Cuffs: A perfect pair or a singular pleasure
Whether you buy two or happily wear a single, cuff bracelets can carry the simplest outfit.Chanel brought baubles from old lovers to her playboy-designer pal Falco di Verdura and asked him to do something with them. Verdura created the Maltese-cross cuffs she was rarely without. A similar black version later became Diana Vreeland's signature.
Socialite Lynn Wyatt swaps her jeweled crosses to different cuffs for summer and winter. Verdura makes them for each wrist, so the fit is perfect. The price is from from $14,000 per bracelet.
I sat in a restaurant in New York near a woman wearing these De Grosogono black and white diamond cuffs ($75,000 each) and could barely wrench my eyes from their dazzle. She was simply dressed in a black sweater and pants; the jewels were astounding.
A down to earth choice (from Netaporter) still provides an armload of interest: Isharya's coral and nizam wood cuff reduced from $288 to $216.I wear this Hermes enamel cuff below
in orange; it's also offered in white, shown, and a rich espresso brown choice, all available in white or yellow gold edge. Ishar
ya's Kadamba square bangle, with 18k gold vermeil and agate is another beauty; also on sale at Netaporter, was $320, now $160.
Comments
Karen: Yes. My friend Christine wears two wide silver cuffs, in different but relating patterns, one on each wrist. Not a hard look but certainly has presence.
I have a few cuffs, but almost always wear an inch-wide First Nations carved silver one my husband surprised me with when I was back at school getting my first degree -- it depicts raven stealing the sun, thus nicely tied to a quest for knowledge. It's become almost talismanic for me and I feel a bit naked if I realize I've forgotten to put it on. Beautiful West Coast First Nations cuffs in various widths, in silver and/or gold, can be had for anywhere from 200 up, depending on carver and provenance. Always classic, always dramatic.
Diana Vreeland also had a pair of silver and (probably) ivory cuffs which she wore a lot.
But, unlike cocktail rings, I do find them a bit disabling. I certainly can't wear them all day to work for example, so tend to wear them on special occasions when all I need to do is raise my champagne glass!
ma: I admired your bracelet when we met! A one-inch one is so wearable, too!