Cuff links

Cufflinks With Tiger Eye Signed M.lascar

A device that is employed to join temporarily the two ends of a cuff around the wearer’s wrist without overlapping the cuff ends, being inserted through two buttonholes.

Such articles are made of gold, silver or other materials, in many ornamental styles, shapes and sizes; luxury examples are ornamented with gemstones, enamelling, engraving, or relief decoration.

Cuff links are made in several forms:

• with a short chain or loose link connecting the head with the rear head or back-plate, being attached to each by a ‘jump ring’
• with a back-plate of lentoid form that is joined by a fixed bar to the ornamented head
• with a bar fixed vertically to the head and attached to a swivel bar that slides through the buttonholes and is then twisted into a securing horizontal position
• with a chain that is coiled inside the head and that uncoils as the back-plate is passed through the buttonholes, to afford a variable space
• with two separate pieces, one having a small boss and the other a corresponding depression, so that they can be pressed together as a ‘press-stud’

Some cuff links have a decorative piece at each end that is too large to pass through a button hole; these ‘double cuff links’ are joined by a detachable link with a spring-like fastener. Cuff links are generally made in identical pairs, but some are of two different but harmonious designs

Cubic zirconia

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A synthetic gemstone that is a simulant for a diamond.

It has been produced since 1977 under the trade-name ‘Djevalite’ by Hrand Djevahirdjian, S.A., a Swiss firm, and a version has been made in the USSR called ‘Phianitex’.

Its colour ranges from white to light yellow and brown. Its refractive index and colour dispersion are fairly close to the diamond, but its gardness is lower and its specific gravity much higher. Although very deceptive to the eye, it can be distinguished by a jeweller by several tests, e.g. observing comparative marks made by a special blue pencil or by the shape of a drop water on its table. It is sold in England under the trade-name ‘Windsor Gem’