Historically, the first cufflinks shirt appeared in the 16th century and were fastened with  `cuff strings`. During the reign of Louis XIV, cuff strings started to give way to `sleeve buttons`, typically identical pairs of coloured glass buttons joined together by a short, linked chain. Around 1715, simple, paste-glass buttons had given way to pairs of two, decoratively painted or jeweled studs, basically diamonds, connected by ornate gold links.

By definition, cufflinks are tools for fastening shirts. They can also be an alternative to the buttons that are commonly sewn on to shirt cuffs.  Its feature is that cufflinks are separate objects: sew it onto the shirt and its a button, but then  if it`s fully removable it`s a cufflink.

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Just like buttons, cufflinks come in many shapes, sizes, styles and materials. They usually offer a little more contrast than a button, and are considered a more ornamental option, but they are not inherently more or less formal.

How Cufflinks Work

A cufflinks fastens a shirt by sliding through holes on either side of the cuff opening, then swinging into a locked or fixed position to hold  the sides together.

The most basic cufflink consists of a large head with a decorative front face, a post that extends from the back of the head and a hinged toggle that swings out from the post to fasten the link.

These are fastened by setting the toggle in it closed position so that there is a straight past descending from the underside of the head. The post slides through the holes on both sides of the cuffs, and then the toggle is swung outward to prevent the post from sliding back out. That holds the cufflink in place, with the front face of the insert member placed decoratively atop the button holes.