Cufflinks have long been associated with royalty and with men of fashion. Indeed, they go back to the early 16th century. Before that time, men wore their cuffs tied together with pieces of string. Under the reign of Louis XIV in France, these were eventually developed into a pair of coloured baubles joined together by a short chain and were referred to as boutons de manchette – or sleeve buttons.
By the beginning of the 18th century, the baubles developed further into studs that were connected by gold or silver links, and were obviously only for the upper classes, as the working man couldn’t possibly afford them. Indeed, by the middle of the 1700’s the studs and baubles became jewels, usually diamonds, so were even further out of reach for the hoi polloi.
However, along came the Industrial Revolution and with it came much cheaper manufacturing methods which meant that cufflinks could now be made in all sorts of different materials and designs, mostly metal, although some cufflinks consisted merely of silk tied into a knot at each end. Shirt manufacturers also got in on the act by increasing their production of formal shirts, and soon every man and his dog was wearing cufflinks.
Since those times, cufflinks have come and gone, into fashion, and then not so fashionable again. Back in the 1920’s they were very fashionable when Edward VIII wore them, and they were also included in a collection by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, and then they went out of fashion for a few years, only to be resurrected again in the 1950’s with bigger, chunkier styles. Mick Jagger also popularised lavish men’s shirts, and obviously cufflinks came with them.
Then in the 1970’ we had Woodstock and the trend then was for bright colourful shirts complete with buttoned cuffs, so cufflinks were not needed any more. However, in the 1980’s they made a reappearance, some say because of a TV series of Brideshead Revisited which was based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh which was set in the 1940’s. And they have stayed fashionable until this day for men for whom sartorial elegance is important.
Indeed, if you Google the term “buy cufflinks” there are just short of 87 million results, and if you click on some of the results you will see that the list of designs of cufflinks is virtually endless. There would not be so many designs from which to choose if men were not buying them. And women too. There are cufflinks designs for women as well as men.
At Wimbledon Cufflink Company we are happy that this trend is continuing, because it keeps us in business, and we are pleased to say that, even with the pandemic, business has been good as usual. No doubt this is because of the wide choice of designs that we have available and that they are all affordable. We don’t produce cufflinks that are priced out of this world as some manufacturers seem to do. Indeed, many of our pairs of cufflinks are priced at a steady £49.00 which is exceptionally good value. This means that you can buy a range of designs for all occasions.
Our range of designs includes our Heritage range from which you can select designs that reflect the country of your birth. We have patterns for England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, and also American, French, Roman, and even Moorish designs.
So, if you are English, you might like our Royal Oak cufflinks which depict an oak tree on a dark background which is reminiscent of the tree in which Charles 1st hid from the Roundheads after he was defeated at the battle of Worcester in 1651. We also have the Three Lions cufflinks – which are very popular with our football fan customers – The Crown in gold and red, and the British Bulldog. For the Welsh, there is the Welsh Dragon, as you might expect, and also the Celtic Shield in gold and dark green. The Shamrock is obviously for the Irish, and there is the Scottish Lion as well.
Take a look through our range of designs which include the Formal 925 Sterling Silver cufflinks which are the perfect accompaniment to a black-tie event. In addition, we have speciality cufflinks such as the Circuit Board cufflinks and the DNA Double Helix pattern.