Amethyst Cabochon Cuff Links

Restraint defines these cuff links: an amethyst cabochon set in a narrow silver frame, the metal kept to the minimum needed to hold the stone. The design lets the violet of the amethyst do the work, framed just enough to read as a finished jewel.

Amethyst was a favored Spratling stone, and the spare setting here, a thin silver border around a domed cabochon, shows his preference for letting color and material carry a small piece rather than burying the stone in metalwork. The narrow frame keeps the cabochon dominant.

As first-period silver-and-amethyst cuff links they belong to the studio's accessories for men, where a single well-chosen stone in a clean setting made the design. Such stone-set links are seen at auction only occasionally.