visible part of the cufflinks, there are things like size, the materials used, the mechanical closure, the timelessness, and, of course, the investment value. After all, if you bought a pair of gold cufflinks at the then-current price in 2000, they’re going to be worth a lot more in 2021.
Fort Belvedere
Silver Eagle Claw Cufflinks with Lapis Lazuli Balls – 925 Sterling Palladium Plated – Fort Belvedere
Fort Belvedere
Eagle Claw Cufflinks with Onyx Ball – 925 Sterling Silver Platinum Plated – Fort Belvedere
The History of Cufflinks
Cufflinks have obviously been around for quite a while, but you may not quite know how old their origins are. During medieval times, the shirt, the neck, and the cuff were typically closed with a cloth string or a leather string.
By the early 17th century, they found something that almost looked like a cufflink, which had a chain with buttons on each side.
By the 19th century, cufflinks in gold and silver, sometimes also with jewels, had become ubiquitous. At this time, chain cufflinks already existed. But, as globalization wasn’t as prevalent as it is today, there were also many other mechanisms for cufflinks. If you look at historic artwork sometimes, you can truly see that the cuffs weren’t on the side of the wrists but actually on top.
At the time, collars and cuffs were detachable and so the cuffs were attached with a separate button that was more practical and not decorative and then one that was visible to the public, which was a lot bigger and a lot nicer. Because it was difficult to attach the button, there were also hooks, which the valet could use to help his master put on the cufflinks.
Even at that time, cufflinks were made from a variety of materials. For example, you get something made of gutta percha, which is a rubber-like elastomer derived from a tree of the same name. Some people also liked goldstone, which was a glass-like substance that had glitters in it, that was created under a low-oxygen atmosphere.
You also saw cufflinks in tortoiseshell, ivory, or niello, which is a mix of sulfur, silver, lead, and copper. Of course, there were also lots of other materials.
Likewise, there were literally dozens of closure systems – toggle buttons, curb chain, carved bridges, metal buttons, ball motifs, T-bars, angled ones, chains, and so forth. Personally, I like the look of the globe lock, but you could also find more complicated mechanisms such as twist ones or hinged ones.
During the 19th century, you also first had these cloth monkey fist cufflinks, which were originally made out of silk. These days they’re mostly made out of cotton with some form of elastic. Yes, these are the cufflinks that are still around today. You typically get them for free when you buy a French cuff shirt and it’s not really something you will get looks for.
In terms of size, cufflinks also varied quite a bit. Earlier on, they could be quite big. They were probably their smallest around the 1900s. If you look at the 60s or 70s they got bigger again. Now, they’re a little smaller again.
Around the end of the 19th century, some gentlemen put a photo of their mistress in their cufflink that was hidden. So, it looked like a regular cufflink during mealtime and they could show off to their peers when they were all in the smoking room and the ladies lounged in the tea room.
By that time, all cufflinks had firmly moved to the side of the wrist just like they are today. People also came up with new lock mechanisms. For example, a swivel toggle bar or snap cufflinks. When you go through cufflink books, there’s just a beautiful array of artistic creations – sometimes carved out moonstone or maybe reverse-painted or just using jewels in the most incredible way.
In the early 20th century, cloisonné enamel had also become popular not just on Fabergé eggs, but also on cuff jewelry. As part of the Golden Age of Menswear in the 1920s and 1930s, many interesting and, maybe today, iconic cufflink styles evolved. Some were also quite unusual.
In the 20s, companies like Coca-Cola or later BMW started promoting their brands via cufflinks. Interestingly, in 1907, the material Bakelite was invented by the Belgian-born American Leo Hendrik Baekeland And it was often used for radios and housewares, but also for cufflinks.
Cufflinks ran popular through the 1930s, ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s because men still wore suits with dress shirts and so they needed cufflinks. If you watch TV shows like Boardwalk Empire or Mad Men, you can see a lot of cufflinks.
However, in the late ’60s, with changing values around classic menswear and a younger generation that wanted something different plus the fact that it was pretty inexpensive to produce buttoned barrel cuff shirts, the cufflink started to lose ground. In fact, in many circles, the cufflink had disappeared.
