Catalog: Estate Jewelry: Cufflinks and Accessories: Gold (428)

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 good pair of Victorian 14K yellow gold cufflinks, each face in the form of an owl's head complete with bright ruby eyes. The gold is finely detailed and the rubies are natural and of high quality. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1900. Condition: excellent. Size: 1/2" x 1/2". Weight: 6.7 grams.

A very rare pair of 14K yellow gold cufflinks, the faces designed as fearsome lion-like gargoyles. Each snarling mouth grasps an old mine cut diamond, and the eyes are set with small emerald cabochons. The fur is pierced and detailed in a way that suggests the stone fretwork of Gothic cathedrals. The faces are joined by arch connectors to bean backs. The connectors are stamped with the mark for Schira Bros. of Cincinnati, Ohio. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 1 x 9/16 inch. Weight: 8.6 grams. Approximate Total Diamond Weight: .16 carat.

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 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.

An extraordinary pair of French Art Nouveau 18K yellow gold enameled cufflinks, the faces featuring flowers bearing a secret message. In Victorian symbology, the daisy represented "innocence" or "purity", whereas the red poppy meant "pleasure". Taken together, the choice of flowers in these cufflinks was certainly intended to convey an erotic sentiment. The faces are beautifully hand-pierced and highlighted with translucent enamels in delicate shades of green, rosy red and whitish-yellow. The exposed areas of gold are worked in the semi-matte Russian finish popular in better quality Art Nouveau jewels. Each face is marked with the "tete d'aigle" for 18K.

Origin: France, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent; a couple of extremely minor enamel flakes under magnification. Dimensions: 9/16" diameter. Weight: 10.8 grams.

A handsome pair of Arts and Crafts (Aesthetic) period cufflinks in 14K yellow gold. The oval faces have irregularly pierced faces set with buff-cut amethysts. The amethysts have nice medium coloring. Their smooth upper surfaces match the simple overall style, while the faceted pavilions provide a little shimmer. Tested and guaranteed 14K gold.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: 11/16 x 13/16 inches. Weight: 13.2 grams. Approximate Total Amethyst Weight: 11.68 carats.

Very nice pair of Victorian 14K gold cufflinks in the Arts & Crafts or Aesthetic style. The simple engraved decoration of the gold faces, suggestive of a Celtic design, is typical of jewelry in the Aesthetic taste, as is the use of matrix gemstones such as turquoise. These stones were valued more for their appearance than for their intrinsic worth--another characteristic of Aesthetic jewelry. The back faces are plain gold. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Ca 1870. Condition: excellent, all original, no monograms. Size: 3/4” x 21/32”. Weight: 7.0 grams.

A superb pair of mid-19th century 18K yellow gold, silver and platinum cufflinks set with diamonds and sapphires. The square faces feature collet-set old mine cut diamonds centering intricately pierced quatrefoil motifs bead-set with rose cut diamonds in silver. Rows of channel-set square sapphires radiate outward from the center diamonds toward the rounded corners of the faces. The center diamonds are approximately .2 carats each, are estimated at H/I color and SI2 clarity, and are set in silver as was the custom in jewelry of the era. The natural sapphires have vivid slightly greenish-blue to violet-blue color, and show no signs of treatment. The workmanship of the faces is very fine, with high quality beading, hand-sawn piercing and double-gallery construction. The faces are attached by gold chains to gold and platinum torpedo backs. Tested and guaranteed 18K gold, silver and platinum.

Ca. 1850. Condition: excellent. Size: 9/16” x 9/16”. Weight: 7.4 grams. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: diamond, .96 carat; sapphire, .34 carat.

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 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.

An elegant pair of Victorian 18K yellow gold cufflinks, the baton faces very finely and ornately engraved in a foliate pattern. The faces are joined by chains. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Ca. 1875. Condition: excellent, all original, sharp detail. Dimensions: faces, 11/16” long. Weight: 5.6 gr.

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 wonderful pair of Victorian cufflinks, the faces fashioned as bloodstone (heliotrope) spheres encircled by gold snakes. The stones are nicely mottled with red and green colors and spin freely on their axes. The snakes circle around the bloodstones at the equator and their heads rise up over the top. The gold is finished in the slightly matte “Russian finish” often used in Art Nouveau jewelry and the snakes are lightly engraved with scaly details. The faces are attached by arched connectors to bean backs. In Victorian symbology, snakes represented eternal love. Tested and guaranteed 18K.

Origin: America, ca. 1890. Condition: excellent. Dimensions: faces, .5 x .5 inches. Weight: 7.3 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 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 Victorian 14K yellow gold double-sided cufflinks, the square faces highlighted with a hammered texture and star-set with very good quality antique cushion-cut diamonds, sapphires and rubies. One pair is diamond and ruby and the other is diamond and sapphire. The stones show no indications of heat treatment. The ruby and sapphire are most likely from Burma and Ceylon, respectively. The use of red, white and blue stones was particularly popular around the time of the American Centennial celebration in 1876. Tested and guaranteed 14K.

Origin: America, ca. 1876. Condition: excellent, all original. Size: 1/2” x 1/2”. Weight: 6.7 gr. Approximate Total Gemstone Weight: diamond, .15 ct; ruby, .05 ct; sapphire, .05 ct.

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.