Bon Anniversai​re..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  
Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series...

Today we once again travel out to the Marchés aux Puces in Paris and we celebrate the anniversary of the opening of the Eiffel Tower in Paris some 123 years ago.  The Tower was the world’s tallest structure until about 1930 when the art deco sky scrapper boom in the US was in full swing.  It is just over 1,000 feet high and is the equivalent of an 81 storey commercial office tower.  It is the symbol of all things Parisian and is a joy to behold at sunrise or sunset.

Built by Gustave Eiffel it is a massive iron framework supported on four massive masonry piers from which rise four columns that unite to form the single vertical tower.  There are observation decks on three levels and give a breathtaking view over Paris.  The elevators were installed by the Otis Elevator Company and the most fun of any elevator your scribe has ever ridden in.  For the engineers, architects and builders amongst us, it has about 7,500 tonnes of wrought iron within the main structure and requires 50-60 tonnes of paint every couple of years to paint.

360º view…..awesome.

Today’s cuff  links come from your scribes favourite daily outings when in Paris…..a quick visit to Pere La Chaise cemetery to visit some old heroes and then on to the famous Parisian flea markets, Marchés aux Puces in the adjacent suburb.  In a dusty old store, I spent a long while chatting to the shop owner sipping Dubonnet and smoking Gitannes. I was struggling with my school kid French but we talked all things cuff links and antiques……we had a wonderful afternoon.

These links are “jet”, which a jeweller friend of mine calls “fancy pants coal”. I generally wear them to formal occasions or funerals but on the odd occasion that your scribe wears a black tie I like to dig them out.  They are antique French jet and gold cuff links and probably date in the late 1890’s when jet was de rigueur. They are worn with a cotton tailor made shirt and black silk Vivienne Westwood tie with space ship motifs.

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Ground Control to Major Kong..........A$145

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series....

Today we head off into space yet again but these links always make me think of good old Major T.J “King” Kong (played by Slim Pickins) riding a bomb out of the B52 bomb bay at the end of the film Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

It is a true classic and arguably the finest film from the Stanley Kubrick collection.  We have of course mentioned Kubrick in dispatches before and its interesting to note that the films original release date was to be 22 November 1963, the day JFK was assassinated.  Thinking that the public was not in the mood for such a film, the release was delayed until early 1964.

Set in the height of the Cold War it has a stellar cast led by Peter Sellers in no less than three parts…particularly Dr Strangelove, our Link Man of the Day.  Here he is as Dr Strangelove himself with his uncontrollable gloved hand.

There are some notable quotes from the film include the following….”Gentleman stop fighting. You can’t fight in here this is the War Room”

Today’s links are somewhat special and somewhat unusual.  They are in fact sold silver and must come from the 1950’s or 60’s.  They never fail to get comments and I found them in a Louisville Op Shop on the outskirts of town after a particularly long and liquid lunch….I couldn’t believe my luck.  They are worn today with a cotton tailored shirt and a Chanel silk neck tie with space helmet motifs.


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It's good to be The Queen..........A$125

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series....

As you all know, this blog space try’s its best to keep a political, religious and gender balance in it’s all its views and today is no exception.

Today’s cuff links are somewhat esoteric, as your scribe has no idea what they are or what they mean.  They were procured for that reason and no end of research has been able to shed light on exactly what they mean.  Admirers speculate and everyone has an opinion once I mention that I don’t know where they are from.  They were found wandering around a London antique market and like most of my treasure hunt finds, they were found in a bottom drawer corner covered in worthless bric a brac.

Have a look see what you think…..

 Any ideas would be appreciated.

We of course have St George slaying the dragon (St George being strangely nude!) and the crest is surrounded with the text….”The Queens Own Studs”.  As mentioned, this provides no end of speculation as to their provenance.  The most likely of course is that they emanate from one of the finest breeders of race horses in the world, HRH Queen Elizabeth II herself.  Who incidentally is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee today.  She only has a little way to go to take out the longest ruling monarch title from Queen Victoria.

HRH is the Constitutional Monarch of 16 states and is the Head of the Commonwealth of Nations comprising no less than 54 countries.  She apparently has a few hobbies outside of royal duties that include the breeding of thoroughbred live stock, going to the horse races, corgis and watching wrestling on the TV…..what a girl!!!

With Bart Cummings, possibly the greatest race horse trainer of all time and no doubt wearing his Queens Own Studs cuff links!!!!!

The Queens Own Stud links today are worn with a Brooks Brothers cotton shirt and a Hermès silk neck tie with jockey silk motifs.

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It's good to be The King..........A$30

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series....

