Making Jewellery Issue03

FEATURE
Your say
Off the cuff
Problem 1
This article was sent to Making Jewellery by one of our readers,
Colin Hall. Colin is an engineer who on many occasions wears
cuff links as part of his everyday wardrobe
I
t’s clear to me that some cuff link designers
have never worn them, otherwise they THIS IS A PROBLEM: the buttonholes in
would have sorted out some basic mistakes. the cuffs get stuck in here four times on
When you’re in a hurry, for instance changing the way through double cuffs
into a dress shirt, it can take fi ve minutes just to
get the damn things in. T_h at’s when I think that
the designer should face a life sentence of doing
them up, over and over again until they’ve learnt
their lesson.
T_h e problem is with chain links, not the
turning devices which usually slide in nicely.
T_h e chain is attached to a ring or hoop on the
reverse of the cuff link. It is the circular ring
that causes the problem; it stands proud of the AN IMPROVEMENT:
back of the link and catches on the buttonholes, This is much better. The edges of
all four of them, on the way through. A half
C
OLIN HALL
the buttonholes ride over the hoop,
circle on the reverse solves most of the problem the shallower the better
by eliminating the trap between the full circle
ring and the back of the link.
Other mistakes include making the link that is
Problem 2
passed through the buttonholes so bulky that it
won’t go though the buttonhole, or too long so
that you also have to pull some chain through EDITOR’S NOTE:
before you can get the back link right through. Thanks for drawing this design ﬂ aw to
It may have been easier in the old days when our attention Colin. I’m sure many of
the rich and famous had valets to do up their our jewellery makers will take this on
cuﬄ inks. Nowadays, it’s a one handed, no valet board when they are next creating This is the worst of all. The buttonholes
experience. You, the makers of cuff links, could cufﬂ inks. It never occurred to me how get stuck in the nick, and the link is
make it a lot easier for we poor uncoordinated difﬁ cult it is for men to fasten them! too long to go all the way through the
males and then we might even buy a few more. buttonhole
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I am a jeweller and am very
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glad to see a magazine
picking up PMC and bringing
it out of the closet!
Perhaps you could Hi there, I tend to get
build up a dictionary of cheap and cheerful ﬁ les,
EDITOR’S REPLY: From Issue 2 onwards we have
included the prices of all accessories and contact
deﬁ nitions and techniques try maplins
details of suppliers. T_h e Retail T_h erapy page as of
issue 3 has now become the Readers’ Showcase
EDITOR’S REPLY: We are building a glossary EDITOR’S REPLY: It’s great to see on the forum, where you can shop directly with some of our
of terms in support of your suggestion and designers helping each other. It’s one of the talented readers. It will give more jewellery
thumbnails of tools for quick reference things I most admire in creative people makers the opportunity to display their work
96 www.makingjewellery.com
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