For example, when I grew up in Germany in the ’80s and ’90s, I had no concept of cufflinks and my dad didn’t own a single pair. Interestingly, cufflinks played a very important role when it came to the fascination of classic menswear for me and the Gentleman’s Gazette may have never been started if it wasn’t for one pair of Montblanc cufflinks!
Fortunately, with the rise of the internet and the ability of like-minded peers to get together, I would say that cufflinks in 2021 are more popular than they were in the year 2000 or maybe the 1990s.
Cufflink Terminology
Basically, a cufflink has three parts: the face, which is the thing that you typically see for the most part, then you have the shank, which is the middle part that’s typically in between the holes, then you have the foot, which is typically the inside side facing towards you that, often with T-bar cufflinks, is not decorative but purely functional.
Remember, the whole purpose of cufflinks is to hold your shirt cuffs together. But, at the same time, it’s also there to be aesthetically pleasing and sometimes to represent the status of its wearer.
T-Bar Toggle
As we mentioned earlier, there are many types of closing mechanisms. But, by far, the most popular one is a T-bar toggle. And while it is functional and relatively easy to put on, typically, the backside is pretty ugly to look at. How come it’s so popular then?
Well, it’s actually quite easy and inexpensive to produce industrially- just a shank and the foot – and it can pretty much be applied to any type of face. So, you can create all types of cufflinks that look really cool from the front but are relatively inexpensive to produce.
Whale Toggle
A variation of the T-bar closure is the whale toggle. It’s basically a T-bar that’s slightly angled, which means when you put in the cufflink, it automatically goes into the right shape because if you look at your cuffs, typically, there is a certain angle where the two sides meet at the side of your wrist.
Typically, higher-end cufflinks will either not have any T-bars or whale toggles. Or if they do, they’re decorated in some way, shape, or form.
Double-sided
Even though most people think it’s totally fine because you don’t see the backside anyways, in just everyday life when you walk, when you shake hands, when you point at things, people will always also see the backside of your cufflinks. So, why not make them look nice as well?
This is when double-sided cufflinks come into play and pretty much anyone who’s really into classic men’s clothing prefers the double-sided ones to the simple T-bar toggles.
Why? Because they look a lot better. Sometimes it also gives you the opportunity to have something different on your face compared to the foot. Because you have two cuffs, that means you can have four different symbols on your cufflinks.
It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to you that when I decided to produce some cufflinks for Fort Belvedere. I designed all of them with decorative double faces. And I even paid attention to the shank, which is typically just a simple bar, and I wanted to make it part of the design of the cufflink.
Fort Belvedere
Eagle Claw Cufflinks with Onyx Ball – 925 Sterling Silver Platinum Plated – Fort Belvedere
Fort Belvedere
Eagle Claw Cufflinks with Lapis Lazuli Balls – 925 Sterling Silver Gold Plated – Fort Belvedere
Fort Belvedere
Eagle Claw Cufflinks with Malachite Balls – 925 Sterling Silver Platinum Plated – Fort Belvedere
Why, if you don’t ever see it? Well, you’ll take them off at the end of the day. It’s a nice piece of art that you can pass on to your children and grandchildren.
Chain Cufflinks
The most traditionally styled cufflinks you can find are chain cufflinks. While that sounds fine in theory, I always found that there was too much chain and so it created a rather loose fit on my shirt cuff, which is something I don’t particularly enjoy. In fact, I hate it.
Nevertheless, you can still find many vintage cufflinks that have that chain and I even have some in my collection and I do wear them. So, basically, you have a foot and a face and the shank is a chain.
If you have issues with your motor skills, it’s much harder to put a pair of cufflinks with chains than T-bars or a fixed bar. Sometimes, the foot and the face are also identical and if your cuff buttonholes are very small, it can be really tricky to put them on without any help.
Other times, the cufflinks are simply too big to wear with a particular shirt. With a T-bar, you really never have to worry about that.
Snap Cufflinks
During the early 20th century, people wore cufflinks in many different parts of the world and they came up with different new innovative locking mechanisms. One of those were snap cufflinks, which were popular for a little while.
Back in the day, they were also easy to produce. And because the snap mechanism was the same in all the cufflinks, you could mix and match the different cufflinks together, which was quite cool.
The problem with snap cufflinks was that the groove of the snap would wear out. So, the more often you wore them, the quicker they would deteriorate and eventually, they wouldn’t hold together anymore and your cuffs would open and you would have to throw them away.
