How To Build A Cufflink Collection – Behind The Scenes

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We’ve received a lot of comments and requests from viewers and readers who want to see my wardrobe. Now, I’m a clothes horse, I’m a suit lover, I’m really into accessories, and as such, it’s impractical to do one video that covers it all. Because of that, we decided to break it down and today, we start with my cufflink collection.

Table of Contents
  1. Outfit Rundown

My collection is ever-changing and if I find something better, I get rid of something in the rotation and then sometimes, I even sell them.

Aquamarine & Ruby Cufflinks in 18k gold
Aquamarine & Ruby Cufflinks in 18k gold
  • The first pair of cufflinks is quite cool and different in the sense that it’s made out of an aquamarine, ruby, as well as 18 karat gold. Honestly, these little links are sometimes a pain to put on but when they’re on your cuff, they look stunning. The backstory on those is that in 2006, I came to the US for the first time and I did an internship with a lawyer, Edward Hayes. We have an article of this gentleman who’s a very flamboyantly dressing lawyer and when I was at his house, he just gave these cufflinks to me because he knew I was a poor student and I loved to dress up and I could have never afforded those cufflinks at the time. Now, I definitely kept those cufflinks, it’s kind of funny at the time, I had this phase where I only thought gold cufflinks would be really the only thing I should be wearing and so that’s what I would invest in. By 2009, when I moved to the US permanently, I needed money and so I sold my entire cufflink collection except for this pair because of the history and they were very unique and I thought it is just something I should keep.
Victorian cufflinks in 835 silver with gold coverings
Victorian cufflinks in 835 silver with gold coverings
  • Another pair of cufflinks which I got from Edward Hayes, they are made out of 835 silver with gold coverings. It’s kind of a Victorian pattern and I like them because the reflections are different depending on the light, it has yellow gold and rose gold in it, and it makes them quite unique. I guess I could polish them again, I don’t wear them a whole lot but the problem sometimes with silver cufflinks is that if they’re not polished all the time, they rub off on your especially white dress shirts and it looks just dirty on the cuff.
  • The third pair of cufflinks that is also Victorian, as you can see, it’s double-sided with a chain. I think it’s just brass because, over time, I’ve come to realize it really doesn’t matter what kind of precious metal your cufflinks are made out of, it all depends on what they look like and how they look on your shirt cuff, and whether you enjoy wearing them or not. So these are little brass decorations, I bought them in Berlin in 2015, and at the same time, I bought those green ones which are basically the same style yet they are very different looking from afar. Personally, I’m a big fan of double-sided cufflinks because I think having a decorative element on both sides is simply much preferable to having those t bars where you just have everything on one side and nothing on the other. As you can see, the swirly glass is not perfectly round but it’s a hallmark of handmade glass.
Green and white cloisonne enamel chain cufflinks on sterling silver with gold plating
Green and white cloisonne enamel chain cufflinks on sterling silver with gold plating
  • The next pair of cufflinks is British. It’s a cloisonne enamel chain cufflinks on sterling silver. Now when it comes to enamel, there are different kinds. There’s the regular enamel that is just very plain looking and then there’s the translucent cloisonne enamel which is fired and it’s actually glass in different colors but the metal surface underneath is etched and because of that, you get that nice three-dimensional effect when you rotate the cufflinks. So these ones here have kind of a z pattern and I just like the strong green color with the white band. it’s just beautiful. You can see the cufflinks actually look gold and it’s because they’re gold plated.
Montblanc Onyx cufflinks gold plated - Sven Raphael Schneider's first pair of cufflinks
Montblanc Onyx cufflinks gold plated – Sven Raphael Schneider’s first pair of cufflinks
  • Now these pair cufflinks are from Montblanc, they’re plain and simple, and black ,and they are no precious metal at all but they’re in fact the very first pair of cufflinks I ever owned because as you might know, I started out collecting fountain pens, I would also sell them and in one lot, there was also this pair of cufflinks and when I got them, I thought “wow! now how do I wear them?” and so I did some research and I came across French cuff shirts and that’s what kick-started my passion for classic men’s clothing. So without this pair of clothing, the Gentleman’s Gazette and Fort Belvedere probably would never exist today.
Intricate enamel cufflinks in blue and gold
Intricate enamel cufflinks in blue and gold
  • Next pair of cufflinks is unique in the sense that it’s intricately detailed and you can find kind of dark blue lapis blue enamel with some golden elements and the back part, they’re double-sided. The back part has a bar and of course, it has chains. I really love those cufflinks and I think I bought them in probably 2010 or 2011 at a cufflink convention in Chicago quite inexpensive and just cost me about $30.00
Sterling silver and bloodstone cufflinks
Sterling silver and bloodstone cufflinks
  • The next pair of cufflinks is kind of unassuming. It doesn’t have a chain but a connection that’s similar to a chain and it has bloodstones that it’s set in sterling silver, it’s kind of a round cushion shape and because of that, I like wearing them. It’s not something you usually see a lot and personally, I like unique items. I think about these as part of a vintage cufflink lot and it didn’t cost me a lot of money.
Yellow and purple glass cufflinks with sterling silver double sided
Yellow and purple glass cufflinks with sterling silver double sided
  • The next cufflinks are sterling silver, they have two different colors on both sides. So one is yellow, the other is purple, and I got them as part of a lot. Some people may think of them as the Vikings colors, I’m not a football fan at all and would never wear them like that. To me, they’re just a fun statement piece and sometimes I’ll wear them with the purple side out on one side and the yellow on the other one so it’s just a fun little pair of cufflinks that is not too large because most cufflinks today are rather large which I don’t like quite so much so having something smaller it’s quite elegant.
Prototype of the Fort Belvedere monkey fist cufflinks with a rope connection that looks different than the production modell
Prototype of the Fort Belvedere monkey fist cufflinks with a rope connection that looks different than the production modell
  • Next up is the first pair of Fort Belvedere cufflinks that I designed. I always wanted a pair of monkey fist knot cufflinks which is this particular knot which is a sailor’s knot and I wanted cufflinks made out of it. So in this first pair here, the middle part was supposed to be a twisted rope but as you can see, it didn’t quite turn out the way we wanted to and it just looked overbearing so in the final iteration, we ended up with a cufflink that was slightly smaller especially on the slimmer end so it would actually fit through your cuff and the bar was much more elegant by just twisting it without that rope structure. It’s a very timeless pair of cufflinks and if I just had to invest in one pair of cufflinks, it probably would be this one, maybe in gold, because I have more gold accessories but most people would actually be better off with silver because most men today have more silver accessories.

