The History of the Cufflink
Rumour has it that the seventeenth century English monarch King Charles II invented one of the earliest forms of cufflink. Shirts with lacy fronts and cuffs were the height of fashion during his reign and string or ribbon was used to pinch the cuff into the wrist. Charles was renowned for his fashion flair and came up with the idea of ornamental buttons being sewn on to his coat sleeves so that his cuff could be pinned back allowing more of the lace to be on display. Although lace may not be in vogue for men nowadays, the wearing of cufflinks is still very much in fashion.
If you want to wear cufflinks you need to own a shirt with French or double cuffs as other styles tend to come with buttons on the cuffs and leave no space for the links to be inserted. Diamond cufflinks come in a range of styles: post design cufflinks have an ornamental fob on the top of a post which has a tilting stem on the bottom. The post is inserted through the buttonhole and the stem is manipulated into a T-shape position to hold it in place. The only disadvantage of this design is that you are limited on the number of diamonds you can display as only the front is decorative.
Button cufflinks are two matching ornamental buttons usually in the shape of a cabochon (dome) which are held together by a short chain. They give a more elegant look with the front and back of the cuff offering the wearer the opportunity to show off individual designs studded with diamonds.
Clip cufflinks clip together through the buttonholes and from front to back. This is the flashiest of all the styles which lends itself perfectly to diamond designs.
Diamond cufflinks are the epitome of elegance with the discerning alpha male making himself conspicuous by not wearing them.