RUMOR HAS IT that the city ran out of cuff links during the last inauguration. If history repeats itself, there will be at least one person who won’t have to worry. Robert Barnett, partner at Williams & Connolly LLP, has been collecting cuff links since he inherited some from his father. “I always thought they were very elegant,” Barnett says. “The first serious present my wife, Rita Braver, gave me was a pair of monogrammed gold cuff links. It was in 1968. She also bought me a beautiful lapis pair in Italy, where she traveled after graduation.”

Among his favorites are those with memories attached to them, such as the ones his daughter, fashion expert Meredith Barnett, gives him. “I have a pair that was given to me by the judge I clerked for, Judge John Minor Wisdom,” he says. “And I have several pairs that were given to me by various presidents.” Barnett prefers the colorful, two-sided enamels from the thirties and forties. “I wear subtle cuff links, which I would say best reflect my personality,” he adds. Because cuff links have a timeless quality, Barnett hopes his son-in-law Daniel Penn will acquire an appreciation for them as well.

Barnett shops for cuff links and antique watches at places like the Tiny Jewel Box on Connecticut Avenue, Alice Kwartler Antiques in New York City, and flea markets in Paris. “Recently, I have even started buying them on eBay,” he says. “A few times I’ve been outbid by someone called ‘Law Boy.’ Now that’s hard to take.”

Frivolous treatment of cuff links is not looked upon kindly by Barnett. “One thing that really upsets me is seeing antique cuff links that have been turned into earrings. That is blasphemous.” ★