This week we are sharing a selection of Modernist cufflinks, recently added to our on-line collection. Please click here to see our full range of cufflinks—from Victorian to Modernist.
These Czech Modernist cufflinks have seen quite a bit of dramatic history! They were made in the 1920's, during the period known as The First Czechoslovak Republic.
After World War One, and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), several former portions of the Empire were cobbled together to create a new country—and the name "Czechoslovakia" was born. After 1933, Czechoslovakia was the only remaining functioning democracy in Central Europe. But it was not to last. In 1938, Germany took Sudetenland, the "German Region" of Czechoslovakia. Other regions were ceded to Hungary and Poland. Thus began The Second Czechoslovak Republic which was only to last six months. In 1939, the Nazis took the rest of the young country; from 1939 to 1945, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist.
After World War Two, Czechoslovakia was reconstituted as part of the Soviet Bloc. Attempts to liberalize—like the Prague Spring in 1968—were met with severe Soviet retaliation. But the Soviet Union was losing its grip. In 1989, immediately after the Berlin Wall fell, Czechoslovakia deposed its "Soviet-approved" government and declared its independence—a peaceful transition called The Velvet Revolution.
Slovakia had long sought its own independence and, in 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two separate countries: Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
These cufflinks, date-marked 1921-1928, are crafted of 900 silver and finished with a layer of gold. A textured, bark-like facing gives understated embellishment to this handsome pair of cufflinks which have seen their fair share of revolutions, invasions and declarations of liberty. Click on the photo above to learn more about them.
More Modernist cufflinks tomorrow and in the days to come.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248