Andrea Ragazzo · CLIENT: Ragazzo Design Studio
Coral is a pair of cufflinks made to hold the cuffs of a shirt together. Many cufflinks are bulky and heavy. Coral instead follows an Italian tradition of simplicity and respect for organic shapes. The open, see-through form gives a light appearance, while the rough inner texture adds contrast. Each cufflink is hand made from sterling silver by lost wax casting. Each piece is polished and plated with platinum or rose gold to keep the shine. The flat, fin-like stem prevents rotation and makes the cufflinks easy to put on and take off.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- These cufflinks are designed in the best tradition of Italian love for simplicity and respect for organic shapes. They are featuring a unique see-through look, which creates lightness, while the rough inner texture creates added contrast.
Each cufflink is hand made from Sterling Silver. To keep its shine, they are individually polished and either Platinum or Rose Gold plated. The flat, fin-like stem prevents them from rotating while making it easy to put on and take off. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Sterling Silver with Rhodium plating and Rose Gold plating, ∅20 x 22mm
- Tags
- Cufflinks, Men's Accessories, Sterling Silver, Gold Plated, Italian Design, Luxury Accessories, Men's Fashion, Modern Design
- Production Technology
- The cufflinks are made by lost wax casting, which is commonplace in jewelry making. All files were created in Creo 4.0 and rendered in Keyshot to get an accurate representation of the final design before production. A Makerbot 3D-printer was also used, to get preliminary parts made in PLA. These were used to fine-tune the look and size.
- Design Challenge
- There was not much of a research challenge for this project since cufflinks have been around for a very long time. Also in terms of manufacturing and materials, the choice to use Sterling Silver and Lost Casting were straight forward. A high-quality material was necessary, and therefore, only silver or gold would have been appropriate. Using pure gold would set a too high selling price. Therefore the choice to use Sterling Silver and gold plate them.
- Project Duration
- The project started in September 2018 and the first production of three SKU's (Rose Gold, Silver, Gun Metal) arrived in Hong Kong around March 2019.
- Operation Flow
- There are several types of cufflinks - Whale Back, Bullet Back, Chain Link, Ball Return, ... The Coral Cufflinks come as Fixed Backing design, which usually is a little harder to put on. Due to the slim design and functional shape; however, this is not the case. These cufflinks slide easily into the cuffs cuts, keeping them tightly together.
- Research
- During the initial phase of the design, several directions were taken, including designs featuring enamel. The enamel was placed in the inner part of the cufflinks, creating contrast and making the design feel alive. The idea came from the underside of a starfish, which reveals an inner color, different from the outer skin. It makes it more vulnerable and fragile, enhancing its lightness even more. Unfortunately, it was not possible from a technical point of view, since reaching the inner surface was very difficult and time-consuming.
- Inspiration
- Cufflinks in itself are meant to hold the cuffs of a shirt together. The tighter, the better. They can be bulky and overloaded, usually made of expensive materials to show the status of its wearer. The inspiration was to create something opposite to that. Something that still made of a single, pure material and which replicated lightness. Something that even when holding the cuffs, would so not by weight, but by its structural integrity.
- Image Credits
- #1: Maxime Chambigneulle, 2019
#2: Andrea Ragazzo, 2019
#3: Andrea Ragazzo, 2019
#4: Andrea Ragazzo, 2019
#5: Maxime Chambigneulle, 2019 - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Ragazzo Ltd., Hong Kong, 2019
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