Probably because of that, they fell out of favor pretty quickly and it’s harder to find those these days, especially in good condition, in high quality, with interesting faces and feet. If you have them, enjoy wearing them. But, keep in mind that every time you wear them, you’re wearing them down.
When it comes to more modern cufflink mechanisms, there is a locking mechanism that is often associated with more fashion-forward styles. Quite gaudy if you ask me, but to each his own.
Fixed Cufflink Shank
So, with all those troubles and other cufflink mechanisms, the fixed cufflink shank came up around the 19th century. Typically, the foot is smaller than the face so it can more easily fit through the buttonhole. Nevertheless, it’s decorative.
It can sometimes complement the face or be the same in terms of the look. Personally, I love them because they combine the best of both worlds. You can have a nice face and a nice foot. You have that fixed bar that keeps everything nice and tight around your cuff and because there are no moving parts, you’re not wearing down anything by wearing them.
For a selection of quality fixed bar cufflinks, take a look at our shop!
Cufflink Materials
When it comes to materials, there’s really a lot of options out there. No matter if it’s an abalone, agate, or amethyst or maybe bakelite, bloodstone, or carnelian or ivory, lapis, malachite, or moonstone, onyx, or diamonds, there is a cufflink material for anybody out there. Sometimes, you can also find cufflinks made with fabric or leather.
Base Metal
Most cufflinks these days are made out of base metal. What do I mean by that? Well, it could be brass, it could be copper, or alloys like gunmetal, stainless steel. Some people also play with aluminum or titanium, but often a cufflink is made out of metal.
At the end of the day, not only do they lack the luster of precious metal, but they’re also not as collectible.
Vitriform
There are also vitriform cufflinks, which means cufflinks made of glass or glass-like materials. They could be crystal or stained glass or enamel. Sometimes, also micro mosaics or little beads.
Precious Metals
Precious metals are undisputedly the king of cufflinks. And while most people think of silver as valuable as well as gold in recent years, gold prices have skyrocketed to heights never seen before.
Back in the day, platinum was utterly more expensive than gold but also harder to work on. But, it was not as soft, so that it allowed for more intricate cufflink creations. Because of that, houses like Cartier would often work with platinum.
Even though gold prices are above platinum, you will often find that platinum cufflinks or platinum jewelry, in general, are still more expensive than gold jewelry. Personally, I like platinum because it doesn’t tarnish, unlike sterling silver for example. So, if you don’t like polishing and you don’t like that tarnished black look, look into platinum or platinum-plated cufflinks.
Gold-Plating
Because a pair of solid gold cufflinks can easily set you back four or five or more thousand dollars, a viable alternative is gold-plating.
There can be different thicknesses of gold plating. Back in the day, you had rolled gold or gold fill. These days, typically, metals are electroplated. So, they’re uniformly plated and the thickness is defined in microns. The thicker the plating, the less likely it will come off.
At Fort Belvedere, we decided to go real heavy and thick on the gold-plating so you don’t have to worry about it coming off. Of course, all under normal use cases. If you use your heavy tools and try to sand off the gold plating, of course, it’ll come off.
Stones
Stones, especially semi-precious stones, are also really popular for cufflinks, but some people also prefer diamonds. For regular daywear, I find diamonds a bit too flashy. I like them when nicely incorporated into evening dress sets with matching studs and waistcoat buttons. You can find cufflinks that are pretty much just precious stones.
I think with cufflinks, less is more. And having a centerpiece diamond or rubies looks a lot nicer than if the whole thing is just a status symbol that says, “Look at me! I could afford very expensive cufflinks.”
Personally, I much prefer the blue of lapis lazuli, the green of malachite, the red of a carnelian, or the black of an onyx. If you have cufflinks in a range of colors, it’ll become very easy to combine them with your varying outfits and they will always tie the ensemble together.
Of course, a cufflink can also reflect your personality. So, if you’re a bit quirky or different, maybe you want a different material such as fossils or coral, antlers. I mean, some might even have meteorites or carbon fiber in their cufflinks.
At the end of the day, you can make cufflinks of pretty much any material. That being said, the list of materials is a lot shorter compared to a list of designs, which is basically unlimited. Some people are really creative. And if you flip through cufflink books, you just find these beautiful creations you would have never dreamed of.
