In the 19th century, after the French Revolution, the splendid originality of men's wardrobes began to Iose ground to the far more sober style imposed by democratic ideals. Aristocratie magnificence gave way to the bourgeois efficiency of the new business class, and its strictly conventional attire was only relieved by cuff links, which, minuscule as they were and scarcely visible just below the hem of a sleeve, became a boundless source of inspiration among jewelers.