As you know, your scribe has a penchant for the occasional game of Chemin de Fer regardless of my curiosity of how it all works.  Without the high drama of Black Jack, the posturing of Poker, it is a game for purists and like Poker one plays against each other rather than the House.  It requires a modicum of skill and can be a load fun but it’s not for the faint hearted.  Unfortunately it’s been slowly moded out of American casinos and one needs to be in the confines of Monaco or some other exotic casino situation in Europe to be able to play properly.

Your scribe also has a penchant for vintage Cine Noir French gangster movies and one of my favourites is Bob Le Flambeur, directed by a young Jean-Pierre Melville and staring a debonair Roger Duchesne as Bob the “Gambler”.

 It is classic Casino heist genre and was filmed in 1956 in France.  It sparked a spate of other film noir classics in France and launched a genre of dark gangster movies through the 50’s and 60’s.  It also launched the career of Jean-Pierre Melville with him directing some some absolute classics such as Le Samourai in 1967.

Our Link Man of the Day is therefore Jean-Pierre Melville….extreme French Director and all round cuff man and Dude…..

Tody’s links are worn on the odd occasion and were a gift on the death of Elvis Presley from a musical producer friend.  They are worn with a Simon Carter of London cotton shirt and a Chanel silk neck tie with spade motifs.



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To be sure, to be sure..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.  

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series....

Your scribe does have a few “lucky” cuff links but none as lucky as those that your scribe wears on St Patricks Day.

Snakes be gone!!!!!

Today’s links are solid gold four leaf clovers and were found in a thrift store on The Big Island of the Hawaii Islands.  Apparently one in 10,000 clovers will have a four leaf clover, so to find one is lucky indeed.  There is a patch of the four leaf clover in a park near to your scribe's haunting grounds but years of passing through and looking I have never been able to find the spot that I spotted years ago…..I will find it again one day!!

I was wearing my lucky four leaf clover links one St Patricks Day and an Irish acquaintance commented on how lovely they were….”Shamrocks” I said, to which he replied….. “They are not shamrocks….they are four leaf clovers”….so let that be a lesson to you.

St Patrick of course is the Patron Saint of Ireland and is said to have banished snakes from the fair green isle.  He is honoured in no less than four Christian denominations and the anniversary of his death is celebrated all over the world with the drinking of copious green Guinness pints at unearthly( and seemingly acceptable) hours.  One can “paint the town green, so to speak”

The links today are worn with a Brooks Brothers cotton shirt and a bright green Ralph Lauren silk neck tie.  Today of course also provides the opportunity to air out those green clothes one has in the wardrobe.

See you all at the March!!

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Et Tu Brute..........A$55

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks. 

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series....

Today is not the sort of day to be hanging out in your toga with unsavoury types as Julius Caesar would have attested.  Today is of course the Ides of March and the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.  Julius was a war hero, poet, honoured soldier, politician, lover of Cleopatra and all round dictator.  Some contest that his assassination on the Roman Senate floor by 60 odd conspirators was the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire.

Your scribe was lucky enough to have seen Sir John Gielgud play the lead part in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the Barbican Theatre on the banks of the Thames some years ago.  Whilst not the largest of parts, as Julius is only on stage for 3 scenes, it does allow the actor some poetic licence for an over acted sticky ending under the knife.

Sir John gets it in the neck…..

Sir John of course was an acting legend in his day being one of the few actors to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony Award.  His most outstanding work according to your scribe, was the off beat film by Peter Greenaway, “Prosperos Books”….worth a look.

Todays links are reflective by nature given the Ides of March are upon us…..”beware the Ides of March” said the soothsayer in Shakespeares Julius Cearsar.  

They are oval solid silver convex links and were a gift to your scribe from a lady novelist friend many years ago.  They are worn with a tailored cotton shirt and a silk tie.

Til Later

ONWARD

Red Eyes..........A$140

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series….

Today’s links are “Red Eye” stones set in gold plate that were bought many years ago during some time in Beijing on business.  Red Eye was appropriate as your scribe was subjected to countless banquets toasting the camaraderie of our Sino compatriots…it felt like an eternity of fine food and countless toasts of fine vintage reds and cold cognacs.  Our travelling party did manage to survive and many transactions were concluded but your scribe was near to self admission to a detox clinic on my return home!  Your scribe shuddered every time he heard the toast that roughly translated to bottoms up…..”Gumbeeeyyyy”

China is the new frontier and the statistics of humanity are most enlightening.  At one banquet your scribe had the opportunity of sitting next to the elected head of a trade union in China.  He proudly let me know that he had been democratically elected to his post by all the members of his trade union in the resources sector….all 50 million union members participated in the poll for his re-election....... 50 MILLION!!

