Coral 袖扣 by Andrea Ragazzo is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 A' Design Award 银奖 in 珠宝设计 Competition Category.

银珠宝· 2020

Coral 袖扣

by Andrea Ragazzo

Client: Ragazzo Design Studio

A' Design Award 银奖 Winner in 珠宝 Category

27,298

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #91583

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Coral 袖扣

Coral（珊瑚）是一对用于固定衬衫袖口的袖扣。市面上许多袖扣厚重笨拙，Coral则秉承意大利式的简约传统，尊重有机形态之美。镂空通透的造型营造出轻盈的视觉感受，而内部粗粝的肌理则形成鲜明对比。每一枚袖扣均以纯银为材，采用失蜡铸造工艺手工制作。每件作品经过抛光处理，并镀以铂金或玫瑰金，以持久保持光泽。扁平的鳍状扣柱可防止旋转，令袖扣的佩戴与摘取更加轻松便捷。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 银奖

Coral 袖扣是 A' Design Award 银奖得主，这是授予顶级、华美而令人印象深刻的设计的极为崇高的认可。银奖得主是极其卓越、极具创造力的作品，展现出其设计师杰出的专业技能、才华与敏锐。预计Coral 袖扣将成为一件出色的典范之作，兼具非凡的专业性与深刻的创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 银奖的设计是一项备受瞩目、令人钦佩的发明，造福并拓展艺术、科学、设计和技术的边界。Coral 袖扣是一件令人羡慕的创作，它唤起渴望，带来积极的情感，并激发惊叹与赞叹。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

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.
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.
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.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Ragazzo Ltd., Hong Kong, 2019
Image Credits: #1: Maxime Chambigneulle, 2019
#2: Andrea Ragazzo, 2019
#3: Andrea Ragazzo, 2019
#4: Andrea Ragazzo, 2019
#5: Maxime Chambigneulle, 2019