Yahoo News The man with the golden cufflinks ... but can you crack code on Ian Fleming’s jewellery?
It is a code-breaking test to suit the aspiring spy.
A pair of cufflinks believed to have belonged to Ian Fleming, and passed down through his family, bear an intriguing inscription.
The back of the cufflinks are inscribed with “WUS”, “SIL”, “UDH” and “NUF”. The meaning of the letters is a mystery.
The cufflinks were sold at auction on Wednesday for £5,700, several times their estimate. The anonymous buyer will now be among those attempting to crack the code.
Louise Dennis, the head of jewellery and watches at Mallams auctioneers in Oxford, said: “We contacted the Fleming estate and they couldn’t elaborate on the inscription. The family doesn’t know the meaning.
“Nobody seems to know. Maybe it was only Fleming himself who understood the significance of the letters.”
A photograph of Fleming at the afterparty for Dr No in 1962 appears to show him wearing the cultured pearl cufflinks.
The author was a naval intelligence officer whose experiences and encounters inspired the Bond series. He died in 1964.
The cufflinks remained within the extended family, Ms Dennis said, and were given to the vendor as a gift.
The auction attracted bidders from all over the world, including the US. Ms Dennis said: “We had international interest, from readers of Ian Fleming’s novels to, obviously, James Bond fans. And the recent film has, of course, raised awareness.
“It would be wonderful if someone could now work out the meaning of those letters.”
