French cuffs without cuff links
Since it’s not necessary to wear most dress shirts with cufflinks, many men seem to be unaware that shirts with French cuffs actually do need to be accompanied by cuff links. Essentially, French cuffs without cuff links are like a Playboy without the centerfold. If you have a shirt with French cuffs, cuff links are really the icing on the cake and will enhance your appearance by making you seem more presentable and smartly turned out. As well, since French-cuffed shirts are generally worn on more formal occasions, or at least in a business environment, the purpose of wearing such a shirt is to look polished -- a feat that is hard to accomplish when your sleeves are flapping about. Don't make the same mistake. To help ensure cufflink success,
I have compiled a list of some classic black and white cufflinks you can't go wrong wearing.
There are a large number of semi precious stones that come in black and white. Stones are always a great way to go. They provide your suit with luster and an aesthetic appeal your duds would not have without their refining addition.
Lets start with a vivacious stone that comes in many colors, including both black and white.
Very similar to the look
of a diamond, crystals come in many different shades.
Crystals make for gorgeous accessories and can be used on almost any texture including fabric.
This stone even has a luxury brand known as Swarovski.
Swarovski crystals are precision cut lead crystal glass.
Then there is the famous pearl that everyone knows from their grandmother. Pearls are produced by a living mollusk, like an oyster or a mussel. The rare gem is ideally round, but sometimes mollusks create a baroque pearl, which doesn't offer the round shape. Another type of pearl that is of prominence is mother of pearl. Shown above, mother of pearl comes from the inside of a shell and is white with a hint of brilliant and iridescent hues.
Another iridescent stone, coming from the sea like mother of pearl, is abalone. Abalone is primarily white, but provides more iridescence than most mother of pearl gems.
Now for the darker side of the stone spectrum...
Onyx is usually a black stone but it can also be featured in other colors. Onyx is actually an Assyrian word meaning ring. The natural stone is used in all types of accessories including cufflinks and is most often cut as cabochon, which just means the stone has been shaped and polished as apposed to faceted.
Fiber optic glass is another great way to achieve a dark cufflink. The face or the backing can be fiber optic, either way is a great choice. Fiber optic glass can offer a chameleon appeal to your cufflinks that you cannot get from many other stones.
A good wrap up for the black and white feature is enamel. While enamel is not a stone, it comes on many black and white cufflinks and is a great formal piece. Unlike the enamel on your teeth, enamel for jewelry is a hard paint that is applied to the cufflink and then covered in a shiny topcoat. Enamel is hard and durable, and does come in many other colors.
There are your tools for success. Be sure to check back often for more cufflink information.
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Fixed backings are an extension of the cufflink face. This means that the post and backing are formed from the same piece of metal as the front side of the cufflink. The backing does not bend or move in any way. May require a bit more work to put on, but you will benefit in the long run from not having moving parts.
This pair of croc cufflinks, by Tateossian London, features a fiber optic glass red ball. Often with fixed backs, the backing follows along the same theme as the face of the cufflinks. In this design, the back is tied into the theme with the color of the crystal inlays for eyes and the fiber optic glass. Some likely patterns for backings include quilting the silver or adding enamel to the face of the backing.
