Button

Cut steel was a fashionable material for jewellery, buttons, buckles, sword hilts and watch chains in the decades around 1800. They were made from brightly polished rivets, their ends faceted to imitate diamonds. Such pieces gave a grey but powerful glitter. Originally an English speciality, the production of cut steel had spread to other centres in Europe by the early 19th century. The Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton pioneered the attractive combination of cut steel with the blue and white jasperware plaques made by Wedgwood.