{"id":19192,"date":"2026-07-08T10:54:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/cufflinks-vienna-interview-ferdinand-schwarzer\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T10:54:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T08:54:59","slug":"cufflinks-vienna-interview-ferdinand-schwarzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/cufflinks-vienna-interview-ferdinand-schwarzer\/","title":{"rendered":"Cufflinks from Vienna: An Interview with Ferdinand Schwarzer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Viennese family firm Schwarzer, founded in 1896, has dealt in jewellery for five generations. Ferdinand Schwarzer heads the house, and we are sitting with him in the garden of the historic premises. It is nine in the morning in summer and still pleasantly cool. All you hear is the splashing of the fountain and the birds rustling in the ivy. Hard to believe that the busy Naschmarkt and the Kettenbr\u00fcckengasse underground station are only a few hundred metres away. Ferdinand Schwarzer has just fetched coffee and water, and now he sets out a few jewellery boxes of cufflinks. Then everything is ready for the conversation.<\/p>\n

\"Ferdinand
Ferdinand Schwarzer in the garden of the Vienna premises.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A cufflink habit inside a family firm<\/h2>\n

FH:<\/strong> You run the company in the fifth generation. Measured against your long company history and everything else you do in jewellery and the jewellery trade, these cufflinks are only a very small part. Can you place the cufflink project in the world of Schwarzer the jeweller?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> Gladly. We are a family business. Our main trade is jewellery made to order, wedding rings, engagement rings. The cufflinks began as a personal hobby. It is very hard for a man to wear much jewellery, there are few options left. One would be the signet ring, the other above all cufflinks. I only wear shirts with double cuffs myself, so I wear cufflinks every day. I had inherited all the classic models with mother of pearl, lapis lazuli and so on, partly from my grandfather, nicely done in gold. But at some point that gets boring. For years I bought regularly from a firm in London called Deakin & Francis<\/a>. I bought lobster cufflinks there, for instance. But first it was impractical to travel to London every time I wanted new cufflinks. Second, they were very expensive. And finally I simply wanted to realise my own designs. That is how the whole thing started. I experimented a great deal: which fittings work, which springs, what can be done with enamelling? By now a sizeable collection has grown, and I wear it with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

Silver rather than gold: what may a cufflink cost?<\/h2>\n

FH:<\/strong> Your cufflinks are silver and cost 350 euros. That is a different order of magnitude from over 600 pounds in London, but it is not costume jewellery either. Where do you place them in quality terms within your overall range?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> The difference from the rest of our jewellery is this. We make engagement rings exclusively to order, always in gold or platinum, never in silver. An engagement ring in silver does not last. On a one-off piece in silver the fixed costs for a design simply would not pay; the labour far exceeds the value of the material. Our rings start at around 1,500 euros, and from there it works out. With the cufflinks it is exactly the other way round: there we produce in a small series.<\/p>\n

FH:<\/strong> But you produce here in Austria, as individual pieces. How can that work commercially? Your costs must be high.<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> I would name three points. First, I do not only sell engagement rings at 1,500 euros; we also have very fine pieces closer to 10,000 euros, where the value is largely in the stone. Second, we do not have a flagship store on K\u00e4rntner Stra\u00dfe with 30,000 or 40,000 euros of rent a month, which is an enormous advantage in fixed costs. And third, the classic jeweller pays in advance, puts everything in the safe and carries the risk that nobody buys it, or only after months. With me it is the reverse. I design the model, make the 3D model, give the customer a quotation. If he says yes, I ask for 50 per cent down and 50 per cent on handover. Every piece is effectively sold before it is finished. I have negative working capital, the customer finances me. Like a bespoke tailor, who also takes a deposit.<\/p>\n

How a cufflink is made in Vienna<\/h2>\n

FH:<\/strong> Looking at one of these cufflinks now, this Frog King for instance: it is very finely worked, making it must be very involved. Can you explain briefly how something like this is done?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> First the various parts are cast. In doing so we try to save weight.<\/p>\n

FH:<\/strong> So it is hollow inside?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> Exactly. Solid silver would also be impractical to wear. So the Frog King is cast in two parts and then soldered together. The connecting bar is cast as a separate part and soldered on as well. The fittings with the spring we buy in. About 80 per cent of the assembly we do here in Vienna. Then the whole thing is enamelled. Enamel is a little like a lacquer or like porcelain; it is applied and then fired, becomes very hard and robust, and it gives you beautiful gradations of colour.<\/p>\n

\"Hand
From drawing to cufflink: a sketch with a ruby in the Vienna workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FH:<\/strong> So the crown and all these structures are already there in the raw silver, and then it is painted with enamel on top?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> Exactly. In the raw state it already looks like this, only in silver. And then the enamel goes on top.<\/p>\n

