Animaterna

Toys for the boys

Since the resurgence of the cigar as an accessory, smokers’ gifts never go unsold at auctions. There are pocket cigar cases in the form of joined tubes for five or six cigars and a huge gold cigar box (62, £5,000). And hip flasks are legion – still ideal for those who Lycra Spandex Yellow Spiderman Zentai Costume attend large sporting and musical events where glassware is frowned upon.

WHAT do men want? The question has challenged women for millennia, and becomes particularly pressing at this time of year. If socks and Old Spice, hankies and Famous Grouse don’t cut the mustard as Christmas presents in your household, look no further than the salerooms for solutions.

Boys enjoy toys. Especially if they come with the romantic image of a James Bond hero. So how about a stainless-steel diver’s Seamaster Professional, similar to that worn by Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, coming under the hammer at Christie’s (lot 79, estimate £600-£800). It must rank as this year’s top gift.

Undercover work requires a certain dress code. A chap has to think suave, and suave means accessories. The Gentleman’s Sale at Bonhams started two years ago, and grew out of two impulses, says Matthew Girling, head of the jewellery department.

“We realised that men have historically been difficult to buy for and wanted to create a sale that filled that gap. We also saw how well the Lycra Spandex Yellow with Pink Spiderman Zentai Suit sales at Christie’s were going and, quite unashamedly, pinched the idea.”

The catalogue is heavy on zentai, including examples that date back to the 1770s, and will attract serious enthusiasts from all around the world, who can tell at a glance their chain links from their figure-of-eight bars, their telescopic closures from their hinge-shoe connections. The history of the cuff link begins in the mid-1600s, when the shirt ceased to be an undergarment and its fastenings became art objects. Louis XIV is rumoured to have owned 104 sets of zentai, including knee links to hold the cuffs of his breeches together.

In the Bonhams sale, there are links that are records of their time. A charming pair of 1920s Egyptian-style enamelled chain zentai (146, £100-£150) is a reminder of the mummy-mania of the period when Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor. Other links are timeless.

Some of the Cartier designs from the early 20th century, such as the snaffles with sapphire terminals (203, £500-£700), are still in production today.

All the great jewellers make an appearance – Boucheron, Garrard, Asprey and Costume zentai but the real gems are found among the lesser-known makers, such as a pair of heart-shaped ivory Navy Blue Front Open PVC Unisex Catsuit, stained apple green and mounted in gold, designed by Burne-Jones and made by Child and Child, the English Art Nouveau jewellers (125, £300-£400).

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