Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Cufflinks and Accessories (503)

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 superb pair of late Victorian 14K yellow gold double-faced cufflinks, each face set with a carnelian cabochon. The settings are in a style combining both Aesthetic and Architectural Revival elements. The gold surfaces, worked in the matte Russian finish often seen in Art Nouveau jewels, contrasts beautifully with the rich rust colors of the carnelians. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1870. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 9/16” diameter. Weight: 9.5 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 8.0 carats.

An elegant pair of Art Nouveau floral double-sided floral cufflinks worked in 20K yellow gold. The faces are very finely hand-chased with an ornate pattern of daisies. The high gold content gives the cufflinks are very bright yellow color and heavy weight. The connecting chains are marked with an illegible maker's mark and a continental European mark for 20K.

Origin: Europe, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, sharp detail. Dimensions: 13/16" x 11/32". Weight: 7.8 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.

Attractive Victorian 14K yellow gold double-faced cufflinks. Each face is in a figure-eight shape enclosed in an outer oval border. Collet-set Persian turquoise cabochons center each face. The faces are joined by chains. Indistinctly hallmarked. Tested and guaranteed at least 14K.

Circa 1870

Condition: excellent, all original

Dimensions: 5/8” x 7/16”

Weight: 9.5 grams.

Very nice Victorian sterling silver doubled-faced cufflinks decorated with Classical medallions in the Shiebler style. The medallions depict are Greek in style and depict and adult man and a youth in profile. The backgrounds are stippled and the edges are beveled and irregularly shaped to suggest antiquity. The backs are marked "Sterling".

Origin: America, circa 1880. Condition: excellent, very sharp detail. Size: approximately 7/8" diameter. Weight: 12.5 grams.

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 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 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

A handsome pair of 14K yellow gold cufflinks, the faces fashioned as ornate batons. Each of batons has a lobed device at each end similar to the head on a 16/17th century Ottoman ceremonial mace used to connote that the bearer carried the full authority of the Sultan Khan. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, sharp detail. Dimensions: batons, 1-1/4" long. Weight: 10.4 grams.

An exceptionally fine, heavy pair of 18K yellow gold cufflinks, the faces hand-pierced with an ornate depiction of a mythological griffin. The workmanship is superbly done with heavy chased detail throughout. The surfaces show a mix of polished and semi-matte finishes. The backs have an ingenious folding mechanism that clasps the cuff without being too obvious. The clasps are marked with 19th century French patents, as well as hallmarks for 18K.

Origin: France, ca. 1870. Weight: 14.9 gr.

A very nice pair of Victorian cufflinks, the rectangular faces with canted corners and decorated with a plain band bisecting a field decorated with rococo foliate engraving. This is a design type more often seen on English cufflinks of the period, and it has a faintly heraldic appearance. The plain band, in fact, would have been ideal for a monogram. The connectors are marked 14K and also have the maker’s mark for Carter, Gough & Howe.

Origin: America, ca. 1880. Condition: excellent, sharp detail, never monogramed. Dimensions: 11/16” x 7/16”. Weight: 8.5 grams.

A very handsome pair of Victorian cufflinks, the faces fashioned from carved bloodstone discs centered with gold fox’s heads. The bloodstone, carved with a concave surface, is finely colored in a strong green with noticeable red flecks. The fox heads are beautifully detailed. The faces are connected with chains to decorative torpedo backs. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: very good, each bloodstone disc has a small rim nick visible under magnification, but not visible during normal wear. Size: 9/16” diameter. Weight: 6.8 grams.

A nice pair of Victorian double-sided 14K yellow gold dumbbell cufflinks set with oval cabochon almandine garnets. The stones have nice, rich red coloring that picks up on the slightly rosy tint of the gold. The cufflinks are marked “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 7/16” x 5/16”. Weight: 4.5 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 12.0 carats.

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.

A very attractive pair of Victorian beanback cufflinks, the oval faces set with with pyrope-almandite garnet cabochons. The gemstones have a much brighter red coloring than many garnets. The gold settings are decorated with foliate scrolled borders. The backs of the faces are marked “14K”.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Size: 9/16” x 7/16”. Weight: 5.0 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 5.0 carats.

A very nice pair of 14K yellow gold bean-back cufflinks by L. E. Garrigus & Co. The oval faces center buff-cut amethysts surrounded by gold borders ornately engraved in a foliate pattern. The smooth upper domes of the amethysts contrast nicely with the faceted pavilions that add a little shimmer. The connectors are stamped with Garrigus' 14K hallmark.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 11/16 x 9/16 inch. Weight: 6.8 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: 8.6 carats.

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 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 handsome pair of 18K yellow gold double-sided cufflinks from the era of Napoleon III. The navette-shaped faces are simply decorated with interlaced swirls. The faces are joined by chains. The cufflinks are stamped with French "tete de cheval" hallmarks for 18K.

Origin: France, ca. 1860. Condition: excellent, sharp detail. Size: 3/4" x 5/16". Weight: 6.0 gr.

A fine pair of French Art Nouveau 18K yellow gold cufflinks in the form of sinuously curved griffins. Mythological creatures such as griffins and dragons were a particularly popular subject matter for French jewelers of the era. The creatures are finely worked with excellent detail to the scales and other features. The chain connectors are fully hallmarked with French 18K hallmarks and with an unidentified maker's mark.

Origin: France, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Size: 9/16" x 7/16". Weight: 9.5 grams.

A very rare early pair of double-sided cufflinks, the navette-shaped faces centered with Persian turquoise cabochons surrounded by borders of rose cut diamonds set in silver. The faces are joined with 15K yellow gold chains. Diamonds in Georgian jewelry are nearly always set in silver, as they are in this case. The silver’s light color brings out the glitter of the rose cut diamonds and also nicely accents the rich color of the turquoise. The diamonds are set in an open back “a jour” setting that was developed toward the end of the 18th century, but was not commonly used until the early Victorian era. The extra-long chains suggest that the cufflinks were probably intended for use on the cuffs of a coat, rather than a shirt, to accommodate the thick folds of velvet or brocade fabric. Tested and guaranteed 15K gold.

Origin: England, ca. 1800. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: faces, 1/2" x 5/16”. Weight: 5.5 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: diamond, .80 carat; turquoise, 3.96 cts.

An extremely rare pair of 18th century silver double-faced cufflinks set with old European cut colorless paste gemstones. The crystals are held in place in traditional cut-down settings typical of the period and the faces are joined with the quatrefoil connector almost always seen on this type of cufflink. The backs of the crystals are foiled in silver to provider a brighter appearance. Cufflinks such as these are usually broken up into two pairs of earrings, so it is quite uncommon to find a pair in original condition.

Origin: England, ca. 1780. Condition: excellent, original patina. Size: 17/32” diameter.