On-the-cuff chic is back
NE DAY LAST JUNE, a man was browsing through the Aladdin's cave that is 20th Century Limited, a vintage jewelry store on Beacon Hill's Charles Street. The sub-street level shop is a wondrous display of metals and stone, plastics, and fabric long ago cut, polished, and fashioned into elaborate adornments -- hats, earrings, tiaras, you name it. The man wasn't really shopping though. He was pondering selling his cuff links and asked 20th Century's owner Paul Turnberg if he might be interested in buying his collection, built up over a lifetime, and numbering 1,250 pairs. Turnberg was indeed interested.
"At that time I was starting to get a feel that cuff links are becoming a fashion statement again," says Turnberg, who has run the vintage jewelry store for 11 years. For sure, designers like hip tailor Duncan Quinn, notable for his Savile Row suits, favor French cuffed shirts with eye-catching cuff links.
"Nobody bothered with cuff links for 20 years," Turnberg adds. "All of a sudden cuff links are in." So much so that, after Christmas, Turnberg's old stock of cuff links, much of which had sat ignored for years, was sold out. Fortunately, the collector called again in January. Following an inspection, a deal was struck and the cuff links were cataloged and in Turnberg's store in time for Valentine's Day.
"One woman bought a pair for her husband for Valentine's Day and he came in the day after and bought four more pairs for himself," says Turnberg.
Turnberg politely declines to discuss what he paid for the cuff link collection and says he doesn't know why the collector decided to sell. There are enameled cuff links with everything from Van Gogh's self-portrait, to bowling skittles and balls, to John Deere tractors, the latter likely a company souvenir. Some are souvenirs from different countries, including Mexico and Denmark. There are special treatments like "butterfly wing," which give an iridescent effect. There are cute pigs, nostalgic Mississippi steamboats, turtles with hematite bodies, and scarabs in lapis. Some have matching tie tags; others have shirt studs. Some, like the cute daisy-shaped ones with pearl petals and a big diamante bauble in its center, were designed for women. Turnberg, however, thinks cuff links are not gender specific.
"The wraparound cuff links from the 1970s were designed for men, but today they mostly appeal to women. Men don't want that much cuff link," he says of the gaudy looking 'links from the decade that taste forgot.
The collection dates from the late 1800s onward and prices range from $15 to $800 for a pair bearing a carved agate cameo set in 18-carat gold. "Those are not glued together, they are natural formations," Turnberg points out. "They carve away to expose the under color to form the background."
One particularly ornate pair dating from around 1880 and priced at $495 is "Etruscan." These pale colored 18-carat gold spheres are decorated with minute gold balls, each hand soldered.
"It's very labor intensive," says Turnberg . "During the Victorian era they were uncovering Etruscan gold jewelry in Italy and started to reproduce it."
Does Turnberg have a favorite pair and did he perhaps do a little shopping for himself?
"It's hard to choose a favorite from 1,250 pairs," he says. "I got a pair with Bacchus and one with St. George and the dragon. I like large cuff links. If you are going to wear cuff links why not make a statement?"
20th Century Limited, 73 Charles St., Boston. 617-742-1031. bostonvintagejewelry.com. Open: Mon.-Sat.,11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., Noon-5 p.m.