Fancy some cufflinks?

Blue starburst cloisonne enamel cufflinks, double sided in sterling silver vermeil gold plated
Blue starburst cloisonne enamel cufflinks, double sided in sterling silver vermeil gold plated
  • Next up is a nice pair of cloisonne enamel cufflinks. Again, it’s an oval shape and as you can see, it has this nice deep rich blue cloisonne pattern. As you move them with the light, because of the etching underneath, you get that beautiful lighting effect and which is one of the reasons I’ve always fallen in love with cloisonne enamel cufflinks and again, they’re sterling silver, gold plated with a chain in the back. Traditionally, double-sided cufflinks always came with chains, while they’re beautiful, I actually find a fixed bar to be superior to the chain but it’s very hard to find those.
Two tone white gold and yellow gold t-bar cufflinks in 750 18 kt gold
Two tone white gold and yellow gold t-bar cufflinks in 750 18 kt gold
  • The next pair of cufflinks is quite heavy. it’s made out of a solid 18 carat gold in yellow and white gold and it has a t-bar closure. It’s a cufflink that I bought several years ago and I don’t quite like it as much anymore. It’s simple in a way but I think it would work better with maybe 50s or 60s outfits and I’m not that kind of guy. I still have them, keep them, I may have to sell them or trade them in sometimes because they’re quite heavy and the gold price right now is quite high.
Sterling silver double sided moonstone cufflinks
Sterling silver double sided moonstone cufflinks
  • The next pair of cufflinks I bought at a vintage shop in Hamburg for just a few bucks and it’s actually made of sterling silver and it has that kind of chain-like connection with moonstones. I like them because it’s like very milky, they have an effect in a way that mother-of-pearl has but it’s slightly different and it changes with the light so it’s just a beautiful pair and it is small, not oversized, so something I definitely like.
Carved lapislazuli faces mounted on double sided sterling silver cufflinks
Carved lapislazuli faces mounted on double sided sterling silver cufflinks
  • I think at the very same shop, I bought these cufflinks here which are a little more unique. They’re actually hand carved lapis and as you can see, there’s a face carved into them so they’re just slightly different and I sometimes like to wear them when I’m in the mood for them if I could contrast on light blue shirts as well as white shirts and it’s a good nice unique pair of cufflinks.
Red and gold double sided cabochon cufflinks
Red and gold double sided cabochon cufflinks
  • Next up is a very classic pair of cufflinks in that color scheme. It’s red and gold. I think it’s not a precious or semi-precious stone, it’s glass, but it’s mounted on 14-karat gold I think, it’s made in Italy, it is slightly oval but also not round and so again, different than other things I have in my collection and because of that, I like it.
Malachite and Sterling Silver t-bar cufflinks
Malachite and Sterling Silver t-bar cufflinks
  • The next pair here is a lapis pair which is beautiful but it has those t-bar connections which as I mentioned I’m not a huge fan of. I’ve got those nevertheless because I like that domed malachite and so we created the other malachite ones because the effect was so beautiful in our Eagle Claw cufflinks.
Malachite and Gold t-bar cufflinks from the 1960s
Malachite and Gold t-bar cufflinks from the 1960s
  • Next up is a 14 karat or 585 pair of cufflinks in malachite from Germany. As you can see, it has a t-bar and it’s kind of interesting the way it is set and the finished edge is kind of scratched which makes the bit look like the late 60s or 70s kind of mid-century modern. Not something I’m too fond of today but it was the first pair of malachite cufflinks so I still have it. I wear it on occasion but I like our Fort Belvedere cufflinks a lot better now which is why I wear them more often.
Blue and yellow cloisonne enamel double-sided cufflinks in sterling silver
Blue and yellow cloisonne enamel double-sided cufflinks in sterling silver