FH:<\/strong> So you could also make a collection in plain silver without enamel?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> Yes, of course. But even if it were sold as raw silver, it would still be rhodium plated. That creates a kind of protective layer, gives the particularly white shine and protects it a little from tarnishing too badly.<\/p>\n

FH:<\/strong> I know that from silver things.<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> That can always happen with silver, even with a layer of rhodium. But it is no problem, you can send it to me at any time and we clean it. Look at the pug, though. It is completely solid and is still cast in three parts, the body, the head as its own casting, and then the fitting. After casting there is work to do. Everything is cleaned up; a kind of skin forms that has to be ground away completely. Then it is cleaned up by hand again, filed, polished. So every piece really is handmade and unique, even though we produce in a small series. The enamel is all applied by hand with a brush. We try to create consistency, but you can still see that every piece is one of a kind.<\/p>\n

The move to London<\/h2>\n

FH:<\/strong> You mentioned London at the start. A lot of men still wear cufflinks there, they ought to love the collection.<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> We have an online shop<\/a> where you can look at every model and see all the specifications. And I exhibited at a fair in London in May, which drew a lot of interest. We are working on getting further into the London market. But many British customers already buy online.<\/p>\n

\"A
A finished cufflink on the cuff, in the Schwarzer box.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Signet rings, crest rings and bracelets<\/h2>\n

FH:<\/strong> On the subject of jewellery for men again: where do you stand on the crest ring and the signet ring? Does it have to come from your own family?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> I am on the whole a great friend of the crest ring and the signet ring. In Austria it is a little difficult. Officially there is no nobility any more, but of course there are the families who always were noble. The problem is that there are people wearing crest rings from the lowest rank of nobility that entered the family at some point through ten removes, where there is really no direct line. What would be entirely normal in England or France makes the old great families in Austria raise an eyebrow. So you have to be a little careful. But there are many other possibilities. You could have your monogram or a symbol engraved into a lapis lazuli. I am working on a ring myself at the moment, which I want to give myself for my thirtieth birthday.<\/p>\n

FH:<\/strong> The engraving on a signet ring has to be mirrored, though, does it not? Otherwise the seal comes out the wrong way round in the wax.<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> That is why the signet ring is properly worn on the little finger. So that you can actually seal with it.<\/p>\n

\"Ferdinand
Ferdinand Schwarzer on rings, seals and bracelets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FH:<\/strong> Where do you stand on bracelets?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> They are coming up strongly at the moment, and I think that is a good and a fine thing in principle. You have to be careful, because there are very vulgar versions too, a thick gold bangle with that plate, that will not do. But an old antique watch chain that you have reworked can be wonderful. I wear a rather inconspicuous bracelet myself, woven fabric, but with three rough emeralds from Colombia in the middle. They have a personal meaning; I bought them in Colombia myself, visited the mines, had them cut into a rough cube shape. Anyone who does not know thinks it is a simple fabric band. I wear it for sport, in the shower, everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"Caviar
Two takes on one idea: the playful caviar-tin cufflink and the plain Classic model in rose gold with a ruby.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A styling tip for beginners<\/h2>\n

FH:<\/strong> To finish I would like a styling tip from you. What would you say to someone who is unsure how to start with cufflinks? Say he works in a bank and wears a suit. Which model would be a good opening?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> If he owns no cufflinks at all yet, I would clearly recommend our Classic model. It is the perfect first step and can be combined extremely widely. The model can also be engraved beautifully on the back, incidentally.<\/p>\n

FH:<\/strong> And for the more advanced?<\/p>\n

Ferdinand Schwarzer:<\/strong> If somebody already owns a lot of classic cufflinks, I would definitely recommend our extravagant models, with colour if they like. I have one model, the caviar tin, which you can even unscrew. On principle I have deliberately given almost all the cufflinks the same price, so that the customer does not go by price but takes the design that appeals to him personally and means something to him. And now let me show you our newest model, which is not officially on the market yet. This is the oyster, gilded yellow inside, with a real pearl in the middle. And the fitting is a champagne bottle that folds open. I developed it together with Arthur from the Champagneros<\/a>, and we will sell this cufflink together as well.<\/p>\n

\"Caviar
The caviar-tin cufflink on a dinner jacket cuff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thank you, Ferdinand, for the conversation and for so much insight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ferdinand Schwarzer runs the Viennese jeweller Schwarzer in the fifth generation. On his cufflink habit, silver and enamel, signet rings and bracelets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,710],"tags":[804,717,805],"class_list":["post-19192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessories","category-vienna","tag-cufflinks","tag-interview-en","tag-jewellery"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feineherr.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}