You can find cufflinks from Porsche or Aston Martin. You can find big LV logos or small Garfield cats; whatever your heart desires.
Personally, I like whimsical motifs or unique things. I like classic geometric patterns, cloisonné enamel for their vibrant colors, and just something that is not run-of-the-mill.
Choosing Your Cufflinks
Where and when you wear your cufflinks should be considered when choosing them. If you have a White Tie ensemble, probably, you want a matching set with the waistcoat buttons. Or maybe you have matching studs for your dress shirt. Having the cufflinks, the studs, and your waistcoat’s buttons match just elevates your outfit and makes it that more special.
Traditionally for White Tie, you’d have platinum or white gold cufflinks, maybe with some white pearls, some mother of pearl, and sometimes, diamonds. For Black Tie ensembles, you often see onyx or abalone, or hematite. But, of course, you can also wear gold cufflinks or silver cufflinks.
Maybe you don’t go to formal occasions very frequently and you don’t want to invest in an extra pair of cufflinks. Well, just get one that is very versatile, such as a monkey fist knot, and then you can get additional studs so you can just add them on when you happen to go to a Black Tie event.
But, if you don’t, feel free to wear them with your tweed jacket or your regular suit or your sport coat; no problem. From there, plain gold or silver is fine, but you can also wear semi-precious stones; no problem there, too. Shiny diamonds may be too much.
At the end of the day, it’s whatever you want it to be and there’s no right or wrong. Cufflinks are very similar to, let’s say, a suit or a pair of shoes. You can go to H&M and get the cheapest of the cheap, which, in cufflink-speak, would be a T-bar cufflink that is made of base metal in a factory.
Alternatively, you can go a step up and get something that is maybe made by a jeweler and hand-carved in sterling silver, for example, that is gold-plated so you get something that will last but it won’t set you back thousands of dollars.
For example, for clothing, you may have a really expensive bespoke suit and that equivalent would be a custom piece made from a jeweler just for you, out of solid gold and precious stones. And then, the sky’s the limit and you can spend a hundred thousand dollars, ten thousand. But, at the minimum, probably five or six thousand.
That can be quite elitist, which is why in Fort Belvedere, we decided to try to get the look of a real, bespoke-made model, which is actually made by a jeweler. It’s hand-carved and then a mold is created from that hand-carved object. We make it in solid sterling silver, and heavily plate it in gold or platinum.
So, you get that look and feel of a much more expensive cufflink at a price you can afford that is not cost-prohibitive.
Are they cheap? No, they’re not cheap. But, they’re high-quality and it’s something you’ll enjoy for the rest of your life. If a few hundred bucks for cufflink is too expensive for you, I get it. In those situations, I suggest you go to flea markets, maybe look on eBay, and I promise you’ll find lots of vintage cufflinks.
From my experience, there are different stages with cufflinks. When I started, I bought whatever I could find. Then, I was enamored with precious metal cufflinks and I bought them just because they were precious metals even though I really disliked the look of them.
Then I realized, “You know what? I only want nice-looking cufflinks.” And so, I started buying maybe glass cufflinks or inexpensive ones that I just liked the look of.
Today, I have inexpensive ones that are nice and much more expensive ones that are also nice. But, I sold off all the ones I don’t like because, after all, it’s an aesthetic thing and it should bring you joy. And if it doesn’t, why keep it? With that being said, it’s never too late or too early to start your own collection.
Outfit Rundown
In today’s outfit, I’m wearing a blazer combination of navy blue and yellow. My jacket was made for me out of a really nice, soft, Vitale Barberis Canonico fabric. It’s double-breasted and a part of a suit. But, I can also wear it in this odd combination. My dress shirt is white with yellow stripes.
It has a very classic collar in contrasting white,which is called a Winchester shirt. My tie is from Fort Belvedere. It is woven with an interesting pattern and then printed in a diamond pattern. My pocket square is linen and yellow with cross stitches along the edges. And both of those are from Fort Belvedere. You can find them in our shop just like my socks, which are blue in two tones.
So, they’re contrasting to my shoes, which are tan monk straps. And my pants are pale yellow that pick up the color of my pocket square and the stripes of the shirt.
