Art Deco onyx cufflinks

Art Deco onyx cufflinks made of white 18 karats gold and Sheffield plate silver, from the Art Deco period. Adorned with sugarloaf onyx cabochon in a beautiful bezel set. French work from the beginning of the 20th century. 

The jewelry case is the original one, marked “The Sheffield Plate & Co, 14 rue de la Pépinière, Paris”. 

The company Sheffield Plate & Co. was known to make “Sheffield plate” jewels : silver and copper fused together, invented at the end of the 18th Century in England. 

Onyx is a black chalcedony which means “nail” in ancient Greek. Its name is taken from a myth about Cupid and Venus. It says that Cupid, using an arrowhead, cut the nails of sleeping Venus. Letting them fall on the sands, the Parcae (Roman deities of human destiny) would have metamorphosed them into stone, « because what comes from a celestial body must not perish”.

Eagle’s head hallmark

Note : a “Patented” annotation is marked on the binding part of the buttons, made of 18k gold.

The mention sugarloaf is a pyramid/conical cabochons.

Square dimension : 10 mm

Weight : 11.65 gr