All About Understanding CuffLinks Better

Cuff links are unisex french sleeve fasteners used on either a shirt or blouse. One part is small enough to go through the whole while the larger part, the decorative portion, is left out on the most visible part. These two parts are then enjoined together by use of a string, metal or other means.

In the sixteen hundreds cuffs were mere strings used to tie sleeves but in the seventeen hundreds they were reinvented. They were made coated in precious metal and jewels and were an important status symbol. The affluent members of the society donned them with such pomp and color displaying elaborate designs and styles.



Cuffs are manufactured from several materials ranging from a silk cloth to wood. Metal, is however, the most popular material as it makes the links glitter and look attractive to the wearer. The metals used range from the cheaper stainless steel to the more expensive silver, rhodium and gold coated.

If you are the creative type then here is a formula to help you make your own at home. You require 2 cufflink pads of whatever material you require, two squared rings plus two mounted crystals. The only equipment you will need is only a 1oz glue tube.

Apply glue on the surface of one of the pads and place a center ring upon it. Pour out some of piece of glue and apply to the mounted crystal and carefully place it in the middle of the square ring you glued to the surface earlier. Now let it dry and do the same for the other.

There are several types available in the market they are identified by the method used to insert them onto the cuffs of your shirt and by the method used to hold the cuffs together. T-shackle, also referred to as bullet back or toggle closure, has a bullet shaped fixing held in between two posts. On pushing it through the holes of the shirt, turn the 'bullet' ninety degrees to enable it lock onto the shirt.

The most formal of cuffs is the double face which has two similar sides joined together by a bar. The chain link type also has similar sides but instead of a bar it has a chain joining them. Both can easily be engraved with your name or family crest.

Push through range of cuff links have a round tip that you push through the shirt holes, major disadvantage is they come off easily. Almost similar but different in the ends is the whale back closure, when the 'tail' flips horizontally it secures the link in place. Snap ons on the other hand has two discs that are clipped together securing both sides of the cuff.