A private message he wears in public
Most Valentine's gifts are eaten or put in a vase. Valentine's cufflinks are different: he wears them in meetings, at weddings and on nights out, and every time he fastens them there's a small reminder of you. Better still, the picture is small enough to stay between the two of you. Colleagues see a smart pair of square cufflinks; he knows it's the photo from your first holiday together.
They suit husbands, boyfriends and fiancés, and they're a particularly good choice for the man who claims he doesn't need anything on the fourteenth.
Ideas for the two of you
- Your first photo together – even if it's slightly blurry, cropped in close it can look charming.
- The place you met: the station sign, the front of the pub, the corner of the university library.
- A thumbprint heart: press both your thumbs in ink onto white paper, angled to form a heart, then photograph it.
- The coordinates of where you got engaged, set in simple type.
- Your handwriting – "Always", "Yours", or the pet name he pretends to hate.
- The date you met, written as plain numbers, so only he knows why they matter.
The quieter the design, the more likely he is to wear the pair to work – which means you're with him more often.
Fitting two faces into one square
Photos of couples are usually wide or tall, and a cufflink is square. Before uploading, look for a picture where your faces are close together – a selfie often works better than a posed shot taken from across the room. Use zoom in the live preview to crop to just your faces and drag until both sit in the middle. If one of you gets cut off at the edge, try a different photo rather than forcing it; you want both faces clearly visible.
Soft, natural light gives the most flattering result, and the full-resolution original from your phone will always beat a copy saved from social media.
If you haven't got a picture you love, take one. Pick an evening walk somewhere that matters to you, stand close together with your backs to the setting sun rather than facing it, and take a few selfies at arm's length. You'll end up with a new photo and a nice memory before the gift has even been ordered.
Giving them on the day
Presentation is half the romance. The pair comes gift boxed, so you could leave it on his side of the breakfast table, tuck it into the pocket of the jacket he's wearing to dinner, or hand it over with a card that hints at the picture without giving it away. If you're going out for a Valentine's meal, a crisp double-cuff shirt laid out on the bed makes the hint rather obvious – and means he wears you to dinner.
First Valentine's or twentieth
The design can say something different depending on where you are together. Early on, a light-hearted in-joke keeps things from feeling too serious too soon. For a couple who have shared years, a wedding photo, an old picture from when you first met, or a portrait of your children carries real weight. Either way, Valentine's cufflinks work because they're about the two of you rather than a generic heart.
Making your pair
Upload the image, then check the live preview on both cufflinks. Drag and zoom until it's framed exactly as you like. Order through the secure checkout – a single pair is £40 with shipping included. Each pair is made to order in our Cornwall workshop, where KF Online has made personalised gifts for 17 years, and it arrives in a gift box, ready for a card and a quiet moment on the day.
Buying for more than one? From five pairs the price is £15 a pair plus £5 shipping per order, and each pair can carry a different design – handy if you're sorting gifts for a wedding party at the same time as his Valentine's cufflinks.