Thanks to GeoHive, here is a startling statistic for you…..China’s population as of yesterday was 1,351,525,468 people.  There are 38 babies born every minute in China and you can feel the growing strains in every facet of daily life there.

Beijing International Airport at night….80 Million PAX per annum and rising!

It really is the land of growth and the engines of industry turn at a hectic pace.  Your scribe was lucky to have visited the construction site of the new Beijing International Airport designed by one of your scribes heroes Lord Norman Foster of Thames Bank.  In my wander around the huge Terminal 3 building site, there was a staggering 75 operational construction cranes working on the site.  It was quite an eye opener.

The Red Eyes are worn with a white Savile Row cotton shirt and a commemorative silk tie for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.


Til Later



ONWARD

The Suites..........A$105

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series….

Your scribe has a musical family and a musical background in all forms of the art.  Always keen to embrace new technologies your scribe was one of the first to embark on the CD bandwagon and in recent times have been happy to join the MP3 and on line phenomena.  Deep down in my heart of hearts though, I knew that analogue would never fade and up in the attic your scribe managed to store thousands of vinyl albums along with the occasional amplifier and turntable.  I resurrected the entire lot a few years ago when I noticed that artists have started releasing 12 inch vinyl albums again…..perhaps for the purists then but certainly it’s all mainstream now.  Call me old fashioned but it DOES sound better….just ask Jack White.

Today’s links got me pondering on what is arguably the greatest series of musical pieces performed or released in the past 400 years.  I am of course referring to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suites. They are a versatile series of what some consider “études” but to musicians these 6 Suites are pure genius in their complexity of emotion and technique.  They have been interpreted across all musical instruments and you will often spot them at funerals, cocktail or dinner parties, film soundtracks, weddings and even in the shopping mall!!!  The Suites have been recorded by any number of maestri over the years and still manages to be the most honoured of classical music pieces from countless Grammies to being constantly in the top 10 of all music sales in the world…..and yet no one knows the pieces in the mainstream!

Transcript Suite Number 5 in C Minor

Our Main Man JSB

Try them sometime on a quiet early evening (champagne optional) and if possible track down a vinyl copy as well as an excellent book by Eric Siblin “The Cello Suites” ….Your scribes favourite interpretation is by Yo Yo Ma.

Today’s links were acquired in an antique market and were sold to me by a delightful elderly Chinese lady.  It was her first sale of the day and we spent some time negotiating and discussion of the links in question.  The first sale is of course a “lucky” sale and we agreed a price and she said that these links were “guitar strings or a cello strings or something”…..not quite sure if they are but then again who is to argue with a delightful old Chinese lady in her first sale of the day.  They are worn with a tailored cotton white shirt and a Salvatore Ferragamo silk neck tie with cello motifs.


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Roses are Gold..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series….

Along with the markets and antique stores, a visit to museums and galleries are must on your scribe’s travels to the world's cities.  A few favourites are The Hermitage, the Uffizi Gallery and Vatican Museums in Italy, the Smithsonian and of course one of my favourites is The Dali Theatre Museum in Figueres in Catalonia.  It is a scale piece of surrealist art by Salvador Dali that blows the mind in its beauty and sheer scale.

Where does one start with Salvador Dali?  His artistic contributions are housed in all major galleries across the world ranging from sculptures, architecture, lithographs, photography, advertising, film and television, paintings and just general art media craziness.   His collaboration with Luis Buñuel in the famous surrealist film “Un Chien Andalou” is mind bending in the extreme and well worth the watch after a few drinks…or other substances!!!!

Your scribe has managed to collect a few items on his life journey that are attributed to Salvador Dali and they are treasured items in the family vault.  Except of course the Dali cuff links that are paraded out on the odd occasion.  They are a leaf gold mass produced gallery giftshop link but have an intense beauty about them that at first appear to be “non Dali” in their demenour.  Look hard and you will see the surrealist tinges of art copying life copying nature.

They were of course were procured as I exited through the gift shop (thanks Banksy) of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  They are worn with a cotton tailored shirt and a silk surrealist MoMA neck tie.

Our Link Man for the day can therefore be non other than Salvador Dali…..legend amongst the Surrealists.

 Dali once said “I don’t do drugs…..I am drugs”.  Exactly.

Til Later


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Faceless Booty Links..........A$95

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series….

Your scribe has dined with four heads of state…two at the White House in Washington DC and two at the Lodge, the Prime Ministerial residence in Canberra, Australia’s capital city.

