Collector's pieces

Cufflink collectors can count among their number Jeremy Hackett, chairman of Hackett tailoring, the company he founded in 1983 and which now has a branch in South Anne Street, Dublin 2.

In his delightful ruminations on aspects of menswear in his book, Mr Classic, Hackett talks about the first pair he got when he was 21, and which were made from 18ct gold, etched with his initials. Hackett hunts out cufflinks from local antique markets or second-hand shops. Once he returned from Australia with striped gold links made around the time of the gold rush, and in Mumbai he haggled for a pair that belonged to a maharaja. In Hackett's current accessories catalogue there are five types of cufflink, costing between €60 and €180.