Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Cufflinks and Accessories: Gold (429)

An extraordinarily fine pair of Larter 14K gold beanback cufflinks, the faces decorated with the image of a man with wildly flailing hair and grasping a blue sapphire in his mouth. The treatment of the hair and the choice of a blue stone suggests that the image represents the God of the Seas, Poseidon (Neptune). Alternatively, it could be Zephyrus, God of the West Wind. The sapphires have bright cornflower blue color and are have eye-clean clarity. The cufflinks are marked with Larter's hallmark.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, sharp detail, all original. Dimensions: faces, 15/32" x 1/2". Weight: 5.1 gr. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: .14 ct.

A handsome pair of Victorian 14K yellow gold cufflinks, the oval faces set with navette-shaped cabochons of lapis lazuli within surrounding gold borders enhanced with foliate engraving. The lapis is of the finest quality—known as Afghan lapis—with a rich dark violet-blue color. There are very few of the gold-colored flecks of pyrite which actually denote a lower quality of lapis. The faces are attached with arched connectors to bean backs. The connectors are marked for 14K and have the maker's mark for Wordley, Alsopp & Bliss.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent; one bean back has a very slightly flattened area that would be positioned on the inside of the wrist when the cufflinks are being worn. Dimensions: 3/4" x 7/16". Weight: 5.0 grams.

An outstanding pair of Napoleon III 18K yellow gold double-sided cufflinks, the faces fashioned from carved rhodolite garnets centering small collet-set natural pearls. The garnets have a strong purplish color and excellent clarity. The edge of each face is accented with scalloped ropework border. The faces are joined by figure-8 connectors. Stamped with French 18K gold hallmarks.

Origin: France, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 9/16" diameter. Weight: 6.49 grams.

A fine pair of French Art Nouveau 18K gold cufflinks, the faces depicting a mythological dragon with a scaly body and feathered wings. The cufflinks are very finely detailed. The back are stamped with French 18K gold marks.

• Origin: France, ca. 1890
• Condition: excellent
• Dimensions: faces, 9/19” diameter
• Weight: 9.8 grams

An elegant pair of 18K yellow gold cufflinks in a style blending elements of Aesthetic and Art Nouveau design. The round faces are decorated with a finely-pierced design of grapevines complete with clusters of fruit. The faces are joined by chains to torpedo backs. These would be a wonderful gift for the true wine lover and connoisseur. Fully marked with French hallmarks for 18K.

Origin: France, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent; sharp detail. Size: 9/16” diameter. Weight: 5.8 grams.

A pair of handsome 18K yellow gold cufflinks designed in an Art Nouveau interpretation of Gothic Revival. The heavy pierced front faces are reminiscent of the ornate carved stone bosses at the interesections of the ceiling ribs in a Gothic vaulted ceiling, while the back faces are pure Art Nouveau with whiplash curves. The pairing makes for a very attractive combination. The backs of the faces and the chains are stamped with French 18K marks.

Origin: France, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, all original. Dimensions: front faces, 5/8" x 5/8"; back faces, 1/4" x 7/8". Weight: 9.3 gr.

A fine pair of late Victorian 14K yellow gold bean-back cufflinks, the front faces decorated with ornately fashioned coiled snakes. The gold surface is treated to the soft, semi-matte bloomed finish sometimes seen in Victorian and Art Nouveau jewels. Kirby seemed particularly partial to snakes and produced several different serpent designs for cufflinks. In Victorian symbology, snakes conveyed sentiments of eternal love. Each cufflink is stamped “14K” and bears the maker’s mark for H. A. Kirby & Co.

• Origin: America, ca. 1890.
• Dimensions: faces, 3/4" x 1/2".
• Weight: 4.9 grams.
• Condition: excellent; all original.

A very attractive pair of Victorian 10K yellow gold bean-back cufflinks, the oval faces featuring oval cabochon amethysts in a foliate-engraved borders. The backs are marked 10K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Size: 5/8" x 3/8". Weight: 3.3 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 2.8 carats.

A handsome pair of late Victorian cufflinks worked in 18K yellow gold with platinum accents around oval bloodstone cabochons. The combination of metal colors against the deep blackish-green and red of the bloodstone is quite striking. The faces are attached with bar connectors. Tested and guaranteed 18K and platinum.

NOTE: Bloodstone is very difficult to photograph due to its dark coloration. Some of the photos shown here were backlit to show the translucency of the stones, but in normal lighting the appear opaque greenish-black with subtle red mottling.

• Origin: America, ca 1905
• Dimensions: faces, 3/4" x 9/16”
• Weight: 8.8 grams

An exceptionally fine and very heavy pair of 18K yellow gold cufflinks, the faces cast and hand-pierced in an ornate design of a mythological griffin. More properly, the creature is a Basilisk with the body of a serpent and the head and wings of an eagle. Deatailed scales and feathers are engraved for added interest. The back faces are worked in a laurel pattern. The quality of workmanship is so superb that even the back side of each face is entirely engraved to match the front. The cufflinks are stamped with French hallmarks.

Origin: France, ca. 1870. Condition: excellent; sharp detail; all original. Dimensions: front faces, 11/16 x 5/8 in. Weight: 10.4 gr.