As a young fellow, I will always remember the gracious and polite Lyndon Baines Johnson and the wonderful First lady, Lady Bird Johnson at a formal diplomatic function.  LBJ was a mountain of a man and through the most unfortunate of circumstances he was thrown in to high office because of John Kennedy’s assassination to become the 36th President of the United States.  I remember his quiet demeanour and the attention he gave to every word you said as if he truly gave a damn about what a young fellow from Australia had to say.  LBJ was one of the great presidents of the 20th Century and his time will come in the history books.

On the other hand my experience with Richard Nixon was that of a man preoccupied with what eventually surfaced as the Watergate Affair….he was tired and looked a defeated man but he was also an imposing and impressive man to meet…..You don’t get to those positions by being a light weight with a short memory I guess.

When JFK was seeking a Vice Presidential running mate in the 1960 Presidential elections against Richard Nixon, he was purported to have said…” We need Texas…we need LBJ; I’d rather have LBJ pissing out of the tent than pissing in”!!!!!

Where was I? Yes cuff links!......Dining in high places has its material rewards and those rewards are “booty”.  Unfortunately I was too young to qualify for the White House Presidential cuff links that are presented to visiting dignitaries and constituents visiting the White House.  At the Lodge on the other hand they do dish out cuff links to the male attendees of official soirees and functions.

Today’s links are the official coat of arms for the Parliament of Australia.  They are presented in a lovely green felt box and have been worn with pride by at official Government functions or on a day like today to celebrate the great tradition of democracy in Australia…..so here’s a cheerio to the faceless men that make our democratic world so interesting here in Australia.

Today’s links are worn with a Brooks Brothers cotton shirt and a blue pure silk Gowings neck tie.

Til Later


ONWARD

Bah Ram Ewe..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series….

We have visited the world of mineral resources and explored it as a sector and how it can single-handedly battle the complexities of a GFC for Australia.  But what did Australia do “back in the day”?  Well it rode on the “sheep’s back” of course.

Since the late 1700’s Australia has managed to export wool to all points of the globe.  By 1820 Australia’s sheep flock numbered 2 million and today there are literally tens of millions of sheep that steadily provide for one of Australia’s largest agricultural export markets.  But it was in the 1950’s that the wool industry was at its peak.  Export markets grew and there was an insatiable demand for high class wool in new markets like Japan.  The post war boom times had begun and Australia was riding firmly on the sheep’s back with 90% of all wool being exported out of the country.

Today the Australian wool clip accounts for 25% of the entire world’s production of wool. A superior class of wool to that found anywhere and a strong genetic line of fine quality wool producing sheep has Australian wool being the likely content of that fine wool Italian designer suit that you’re wearing right now!!!!

Today’s links are from that golden era of post war agricultural boom times.  They are sold silver 1952 shillings that have been converted to cuff links.

In slang they were often called a “Bob” and these links are often described as a “bob” each way.  They are worn with a tailored cotton shirt and a Gene Meyer of New York silk neck tie.

Not much happened in 1952 but as you know your scribe likes nothing better than some aviation trivia…..1952 was of course the year that the first jet engine passenger liner The Comet was introduced to the world by de Havilland.


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Do Not Pass Go..........SOLD

One man’s mission to share with the world the fine art of cufflinks.

Each blog a different pair and each blog a different story.  Read on in this series….

There is an adage in the property development game that a hotel’s profitability is directly inverse to it’s star rating……and that’s why when you play against your scribe in Monopoly you will always find he has hotels on Old Kent Road or Whitechapel Road (Baltic Avenue and Mediterranean Avenue for those playing the American version).  Whilst the rent isn’t up there with Boardwalk or Mayfair, if you’re scanning the financial horizons, the return on equity is compelling.

I have been accused of all manner of things including being a slum lord and crack den operator but your scribe loves nothing better that a hoard of green and red buildings to trap those other players as they round the GO bend in to less salubrious neighbourhoods of your scribes liking!

Created early last century the original American game took the street names from one of your scribes favourite cites, Atlantic City.  It’s a great game for those young up and comers in the world of real estate and property development and by your scribe’s standards is best played with chilled champagne and the optional Cuban cigar!!!

Whilst a “topper” or top hat isn’t part of your scribe’s wardrobe outside of Royal Ascot, it is his favourite token when playing the great game of Monopoly and hence today’s links.

 They are silver plate top hats and were bought at Trésor Antiques in the Strand Arcade in Sydney. They are worn with a cotton pink Savile Row shirt and a Salvatore Ferragammo silk neck tie with locomotive motifs.

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