Swanky Cufflinks Archives - Page 2 of 4

Green Week is Coming!

Our store is going to be highlighting some of our greener offerings later this week. To that end, I’ll be highlighting a number of our Recycled Cufflinks, which all contain materials which were originally made or used for another purpose. Why? When you reuse something by recycling its materials, you reduce the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill, and also reduce the amount of energy used to needlessly produce more stuff than necessary.

While I’ll be posting about new cufflinks that I haven’t discussed previously, I’m going to direct your attention to some previous posts so we’re all on the same page. As you’ll see, using recycled materials does not at all limit design possibilities. Feel free to check out my previous posts on cufflinks that use recycled materials here.

Cool, Blue Respite

During the warm, summer months, major cities can get, well, grimey. Don’t get me wrong; I love cities—humidity, dust, and mid-afternoon gaminess, not so much. If you’ve never spent a summer in the city, the lyrics of that old song are pretty accurate.

That said, there are ways of getting by. Light-colored linen, air-conditioned movie theaters, cold showers, fresh salads by the pound, and plenty of water flavored with lemon—or better yet, cucumber slices—go a long way in making one survive the heat. Anything that can remind you of what it is to be cool and comfortable can make the stuffy-mugginess of the summer in the city manageable. For me, the color blue connotes calmness and coolness, and that was the feeling I got when I saw these Sodalite and Pearl Square Cufflinks:

The colors of them remind me of the variety of cool rain that, if only briefly, provides respite from the heat.

Remember the Time

While Michael Jackson was oftentimes a controversial figure, his passing last month reminded many of his music and performances. I’m not going to eulogize or memorialize here, as that’s not the work of this blog, and others all over the ‘net have done so, but I thought I’d draw your attention to some tasteful Michael Jackson Cufflinks offered in our store…

…for all the fans who want to remember the time.

Signature Look

Frequently, I use this space to discuss buying gifts for others. (Often our engraveable cufflinks.) However, from time to time, we like to treat ourselves. Maybe you deserve a little something. Maybe you’ve finished a major item on your “to-do” (or the ever-popular “honey-do”) list. Maybe you’ve managed to surpass your savings goal for the month. Or, perhaps, you want to buy yourself a little present just because.

When you do buy something for yourself, why not buy something that you alone would pick out? Our store has a great option in these Custom Signature Cufflinks:

After purchasing them at our store, you simply email your signature as a jpeg (sign your name on a piece of paper and scan it, or get the office techie to do it for you) to [email protected]. That’s all. Simple, personal, perfect.

Fitting In

As I have pointed out many times before, our store is a great place to buy groomsmen’s gifts. Some people might find such a huge selection overwhelming. To that end, I hope that this space has been useful for those who just don’t know where to start. However, even if you’ve enjoyed the cufflinks that I’ve highlighted, you still might want to make your own choice.

In that case, one way to narrow things down would be pick cufflinks that are a certain color. These days, a lot of couples are choosing to designate theme colors for their weddings. If a couple chose red and gold as the theme colors for their wedding, these Red and Gold Murano Glass Cufflinks would be perfect for the groomsmen:

Not only would these graphic and interesting cufflinks make a great groomsmen’s gift, they would distinguish the groomsmen from all the other guys in black tie as members of the wedding party.

Design for All

Of late, a lot of the cufflinks that I’ve showcased here have miniature renderings of real things, animals, or even functional objects. As you’ve probably guessed, I rather like these types of cufflinks, and appreciate the facile manner in which they make the perfect gift for someone who is somehow related to those objects.

However, I’m also a huge fan of good design, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t also direct your attention to some of our store’s more abstract pieces. Today, I’d like to point out these Crystal Mine Cufflinks:

The crystal detail paired with the ball shape makes these cufflinks unique, but the separate elements also make them timeless. (Such a pairing—the singular and yet always appropriate—is rare.) I can’t imagine an outfit or occasion that they wouldn’t complement.

Retooling Geek Chic

Well, I’m pretty late in terms of reviewing the new Star Trek movie, so I’ll leave that to others. As I understand it, the way that the movie cleverly elides issues of continuity so as not to be held to the storylines of previous films and television episodes is all about the fans. The sort of folks that like Star Trek and other science fiction and fantasy—myself included—are known for paying attention to detail and quickly notice if plot point contradicts something that occurred earlier in the larger plot, even if it was in a book/film that was authored by a different person, or was produced years earlier (see “Canon” in the Wookipedia).

However, this audience is not known for paying nearly as much attention to, ahem, fashion sense. Sure, there’s “geek chic,” but it operates, in part, on the premise that being an early adopter of high-end gadgets or a fan of “Lord of the Rings,” means adhering to a particular type of uniform. What if you’re a Star Trek fan who works in an office that has a dress code, or you simply don’t like pocket protectors? What to do? You can find classic elements of style that hint—not yell—your geekdom. To that effect, these Star Trek Cufflinks are perfect:

To someone uniformed, they’re just lovely cufflinks with an interesting, abstract design. To a fellow geek, they’re worth coveting.

Mise en Place

If you talk to people who cook a lot—professional chefs or a household’s main cook—they’ll tell you the value of a good, solid, sharp knife. Indeed, most people who cut themselves in the kitchen do it using a dull knife that requires a lot of force to manage its appointed task. Our store has a great set of Chef Knife Cufflinks:

Sharp knives are necessary for “mise en place,” or the idea of preparing all your ingredients and necessary equipment before you start cooking. A more literal translation of the French is something like “everything in its place.” I’ve often wished that accomplishing mise en place could be accomplished as easily outside the kitchen is it is inside, but I must admit that I have not quite put in the effort. What would your life look like if you practiced mise en place in all areas of it?

World Sport

Growing up in a Northeast suburb, soccer was something a lot of folks played. There were “soccer moms” who weren’t so much about being a consolidated voting block as they were carting their soccer-playing children around in a minivan. I might have seen a friend or two play a game, but I didn’t watch it on television. Indeed, most people I knew didn’t watch it on television. Mia Hamm and David Beckham weren’t (in the US, anyway) yet household names. In other words, soccer was kids’ stuff.

It wasn’t until I moved to Queens, the borough that is the source of much of New York City’s worldliness, that I got a handle on how big a deal soccer… ahem, football, is to the rest of the world. My neighborhood was a diverse one, and during the World Cup, there was an impromptu parade everyday following the game, thrown together by people of the winning nation. So, when I think of soccer, I think of the first New York neighborhood I lived in as a grown-up.

What do they make you think of?

Going Green on the Daily

Today was Earth Day, but I didn’t plan a long and involved post. Why not? It certainly isn’t the case that I don’t care. I try to live in a way that minimizes my carbon footprint; indeed, I try to generally minimize anything I do that is harmful to the planet. Also, I have highlighted a number of our store’s offerings in the way of cufflinks made from recycled materials. To that end, I present yet another set today; these Recycled Bottle Top Cufflinks:

So, why not the long and lengthy post? I guess I have two reasons: First, I think that there are others on the web who do it better. Second, I look forward to the day when sustainable living is second nature to us all to the extent that we no longer need to reserve one day to remind everyone why we need to put more effort into taking care of our planet.

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