A very nice pair of Victorian double-faced 14K yellow gold cufflinks, the oval faces set with trios of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. The diamonds are old mine cut, while the sapphires and rubies are cabochons. The colored stones are of very good color and show now indications of heat treatment. The gold surfaces are worked with the slightly matte Russian finish popular for higher quality jewelry of the period. Jewelry set with red, white and blue gemstones tended to gain popularity around key anniversaries or important events in American history. It is likely that these cufflinks date to the centennial year of 1876. The back of each face is marked 14K and has an unidentified maker's mark.

Origin: America, ca. 1876. Condition: excellent, all original. Dimensions: 21/32" x 13/32". Weight: 7.9 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: diamond, .16 ct; sapphire, .23 ct; ruby, .23 ct.

Elegant pair of 18K yellow gold cufflinks, the faces decorated with a stamped pattern of baskets filled with diamond-set flowers. The single-cut diamonds, though small, are of very good quality and are a nice contrast to the gold. The gold surfaces have the bloomed texture usually seen in French jewelry of the period. The connecting chains are hallmarked for 18K gold and are signed “R.W.C.”.

Origin: Europe, ca. 1870. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 5/8” diameter. Weight: 5.0 grams.

A beautiful pair of late Victorian 14K yellow gold cufflinks set with cat’s-eye chrysoberyls by M. Nosey Dragon & Co. of Tientsin (now Tianjin), China. Each chrysoberyl is surrounded by a finely detailed gold dragon, complete with scales, claws and whiskers. The chrysoberyls are unusually dark, tending toward a grayish-green instead of the more common golden brown. The cat’s-eye effect is very strong. The faces are connected with chains to torpedo backs signed “Nosey” and marked “K14”. The cufflinks are presented in their original fitted velvet and silk box imprinted with the maker’s name. The port city of Tientsin was opened by treaty with France and England in 1860 and became one of the most important trading and tourism cities in Eastern Asia. Fine jewelry, Chinese antiquities and other goods were readily available to wealthy visitors.

Origin: China, ca. 1895. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 3/4” X 1/2". Weight: 8.4 grams.

A very attractive pair of Victorian 14K yellow gold bean-back cufflinks finished in the softly bloomed “Russian” finish popular in pieces from the Art Nouveau era. The oval faces are simply finished with a beaded border and are star-set with small round brilliant cut rhodolite garnets. The stones have a very pleasing strongly purplish-red hue, easily mistaken for ruby. The backs are marked “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent. Size: 3/4” x 9/16”. Weight: 6.8 grams.

A striking pair of double-sided cufflinks made from Georgian cut steel and garnet buttons joined with 15K yellow gold chains. The garnets have very attractive medium-bright purplish-red coloring that contrasts nicely with bright sparkle of the cut steel “gems.” The garnet cabochons are held in place with fleur-de-lis shaped prongs. The faceting style of the steel indicates they were made in an earlier period, likely no later than 1790. The connecting chains have spring rings, so one face of each link can be removed for ease in placing the cuff hole. One of the spring rings is 9K and the other is gold-filled. They can easily be replaced with 14K by any jeweler. The back of one face has a worn engraving and the date 1871—probably they year the chains were added to the then 100 year-old buttons.

Origin: England, ca. 1770/1871. Condition: very good. Dimensions: 9/16” diameter. Approximate Total Garnet Weight: 30.7 cts.

A very good and unusually heavy pair of Victorian yellow gold double-sided cufflinks, the oval faces studded with rose cut diamonds and antique cushion cut blue sapphires in star settings. The gemstones are set in alternating rows for visual interest. The sapphires have vivid medium-dark violetish-blue color with excellent clarity and show no indications of heat treatment. The diamonds are lively with nice color and clarity. The gold is treated to the slightly matte Russian finish that was popular in better jewelry at the end of the 19th century. The cufflinks are unmarked, but are guaranteed to be at least 18K. Testing suggests they are more likely 19-20K, but definitely lower than 22K.

Ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 3/4” x 1/2". Weight: 12.5 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: diamond, .24 carat; sapphire, .72 carat.

A very attractive pair of Napoleon III 18K yellow gold cufflinks, the canted square faces studded with round mixed-cut rubies and old mine cut diamonds. The rubies are in the finest color-range, with strongly saturated, very slightly purplish-red hue. The nature of the inclusions in the stones suggests they are Burmese in origin. The diamonds are of similarly fine quality. The gold surface has a very subtle texturizing treatment that suggests moiré silk. The connectors are marked with a variety of French 18K hallmarks, including that of the guarantee office in Nancy and the “tete de Mercure” mark used 1840-1879.

Origin: France, ca. 1870. Condition: excellent. Size: 1/2” x 1/2”. Weight: 10.4 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: ruby, .128 ct; diamond, .112 ct.

A fine pair of French Art Nouveau 18K yellow gold cufflinks, the double faces in the form of snarling mythological griffins. The details are beautifully worked. Mythological beasts such as griffins, dragons and sphinxes were especially popular in Art Nouveau jewels by French makers. Each cufflink has one face that is smaller than the other so that it can more easily be slipped through the cuff hole. Each cufflink is hallmarked with the French “tete d’aigle”stamp for 18K.

Origin: France, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Size: full faces, 17/32” diameter; smaller faces, 17/32” x 7/16”. Weight: 8.0 grams.