Antique jewelry glossary

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Sleeve fastener

See our: cuff links.

A type of penannular ring in the form of a swelling hoop that is wider in the middle and sometimes ribbed, and has at each end a large disc terminal. It has been said that, in view of the acute angle of the discs, such articles were for use in the manner of a modern cuff-link, but that has been doubted in that some of the discs are too large for that purpose. It has also been suggested that they were intended for use as a special-purpose currency.

Some similar larger articles, with flat, conical or trumpet-mouth terminals, have been designated as a dress fastener. Both types have been found in Ireland, and the smaller ones also in western Scotland; both have been attributed to the Irish Late Bronze Age, 8th/7th centuries BC.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson