These are rare and beautiful vintage 1970s silver hallmarked cufflinks. They were made for Caithness Glass - and have a silver millefiori glass gem as an embellishment. Given the date of production - the glass gem was probably made by Paul Ysart.
The set comes with its original vintage Caithness Glass presentation box (rare to find boxed) - as photographed.
These are exceptional cufflinks - with a miniature millefiori paperweight forming the main decorative feature. This is backed with silver and with an intricate rope pattern running around the edge of each.
They are finely made with a pivoting bracket on the back which can be twisted to point flat to fit neatly onto the aperture on your shirt / blouse cuffs. It then can be twisted around to keep locked on your cuff when worn.
All sections making up the links have a silver mark.
Dimensions - each link has a diameter of about 1.8 cm - so subtle additions to your more formal attire. The millefiori cane work on each cufflink is certainly quite amazing and made with much precision.
As you can see from my images - it is in lovely vintage condition. And is nice and clean. It is listed at a fair price given it comes with its RARE original box.
HISTORY: These pieces of silver jewellery were initially Paul Ysart’s idea. He had been making small ‘stones’ and setting them into cheap jewel fittings as presents for friends and family.
Caithness Glass saw the commercial potential in them and put Colin Terris in charge of further development. The range was officially launched in December 1970. Colin Terris designed a range of brooches and pendants inspired by traditional Scottish designs and hired Lucia Polanski as jewellery designer; she produced the rings, earrings, and cufflinks designs.