Are cufflinks an out-of-date gift?

Although not as fancy as women's accessories, men also have their own treasures, such as cufflinks. Cufflinks are one of the most important accessories for men's clothing. In addition to its practical function of fixing the position of the sleeves and beautifying the clothing, it also shows the status, and even entered the field of collection, known as the personalized collection of fashionable men. Cufflinks have a long history, but today they are not considered to be very decorative and have gradually been forgotten. Are cufflinks really an outdated accessory and gift?

A European gentleman once said: On formal occasions, men should only have three metals on them: wedding rings, watches and cufflinks.

Eileen Chang said: A man's cufflinks are like a woman's delicate earrings.

This shows that the importance of cufflinks for men is extraordinary. Through the cufflinks reveal a cut of the shirt, inadvertently reveal the chic cufflinks, throwing hands and feet between the elegant taste from the details out.

Today we'll explore the history and types of cufflinks and the most important question of all, are cufflinks an out-of-date gift?

The History of Cufflinks

One of the oldest discoveries of cufflinks is a 1684 London Gazette that describes a pair of diamond-filled cufflinks, and in 1686 the same publication describes a pair of gold-covered cufflinks. A pair of single chain cufflinks decorated with gold, found in Suffolk, England, is more definitive proof that cufflinks existed in the 17th century.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the use of buttons was almost exclusively for men, a situation that did not change until the mid to late 19th century. Thus, it was the manufacturers of shirts and tuxedos who contributed most to the development of cufflinks. the 1840s, along with the industrial revolution, saw a golden age of button production. More and more garments began to come with cufflinks that matched their style, and their prices increased tremendously as a result of the high-end cufflinks. A large percentage of the higher-value collections today are from that era.

One type of cufflink is made of a rare material called black jade. Queen Victoria began using black jade buttons in 1861 in memory of her late husband Albert. However, black jade is very light and fragile, so very few of them have survived in collections. Because of the rarity of the material, cufflinks made of black glass became a common alternative for funerals.

In the time of Louis XIV, colored glass buttons linked by short chains became the most fashionable decoration of the time, and the cufflinks, which France itself called "musketeer's cuffs", really made the cufflinks themselves a trend of magnificent clothing, paving the way for the development of cufflinks.

In the 19th century, clothing manufacturers no longer stuck to the traditional tuxedo and ceremonial clothing, but began to apply cufflinks to more casual clothing, and the invention of new man-made materials to greatly reduce the cost of production, these have made the price of cufflinks fell to the general middle class will be able to afford the level, cufflinks also entered the era of civilianization. But the booming gentrification business failed to defeat traditional high-end jewelry manufacturers like Tiffany and Cartier, so we still see sets of cufflinks and cuff links.

Although cufflinks were traced early on, the development of cuffs for cufflinks did not appear until the mid-nineteenth century - the French cuff (also known as the double cuff).

How to put on cufflinks

Today, the style of cufflinks is much more versatile. Various materials and designs of cufflinks are available for different occasions and reflect the different personalities of the wearer's life. The way cufflinks are worn and matched is also a must for the modern gentleman.

Unlike other accessories, cufflinks are usually worn with a French shirt with double folded sleeves. Wear French shirts need to reveal the cuffs, in the use of cufflinks, pay attention to the double cuffs stacked together, the first cufflink handle through the French shirt cuff buttonhole, and then the end of the shirt cuffs to adjust neatly, and finally rotate the handle of the cufflinks, stuck buttonhole can be.

Types of cufflinks

Bullet Back Cufflinks

These cufflinks are easy to use and are by far the most popular type of cufflinks. These cufflinks consist of a bullet type set between two short bars that are flipped 90 degrees to hold the cuffs in place.

Whale Back Cufflinks

The appearance of these cufflinks resembles that of a whale, with a flat head, a straight part of the rod, and a "whale tail" part connected to the rod and vertical. It's similar in concept to the bullet back cufflinks, but the difference is that the whale back cufflinks have a short, usually rectangular, thick swivel bar. This bar can be rotated vertically as you slide the cufflinks, and then they can be rotated horizontally to hold the cufflinks in place. These cufflinks are also more common, easy to use and wear. 

Chain Link Cufflinks

Chain link cufflinks are unique in that they have a flexible bridge that connects the front and back ends of the cufflink. The two ends are connected by a small metal chain that goes through a small hole in the cufflink. Chain link cufflinks are not as common as other styles and can sometimes be a bit difficult to fit. However, they do have the advantage that they are usually decorated on both sides.

Fixed Backing Cufflinks

The fixed backing cufflinks have no removable parts. They simply slide into the sleeve and do not need to be adjusted. They are usually larger on one side, so that the front and back can be separated. The advantage of this cufflink is that it does not need to be adjusted.

Ball Return Cufflinks

The ball return cufflink is a version of the fixed backing cufflink that is rounded at both ends. It works in the same way as a fixed backing cufflink and does not require adjustment. The main difference between the cufflinks is that it has a ball attachment on each end and one side is usually larger than the other. The smaller side is the back of the cufflink.

Conclusion

After all this discussion about cufflinks, let's go back to the question we started with: are cufflinks an out-of-date gift? I don't think so. Classics never go out of style. What do you think? 

Thank you for reading. If you want to read more articles, read here.