  • These octagonal cufflinks are really cool because you don’t find that shape very often. Also, it has very intricate cloisonne enamel which has waves in yellow and a blue rim so I like to combine it with outfits where I have those colors so I can pick them up either in the socks or the tie or the shirt and so they’re just fun to wear. Again, they’re sterling silver made in England.
Genuine domed amber cufflinks in sterling silver bought at a flea market in Berlin Germany
Genuine domed amber cufflinks in sterling silver bought at a flea market in Berlin Germany
  • Next up we have some amber cufflinks, German, I think it’s like sterling silver and they actually have a date engraved on it March 25th of 56. So yeah, it was probably a gift in the 50s to someone. They are amber and it’s not quite clear so it’s like a natural material, it has some scratches and I bought them at a flea market in Berlin and I think in 2015 for like 20 bucks, to be honest, I haven’t worn them very often. I just got them because I didn’t have an Amber pair of cufflinks in my collection. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have bought them because even though they were not so expensive, I hardly wear them at all.
Gold knot cufflinks with t-bar closure
Gold knot cufflinks with t-bar closure
  • Next up is a pair of 333, I think that’s an 8 karat gold, made in Germany, yellow gold, it’s kind of a knot, it’s a classic symbol in menswear but again it had this t-bar and so those inspired me to create our monkey fist knot cufflinks in gold but I just wanted a real knot and I wanted the double-sided ones. So I used to wear these a lot but again since the monkey fist cufflinks are there, I don’t wear them a lot anymore.
Pale green and green circular pattern cloisonne enamel cufflinks bought at a flea market in Budapest in 2006
Pale green and green circular pattern cloisonne enamel cufflinks bought at a flea market in Budapest in 2006
  • Next up are two pairs of green cufflinks which green in menswear is not that strong. I think it’s a great color but for cufflinks, they’re hard to find so whenever I come across them, I buy them. So this first one with those concentric circles here I bought actually at a flea market in Budapest probably in 2006. Before I came to the US, I did an internship there and they were about three or five bucks they have some damage which when it comes to cloisonne enamel means for collectors they’re completely uninteresting but for me, as someone who just enjoys cufflinks and wants to wear them, it not a big deal.
Granny Smith Green and White round cloisonne enamel cufflinks on sterling silver
Granny Smith Green and White round cloisonne enamel cufflinks on sterling silver
  • The other ones are more of a Granny Smith green. They’re English, I bought them as part of a lot, they have a white rim and I haven’t worn them as often because the color is quite bright and it pops so maybe with a darker unassuming outfit in a green tie maybe a knit tie it would be a good combination.
Ralph Lauren Made in England Oval yellow and light blue cloisonne enamel cufflinks
Ralph Lauren Made in England Oval yellow and light blue cloisonne enamel cufflinks
  • Next up is a pair of cloisonne enamel striped oval cufflinks. They’re actually branded as Ralph Lauren but they were made in England for Ralph Lauren and they are sterling silver, they’re quite bold, and because of that, I actually wear them quite infrequently or hardly ever, to be honest, I just like the design, I liked that they were different, but at the end of the day, when it comes to picking out a pair, I usually go with more muted ones.
Lightweight gold double sided cufflinks with an S shape on a square
Lightweight gold double sided cufflinks with an S shape on a square
  • Here’s a fine pair of 14-karat cufflinks. They have kind of an S shape but it’s not very bold so my last name is Schneider, someone gave them to me, I don’t wear them very often because I like my other cufflinks more.
Abalone stone evening dress set with 2 waistcoat and 2 shirt studs and double sided cufflinks in gold with platinum decorative rim
Abalone stone evening dress set with 2 waistcoat and 2 shirt studs and double sided cufflinks in gold with platinum decorative rim
