Originally designed by the Saraced minister Ibn Batrahid Efflava Qasquazzorrek (1056-1130 AD) in the 12th century to smuggle messages through different province, the Qasquazzorrek cuffs were elaborately designed metal attachments with jewel and ivory inlays that concealed hidden compartments for metal pins that contained grooves that set to provide a coded note (for those who knew the cipher)
The cuffs themselves became famous for their brilliance and beauty, and were first adapted by the the courtesans of the Buzhra court as a sign of their social standing (the more elaborate the cuffs, the wealthier and more powerful they were)
Following the overthrow of the Buzhra court by the Golden Horde, the cuffs were used as a tool to smuggle information and plot an insurgency against the occupying forces. Unfortunately, the plotters were discovered, and any holding the cuffs had their hands cut off at the very least. All Qasquazzorrek cuffs were taken and melted down, with the jewels stripped away and sold.
Some Buzhran merchants who had fled and lived in exile kept their Qasquazzorrek cuffs though, and handed them down for generations. In the wake of continued upheaval in Central Asia, though, many of these cuffs disappeared into illicit collections, to raise money in the political chaos
As a working model, now world-famous designer Giovanetta Allegromentari happened upon a stray cuff in the collection of a mogul she was seeing. As a student of Central Asian archaeology, she immediately understood what she was seeing.... one of the last remaining Qasquazzorrek cuffs, with its coding pins intact
Giovanetta first became world famous by unveiling and unlocking the antique goods ring being perpetuated by her then associate. The Qasquazzorrek cuff was then sent to the Central Asian Institute to be studied, then displayed for the world to see.
Giovanetta achieved a new level of fame, by adopting the designs and techniques behind the Qasquazzorrek cuff to design her own. Also know as the "Q cuff", each cuff is designed to be unique, with no replicas, and has a waitlist of up to 3 years.
The Qasquazzorrek cuff, by Giomentari (Giovanetta's line) can be ordered through the Giomentari website, www.giomentari.com
