Everything You Need To Know About The Design Of Cufflinks

When most people think about cufflinks – if indeed they think about them at all – it is probably something along the lines of “Well, they’re so out of date now. Who wears them today?”.

The answer may surprise you, but an awful lot of men – and women too – still wear cufflinks. If you don’t believe it, just take a look online. There are thousands and thousands of different designs of cufflinks for sale, so they are by no means old-fashioned. And they have an enormous price range from as little as £12 - £14 a pair up to several thousands for those that incorporate gemstones.

Most cufflinks have a front face which is the part that you see on the outside of the cuff, which is attached to a post with a toggle at the other end that turns through 90°. To put them on, you turn the toggle parallel to the post and slip it through both cuffs, then turn the toggle at right angles to the post to stop it slipping out of the cuff.

In many cufflinks the toggle is shaped like a bullet, and these are known as bullet-back cufflinks. But you can also get whaleback cufflinks where the toggle is shaped like the tail of a whale.

But not all cufflinks have a toggle. Some cufflinks are stud, or button-type, and these have two faces attached to a post, and you can have a design on both faces. As you might imagine, they are not nearly so easy to put on and take off as those with a toggle. There are also chain link cufflinks which have two faces which are linked by a short chain. These are easier to put on because you can turn the face sideways to slip through the cuffs.

Another style is ball return cufflinks which have a largish ball on the rear end which is attached to the face by a curved post.

One of the earliest designs of cufflink is the silk knot which is made entirely of silk and features a large knot of silk on each end. They come in a range of different colours. However, being made of a soft material they don’t tend to last as long as other cufflinks. They are also very affordable, so are cheap to replace when they wear out.

Cufflinks can also be made of a variety of different metals, one of which is stainless steel. These are obviously very hard-wearing and have a greyish lustre which means that they can easily pair with any colour of shirt. You can also get titanium cufflinks which are similar in look to stainless steel.

Another choice is platinum for cufflinks, which is a silver-white precious metal and similar to silver in appearance, but unlike silver it won’t tarnish.

You can also get cufflinks made of copper and bronze. Copper has a reddish tone to it and, if you don’t polish them, over time they can develop a patina, growing darker. You may or may not find that this appeals to you, but it does have a certain vintage quality to it. Bronze is similar, and will also develop a patina, but it has less of a red tinge, although it is still warm looking.

Of course, you can also buy solid silver or gold cufflinks. Silver has a slightly warmer appeal than stainless steel and is associated with class and good taste. If you really want to impress, then a pair of gold cufflinks should do the trick.

As for the faces of cufflinks, there are almost limitless choices of patterns and designs if you are not going for a plain metal. If you really want unique cufflinks, then at Wimbledon Cufflink Company we will make them for you to your own design for an order of at least 50 pairs. You could have your company logo, your initials, your dog’s name, or anything else at all that you wish on the face.

Of course, you can also have a pair of cufflinks with gemstones in them. These are obviously high-end cufflinks and are not going to be cheap. However, the best never is. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, then this is one way of doing so.