Cufflinks are fun to wear. They add dazzle to a pretty boring sleeve or suit almost like magic. And since they’re usually small that come with many different, not to mention inexpensive, designs, they also make great gift ideas and collectible items. But just like other accessories, cufflinks are not damage-proof. Sometimes, no matter how much care you handle it with, your cufflinks will wear off one way or another – either something will fall off or be broken or missing.
Of course, when this unfortunate thing happens, you have a choice of either buying a new pair or repair it yourself. Now if you broke your everyday casual-style cufflinks, you can buy a new one instead to save you much trouble. Novelty and casual cufflinks are inexpensive anyway. But if you’re wearing a prized cufflink – either of rare design, that holds sentimental value, a vintage one, or a collector’s item material, you would not be too quick to replace it. You will try to salvage it, either repair it yourself or have it repaired.
Some cufflink stores provide warranty for their cufflinks and will replace or repair your broken cufflinks free of charge. If that is the case, you’re in luck. Broken cufflinks under warrantee will save you lots of trouble (time and money) than repairing them on your own.
If that is not the case, your best option is to take your accessory to a jeweler instead.
Here’s a short analysis. If you opt to do it yourself and you know that this is not your specialty, you get to save on money on repair, but there’s also the risk of possibly aggravating the damage. If you have it repaired professionally, you spend extra but at least you can expect quality.
People normally take their broken jewelry to professional jewelers for repair and restoration. Cufflinks, just like most jewelry, are small, with sometimes intricate patterns and design, which altogether makes it harder to fix.
When repairing cufflinks, take note of the exact damage and the specific part you’re trying to fix. Of course, also consider what type of cufflink you are repairing. Cufflinks may come in different base material s – usually as metal, wood, or silk.
For missing or broken pieces of cufflinks
Since cufflinks are small, it is very possible to chip off some piece of it or bend some part out of place. For metal based cufflinks, you either glue your pieces together or solder them (the metal ones).
You will by now know that repairing cufflinks is not like your ordinary art class. For example, you have to use a special metal glues such as metal epoxies, when gluing metal and other cufflink pieces. Ordinary glues will simply not hold on.
Same is applicable if you have a broken gemstone. Carefully take all pieces out and get a replacement; fortunately gemstones are not hard to find. Get the right kind (or perhaps a new one) and the right size, then glue it properly to your cufflinks.
If and when gluing your metal is not the most appropriate, you can also try soldering (for the metal parts only). Soldering melts the metals first and they’re bounded together after it cools down. Again note that cufflinks are small and so are its pieces, which makes it hard it keep in place.
Still, if you’re inexperience, you’re best option would be to have your cufflinks repaired instead.