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REF. TA-DIO-0084
| Designer | Christian Dior |
| Period | 1980s |
| Type | Cufflinks (pair) |
| Design | Textured nugget tops |
| Material | Gold-tone metal |
| Marking | Stamped Dior |
| Measurements | 2 x 1 cm |
| Condition | Very good vintage, light fading to gold tone |
Textured like raw gold, these cufflinks bring the sculptural language of brutalist jewellery to a classic tailoring accessory. The Dior stamp places them within the house's licensed costume jewellery of the 1980s, when a designer signature at the cuff was a discreet form of display.
This pair of Christian Dior cufflinks dates from the 1980s. Each top is cast in gold-tone metal to resemble a chunky gold nugget, with an irregular, textured surface. They measure 2 x 1 cm and are stamped Dior.
Sculpted metal, signed at the cuff.
Through the 1980s Christian Dior was led by Marc Bohan, artistic director from 1961 to 1989, who received the Dé d'Or in 1983 and 1988. Bohan widened the house beyond couture with lines including Miss Dior and Dior Monsieur, while costume jewellery bearing the Dior name was made under licence by the German firm Henkel & Grosse, which had held the rights since 1955.
Tailoring was central to 1980s dressing, and the decade favoured accessories that carried a recognisable designer name. Cufflinks, worn with double-cuff shirts, offered a small and practical place for that signature.
The nugget form takes its cue from brutalist jewellery, which favoured rough, organic surfaces over polished ones and developed from the 1960s onwards. Here the effect is rendered in gold-tone metal rather than solid gold, and the Dior stamp identifies the house. Light fading to the gold tone is consistent with wear.
The texture is the design.
Signed Dior costume jewellery from the second half of the twentieth century is widely collected. Cufflinks offer a way into that field that remains practical to wear with tailoring today.
Signed Christian Dior costume jewellery from the 1970s and 1980s continues to draw steady interest from collectors and wearers.
Gold-tone finishes fade with use, so the condition of the surface plays a large part in how period pieces are assessed.
Brutalist jewellery, with its raw and textured metal surfaces, developed from the 1960s and fed into the bolder costume jewellery of the 1970s and 1980s.
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