  • Next up is a set of cufflinks, shirt studs, and it even has I think waistcoat buttons. It’s an abalone stone, I think in the back it’s a 14 karat gold, and on top it’s platinum. I wore those with my black tie ensemble which is quite nice. It’s just something that traditionally, men will wear with black tie. You’d have like dark stones and you have the cufflinks and then you’d have the shirt studs as well as the waistcoat buttons which were exchangeable. Now I only have two of those and most waistcoats have like at least three for single breasted one or four for double breasted ones so I can’t wear them for the waistcoat but it was just a set that I found vintage.
Oval and start shape enamel cufflinks on sterling silver, double sided in blue and light blue
Oval and start shape enamel cufflinks on sterling silver, double sided in blue and light blue
  • Next up are some blue cloisonne enamel cufflinks and you can see it’s always this same shape. It’s a very popular shape in England because it’s not too small but it still fits through the buttonhole on your shirt-cuff. It’s light blue and darker blue with little edgings underneath in sterling silver pretty much like the next one.
  • This set of cufflinks, I keep in the same compartment simply because they’re purple and purple in menswear is not a very strong color. I sometimes wear them when I have a purple bowtie or a purple tie, you could also wear them with a purple or lavender shirt. This one here is round, has black enamel cloisonne, and the other one has kind of an unusual shape, a mix between round and square.
Black and white domed, round glass cufflinks in gold with t-bar
Black and white domed, round glass cufflinks in gold with t-bar
  • Here’s a pair of cufflinks that I like. I think it’s glass with black and white. it’s something I would wear with a Stresemann outfit, for example, it’s 14-karat gold, they’re quite heavy, it is a t-bar so maybe I’ll sell them in the future because I haven’t worn them in quite a while, to be frank.
White tie evening dress set with white double sided cufflinks and 4 waistcoat buttons
White tie evening dress set with white double sided cufflinks and 4 waistcoat buttons
  • Now, next up is an evening dress set for white tie. I think it is 14 karat gold in the back with platinum and then it has a mother-of-pearl insert so here I have the full set of 4 waistcoat buttons so I can wear double-breasted and single-breasted waistcoats with white tie and these are the matching cufflinks in the same size. for the shirt, I either wear matching shirt studs as you can see here or I go with these pearls that are set in gold and I think I like the pearls more because it’s the more traditional way and I don’t wear white tie that often so if I do, I usually stick with the traditional classics. It’s actually quite hard to find full dress sets like these in the original box so when I came across this one from Berks I think on eBay I was very happy that I got it.
Tiger's Eye stick cufflinks, double sided in sterling silver
Tiger’s Eye stick cufflinks, double sided in sterling silver
  • My next pair of cufflinks is a little more unusual and I like it because it’s tiger’s eye as a stick, set in silver with some chains. They’re not easy to get on the cuff but once you do they’re quite nice and different looking which is why I like them, of course, I have all the Fort Belvedere cufflinks and since I just designed them I still really like them I wear them a lot and part of my general rotation today. I’m wearing the green ones, we have the tiger’s eye in gold, it’s very nice in the way it rotates with a light and it works with any kind of brown in your outfit. The carnelian one is a stone, it’s like red but it’s not too bright. Lapis is beautiful it’s just a deep rich blue color and we use a lapis with very few inclusions. we even have it in yellow gold and in silver. so you have a choice of what you want and this one here is a black one so if you wear a lot of charcoal suits they would even work for tuxedo outfits, for example, we’ll see maybe we can make some matching studs and waistcoat buttons so you can wear it as a full dress set I think that would be quite nice.