Last but not least, my cufflinks are probably from the 60s. They’re a pair of vintage sulka in 14 karat gold. I think they were made by Larter & Sonsor another one of those big houses. And they have a nice, what the seller told me was a “hawk’s eye.”I think it is a cat’s eye. Take a look at them.
What do you think? Of course, they’re double-sided and those also have a chain and they have a nice cabochon dome. And when you have a light source and you move them around, they have this interesting look, which I like about cat’s eye stones.
Very interesting article. Thank you.
What are your thoughts on wearing t-bar cufflinks in a way that the back does not show? Sometimes I put one cuff over the other rather than the standard side-by-side. The face is visible but the t-bar is against my wrist. I will wear a shirt this way once in a while just to change things up. The visible t-bar has never bothered me (at least until now!)
I will say that cuffing your shirt this way can really try your patience. You may need a 3rd hand.
Hi Joseph, glad to hear you enjoyed the article!
Preston is a fan of wearing cufflinks in this style, he can often be seen sporting a pair like this when wearing long-sleeved knitwear.
Seems I’m in good company then!
Thanks for the reply
Hi, thanks for this great overview. Did I miss it, or did you not describe the mesh style cufflinks that wrap over the outside of the cuff?
Cheers
Thanks for the kind words, Thomas.
Although it’s not specifically mentioned in the article, the mesh wraparound style you’re referring to would typically fall under the T-Bar Toggle category.
Bonjour, je ne porte que des chemises “poignets mousquetaires” pour pouvoir porter des boutons de manchettes, j’en possède plus de 50 paires…
Hello, I only wear “musketeer cuffs” shirts to be able to wear cufflinks, I have more than 50 pairs …
regards…
Very informative article. My small collection includes plain sterling silver with matching buttons for formal occasions, several vintage chain cufflinks. My favorites are my chain lapis lazuli, chain pearl and double monkey fist in sterling silver.
Thanks for the history lesson!
I inherited some “wraparound” cufflinks from my father in which there is a flexible connection that comes from the face and has a loop on the end through which the T-bar goes. The connection is like a flat meshed chain. I got a gold tone set that has a kind of ingot face and a silver tone set that has a round onyx stone on the face. They seem especially “retro” to me but I have no real information about that style. Any information on this style would be appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Ronald,
The wrap-around style you mention falls firmly in the category of T-bar cufflinks, as any other style of closure would make the style difficult to fasten. You’re spot on in saying they carry a very retro look – as they take up more space on your cuff, they are designed to stand out in a deliberate way.
My suggestion for wearing these would be to ensure the mesh portion doesn’t dangle too loosely around the edge of your cuff, otherwise, they can snag on various things throughout the day. Otherwise, enjoy wearing your cufflinks!
Given the breadth of this article, Sven, no one could accuse you of writing it “off the cuff.”
Gggrrrooooooaaannnn.
The article was very informative on a subject rarely discussed. I wear suits daily and went to cufflinks in the 1980s partly as a style statement but also because I could fasten the cuff before I put the shirt on; thus compensating for a motor control problem.
My collection is based around silver and yellow gold to match my tie chain and collar bar being worn. Hands down, my favorite sets are my monkey’s fist cuff links.
Thank you once again for shedding insight on the finer touches of men’s wear.
Lester
Informative article. I never really gave my cuff links much more thought past whether or not I liked their look enough to buy and actually wear them. I have about 5 t-bar sets which I wear on the inside of the cuff like Preston does. A few years ago I started collecting vintage sets, most of which are chained. To date my favorite are a pair of Edwardian 18k gold plated with a decorative stone button on one side and a gold feather on the other chained together. Cuff links give me a little more creative feeling in a sometimes very conservative look.
Thank you for your continual education on many subjects. I have cufflinks for casual and dress, and I always feel they are a great look.
Due to Covid, I have less reasons to wear them in a formal situation, but hope that changes soon. However I have had dress shirts made with a button down collars ( J.Press, Charles Tyrwhitt) with French cuffs, and the casual look with the cufflinks , is great.
Thanks again!
Sims
I wear cufflinks every day, Covid or no Covid, visitor traffic or no visitor traffic. If I skip my daily routine of wearing a suit, a tie, a dress shirt and cufflinks – it would be unshaven, a jogging suit and slides tomorrow…
You mention “globe lock” as your favorite, but you never showed them and only mentioned them once. What are “globe lock” cufflinks?