Silver Onyx and Mother of Pearl Cufflinks

• Sterling Silver - Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. Fine silver is 99.9% pure silver, and is relatively soft and the addition of the very small amount of copper gives the metal enough strength and hardness to be worked into jewellery, decorative and household objects.
• Onyx - Onyx is a form of agate, used from antiquity and popular again in the 1920s and 30s. European onyx is generally green, but can be many other colours, and can contain bands of black and/or white.
  
  This multicoloured stone is widely used for table tops, lamp bases and in jewellery. Some types of onyx are also used for cameos of which the upper white layer is cut away to reveal the colour beneath.
• Mother-Of-Pearl - Mother-of-pearl, technical name "nacre", is the inner layer of a sea shell. The iridescent colours and strength of this material were widely used in the nineteenth century as an inlay in jewellery, furniture, (especially papier mache furniture) and musical instruments.
  
  In the early 1900s it was used to make pearl buttons. Mother-of-pearl is a soft material that is easily cut or engraved.
  
  Nowadays it is a by-product of the oyster, freshwater pearl mussel and abalone industries.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• cufflinks, designs and materials
  • mother of pearl 73
  • silver items 506