A solid eighteen carat cufflinks in the form of a classic oval with a series of hand painted portraits of a St. Bernard. These are spectacular miniature hand painted marvels framed on a classic oval shaped panel. Each cufflinks panel is hand painted to a very high level.  The detail and attention paid make each side a miniature masterpiece. They look beautiful on the cuff, and are suitable for all occasions. If you love the breed, there can be no better piece  

They are quite large for both the period that they were made, and for oval links in general.  With the dome shape giving them a wonderful look on the cuff. They have a very beautiful soft shape to them that is hand worked, and the gold colour is spectacular.  This is a very early, and high carat gold.  It is hard to describe the colour as being yellow or pink gold.  It pulls hues of both in certain light, and has a richness that is not found in today's gold composition.

Since time immemorial, the towering Saint Bernard-type dogs had roamed the rugged Swiss Alps. The Germanic tribes who once terrorized the Roman Empire deployed these canine behemoths as formidable war dogs. Even the battle-hardened Roman legions were said to quail before these fearsome, four-legged Goliaths.

Of course, the Romans had their own ferocious hound of war: the Molossers from Asia. Breed historians theorize that the Saint Bernard's 1,600-year march to the AKC Working Group began when these Molossers were crossed with the native giants of the Alpine valleys in the first two centuries AD.

In the early 1700s, Oliver Goldsmith marveled at the remarkable rescue dogs of Switzerland's monasteries. These noble canines, he wrote, possessed an extraordinary sense of smell that often allowed them to locate and save travelers buried under deep snow - even when the hapless victims lay 10 or 20 feet below the surface.

The most famous of these alpine heroes was Barry, a Saint Bernard who served at the Hospice of St. Bernard, a refuge for pilgrims braving the treacherous Swiss mountain passes on their way to Rome. Over the course of 14 years, from 1800 to 1814, the legendary Barry saved an astounding 40 human lives.

While the hospice monks had long been training Saint Bernards for rescue work, it was Barry's heroic exploits that cemented the breed's worldwide reputation as the elite of alpine search-and-rescue. So great was Barry's renown that his very name became synonymous with the Saint Bernard - an old Swiss moniker for the breed was the "Barryhund."

They are signed on each panel with a full set of English assay marks and are made in solid eighteen carat gold, and stamped "18K" along with the year mark for having ben made in 1919. Interestingly, the maker marl of "PA ltd." has not been identified.  There appears to be no record of the maker. This likely means they were a commission piece by a small London goldsmith.

The condition overall is excellent, and they are free of any damage to the enamel, or to the gold itself..  A unique find for the Saint Bernard lovers!