Tag Archives: cufflinks

How many 00’s in a pair of 007’s cufflinks?

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When embarking on a valuation, a valuer never knows what they will see and sometimes it’s the little, seemingly lower value items at the bottom of the jewellery box that are the most surprising.
I was asked to do a valuation for a large quantity of jewellery and watches. After appraising all the diamond and gem set pieces and the significant collection of watches, there was just an assortment of silver cufflinks remaining. I decided to value them in groups, starting with the designer ones: Tiffany & Co, Tom Ford, Cartier. I imagined they would be £200- £300 a pair. However this was not the case.

Later, when I started to do my research I discovered that Tom Ford do not sell silver cufflinks. The pair in question were oval in outline with a mother of pearl panel and the engraved initials ‘JB’. Apparently Tom Ford had specially manufactured four pairs of these cufflinks for the James Bond movie Spectre. One of these pairs had been sold at the Christies Spectre auction in 2016 for £74,500!

Needless to say I nearly fell off my chair! I re-contacted the client and asked for some information about the provenance of these cufflinks. Had they been purchased at auction? The response was ‘no they were a gift from Barbara Broccoli’.

In the article it mentioned that EON Productions had the two other pairs of cufflinks stored in their archives, so I decided to contact them. They were incredibly helpful and replied to my email almost immediately. They confirmed that Tom Ford had produced the cufflinks for the movie at a cost of £300 per pair. They had two pairs in their archives insured for the value of £3000 each. One pair had been gifted to a friend by the producers and one pair had been sold at auction for £74,500.

So what is the value of these cufflinks – £300, £3000 or £74,500? If the client decided to sell them at auction it could be argued that they would command £74,000 again, maybe even more. Movie memorabilia is highly desirable and sought after, especially when it comes to James Bond.

I explained my findings to the client and it was decided that an Agreed Value should be placed on these cufflinks, a value that the client and insurance company were comfortable with, that would be paid out if anything should happen to the cufflinks.

It was such a fascinating valuation. It really highlighted the fact that many clients have been gifted items of jewellery and they have absolutely no idea of their value, let alone have them listed for insurance purposes. When was the last time you had the contents of your jewellery box professionally reviewed? Diamonds may be forever, but be careful not to overlook the other treasures.

Cufflinks and Gentlemen’s Accessories

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A pair of Lalique green glass cufflinks with three accompanying dress studs sold in 2017 for £2,900

When considering insurance valuations in general, and jewellery valuations specifically, cufflinks, dress sets, perhaps even hip flasks and pockets watches can easily be over-looked. This is not helped by the fact they so often dwell in a down-at-heel stud box or the dark recesses of the sock drawer! They are not usually at the forefront when considering jewellery valuation; but they should be. In the current more casual world of workplace attire, where ties are often discarded it may be counter-intuitive to learn that the popularity of cufflinks remains as solid as ever.

American Art Deco rock crystal enamel and seed pearl – circa 1930 – £1500 (Current retail value)

Gold prices are at a year high and up over 30% on this time last year. Whilst the increased price of gold may not directly affect much lady’s gem-set jewellery, this is not the case with gentlemen’s accessories where the gold content is significant. Clients are often surprised to learn that although the price of the pocket watch they have inherited may have remained relatively stable, the accompanying watch chain has increased in value significantly over the last year or two. In large part due to the increased gold price. The watch chain is often the more valuable item.

Carved rock crystal and diamond cufflinks

Early 20th century carved rock crystal and diamond – circa 1920 – £2000 (Current retail value)

This strong demand for cufflinks is especially fierce with vintage, high end brands such as Cartier, Boucheron, Van Clef and Arples and Tiffany. A search of auction results will show that branded cufflinks and dress sets often significantly exceed pre-sale estimates, even where the materials involved are not of intrinsically high value. A pair of Lalique green glass cufflinks with three accompanying dress studs sold in 2017 for £2,900 against a pre-sale estimate of £200-£300, even given that all three of the dress studs were cracked. These sort of auction results suggest that many people may be significantly under-insured if they own vintage or antique pieces or indeed gold cufflinks bought when the gold price was lower and the market less volatile than it is currently.
It is also important to consider the value of unbranded cufflinks where gold is not the principle material. Although gem-set cufflinks and dress sets more readily suggest that insurance is needed, rock crystal, enamels in both gold and silver, crystal intaglios, onyx, jade, even semi-precious stones such as agates and amethyst all need to be considered as appropriate for insurance. It is possible that one might not replace certain items of jewellery on a like for like basis, but most men would want to replace cufflinks in the event of loss, so an accurate and up to date insurance valuation is crucial.