Outfit Rundown

Raphael wearing a vintage three-piece Caraceni suit accessorized with Fort Belvedere products.
Raphael wearing a vintage two-piece Caraceni suit accessorized with Fort Belvedere products.
Knit Tie in Solid Rust Orange Silk - Fort Belvedere

Fort Belvedere

Knit Tie in Solid Rust Orange Silk

Silk Pocket Square in Brown with Blue, Green, Red Large Paisley Pattern

Fort Belvedere

Silk Pocket Square in Brown with Blue, Green, Red Large Paisley Pattern

Caramel and Dark Burgundy Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Fil d'Ecosse Cotton

Fort Belvedere

Caramel and Dark Burgundy Shadow Stripe Ribbed Socks Fil d'Ecosse Cotton

I  am wearing a brown suit. It’s a Caraceni suit that is vintage but it fits me quite well. It’s usually a three-piece suit but today I’m just wearing it as a two-piece suit and it has these wide big peak lapels. I’m wearing them with a pocket square in green and orange which picks up the green stripe of my shirt as well as the orange of my knit tie and thus ties it all together with the brown tones. For my socks, I’m wearing green and brown shadow stripes. They pick up the green of the shirt and the green in my ring thus tying the entire outfit together but at the same time they provided enough contrast between the brown pants and the tan monk strap I am wearing.
Do you fancy cufflinks? Describe your favorite ones below!

Reader Comments

  1. So I have about 100 sets of cufflinks. I love going to flea markets, Ebay etc to find them. I really look for the different shapes. I have cigar, doorknocker, oil well, compass, as well as many colors, stones, etc. I keep them in those embroidery boxes from Michaels with red felt. I have about 5-6 of those full.

  2. Amazing! Thanks for sharing that collection. Some of my best finds were at garage sales and vintage shops for some terrific mid twentieth century links. That stuff can bring out your inner Don Draper.

    1. I would surely like to see a piece on TIEBAR collections…I have a lot of them going way back but as I am now retired and never dress formally any longer, no idea what to do with them all..

      1. I second Mark’s suggestion … would love to see a tie clasp piece … I collect tie clasps and think that would be great.

  3. There truly are some very nice cufflinks in your collection! I’m liking the double sided ones and wishing I could find a couple of sets of these with shirt studs as well. I wear a tuxedo most of the time and while I like what I have in my collection, It would be so cool to have a set of double sided links as well as matching shirt studs. This seems to be more of a British thing however. But I do believe men over here would soon grow to like them as well. Any ideas where I might start to look for them? By the way, French Cuffs have always been my dress shirt of choice. I’ve been wearing them since 6th grade (maybe 5th grade) and I’m well over 50 years old now. The weird part though was my mom would always threaten to turn my French Cuffs into short sleeves ( can’t stand short sleeves except on t’s and polos)! Later on, especially when I started wearing my tuxedos, I think she finally saw why I preferred French Cuffs as opposed to button cuffs. She also saw why I prefer bow ties from a young age.

  4. I’m sorry but I feel decorative cuff links break the rule that gentlemen don’t wear jewelry. Plain metal with etched geometric patterns or black or white are OK. Anything else is like a bolo tie clasp or having a crest on your blazer! Just not done by gentlemen. It’s the opposite of sprezzatura, but not quite Colonel Sanders!

    On another subject – don’t buy clothes while on an exotic vacation! I’ve gotten carried away in Nepal and Hawaii and bought garments I can’t wear in Minnesota! I fought off the desire to buy a Bavarian Loden outfit and lederhosen!

  5. Great collection, thanks for the article. I recommend that you have a pair of your mother’s or favorite aunt’s earrings converted over to cufflinks. They will become personal treasures.

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