Getting to the Church on time..........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 .....

 As you know your scribe loves nothing better than visiting canal cities and the odd day at the track.  On a recent visit to Copenhagen, I decided to drop in to another old favourite city from my youth, Helsinki.  Whilst your scribe is a thoroughbred person, I have had occasion to visit the world of Harness Racing.  In Australia the sport dates back to 1810 and the famous Interdominion or the Golden Mile are races not to be missed if they're held in your city.  Some past legends and winners include Paleface Adios and Black's a Fake. 

If you happen to be visiting one of the world's finest Aviation museums in Temora ( another of your scribe's passions) you might come across a wonderful statue of Paleface Adios, who is one of Temora's "favourite sons".

 When in Helsinki your scribe  was lucky enough to have been invited for a day at the races to include some French fizzy and some nice Scandinavian smorgas board for lunch.  In your scribe's parlance this means thoroughbred racing but to my fine Finnish hosts this meant a day at the track watching harness racing at a lovely place called Vermo and what a treat it was that day.  Thank you so much to my dear Finnish hosts Sofia and Oskari.

I never truly understood the significance of harness racing.  Your scribe thought that it was simply another means of people with money to burn to bet on yet another form of racing. But NO, harness racing is born from the noble pursuit of young chaps racing their horse and cart back to the village after church on a Sunday morning.....who would have thought?

After a day of some damn fine Finnish cold cuts and some excellent (and very expensive) French champagne my kind hosts who have an interest in harness racing standard bred horses gave me these fine links as a present.  Today's links are  silver horse cart and jockey cuff links and are worn on special equine occasions and what better to wear them with than a smart navy blue Salvatore Ferragamo silk neck tie with horse and cart motifs and a Savile Row shirt


Til Later




ONWARD

All Hail the Transit..........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 is busy at work watching the Transit of Venus on line (NASA web site)....like everyone else in town I think.  Whilst HRH Elizabeth II had hundreds of millions of viewers watching her fantastic Diamond Jubilee celebrations over the past four days the Transit will actually be seen by just as many people on line and probably through welding masks around the world.

The Transit of Venus was of course the reason Captain James Cook headed down south to the Antipodes on three of his most famous voyages.  His mission was to seek the great southern lands and to monitor the Transit of Venus for the Royal Astronomy Society.  At that time in navigation circles we all knew where we were in relation to Latitude but Longitude was the problem.

 Coordinating measurements and observing the Transit of Venus from the southern hemisphere meant that the giant minds of the Society could trigonometrically calculate lines of Longitude. Fascinating stuff that would change the worlds of cartography and navigation for ever.

Your scribe loves nothing better than a good biography and as mentioned in dispatches previously Presidents of the USA and Napoleon are but a few of his favourite subjects.  Another is Captain James Cook.  A fascinating fellow that is still today recognised as one of the world's greatest cartographers and observer of the Transit of Venus.  Some of his original maps for the Canadian northern coasts and large lakes are still the only known maps that are still used to this day.

One of your scribes favourite editions is Tony Horwitz book 'Blue Latitudes....Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before".  Its a good fun read and traces the three journeys by Captain Cook to the Southern Hemisphere.

Today's links are gold plate coil and were found in an antique market.  I bought them just as the market was closing for the day and it must have been a tough wet and windy day for the stallholders as these were procured for a bargain.  They invoke somehow the beauty of the Transit of Venus and are worn today with a white cotton Brooks Brothers shirt and a red Chanel silk neck tie with crescent moon motifs.

Back to the welding mask to watch the Transit and I look forward to seeing it all with you again in 2,217.

Til Later




ONWARD

Fighting them on the beaches..........A$75

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 are back in to the realm of novelty cuff links today.  These are a set that were a kind gift from an old friend that also has a passion for all matters aviation.

June 6 of course marks the anniversary of the Normandy invasion.  Known as "Operation Overlord" it saw the largest number of troop movements in warfare with about 1,400,000 personnel involved in the invasion with a staggering total of 120,000 casualties.  Operation Overlord or "D Day" had 12 nations armed forces involved and is considered by many historians as the turning point of World War 2.  On a cold wet miserable weekend it is worth watching the film Saving Private Ryan.  Albeit a Hollywood blockbuster it is a wonderful portrayal of the Normandy Invasion.

 One of the work horses for the D Day operations was of course the Lockheed P-38 Lightening aircraft.  Named "fork-tailed devil" by the Luftwaffe and "two planes, one pilot" by the Japanese, the P-38 was used in a number of roles, including dive bombing, level bombing, ground attack, photo reconnaissance and extensively as a long range escort fighter when equipped with drop tanks under its wings.

Distinctive black and white stripe livery signified that the aircraft was part of the Normandy invasion and assisted ground force so as to not miss-identify allied aircraft in the invasion and to monitor progress of the air force attacks on mainland France.  

Today's Links were a birthday gift from an aviation buddy and they are replica Lockheed P-38 cuff links.  In aviation circles they always elicit comment and are very good scale reproduction of an airplane that really did assist in turning around the war.  On D Day they were worn with a cotton tailor made shirt and a Ralph Lauren blue silk neck tie. 


Til Later




ONWARD