Cufflinks and Beyond

Jewelry designer Jan Leslie makes dressing up fun for men. By adding humor and whimsy to her novelty cufflink collections with color and moving parts—like spinning propellers, dancing monkeys and winking owls—a man’s wrist has never looked more appealing. We asked Leslie, who’s now branching into leather and women’s accessories, a few questions about her craft.

What kind of man do you have in mind when you’re designing?
My cufflinks aren’t necessarily 1980s gold investment banker-ish. You can wear them with jeans, Converse sneakers and a French-cuff shirt. It’s a fresh look—not just the plain khakis and blue shirt uniform that every guy wears out to dinner.

When did you start the leather collection?
We added it last year and started with Dopp kits. We took the bestseller skull, bee and crocodile icons from the cufflinks and embossed them on the Dopp kits and put an enameled charm on the zipper pull. We also did wallets. I found the need for a slim and sleek smart phone case that goes beyond the ordinary. We patented a design where the silicon gel case is sewn into the leather with a little card case.

Are you working on anything new right now?
We’re now doing women’s charms. Like the cufflinks, the pieces make you take a second look—there’s always some kind of movement. The legs on the turtle move, the angel monkey’s arms and legs move. It sounds kitschy but we do them in sterling or gold and they’re definitely durable. We use a special soldering technique and hand-painted enamels.

Bergdorf Goodman, 745 Fifth Ave., 800-558-1855; janleslie.com
—Perry Santanachote