About 10 years ago, I was told by an old, wise man or woman that a true gentleman does not buy his own cufflinks; he is gifted them. It made sense. I would argue that after a nice necktie or watch, a beautiful pair of cufflinks are complimented by a stranger more often than anything else you might wear. The kind words could be acknowledged with: "Thank you. I thought so too which is why I bought them for myself." But it sounds so much better to reply with: "Thank you. These were given to me by my [choose only one] grandfather/mother/wife/kids/mentor/etc." 

Earlier in this series, we covered the Golden Rule in shopping for "the guy who has everything": Gift something he wouldn't buy himself. This is an offshoot of the Golden Rule: Gift something he is not supposed to buy himself. 

There are at least 5 reasons why cufflinks make a perfect gift: 

1. You are providing the gentleman with a story to tell as to how we acquired them.
   
2. They are likely an heirloom type gift that will be handed down, and will grow in sentimental value over time.
   
3. Cufflinks are a great way to express a hobby, passion, or playfulness. I'm not a huge fan of lobsters or Formula 1 cars on a necktie, but they are remarkably expressive yet simultaneously subtle on a cuff. 
4. A cufflink junkie can never own too many cufflinks.
   
5. There are no sizing issues with cufflinks; one size fits all.
   

There another 1,000 reasons why cufflinks are great gifts in our cufflink department which you can find here...

It's Friday night and rather than hitting one of San Francisco's great restaurants, I'm at home patinating; I'm too exhausted to do anything else. Patination is the chemical process by which a patina forms. What is a patina? Literally, it's a chemical compound found on the surface of a metal. Figuratively, according to Wikipedia, patina can refer to any fading, darkening or other signs of age, which are felt to be natural and/or unavoidable. This is not to suggest that I am fading, darkening or showing signs of age -- Lord knows I still look too young to drink -- but rather, I am really enjoying the slow process of establishing a patina on my Catherine M. Zadeh Buffalo Horn Bracelet. 

Let me start by saying I have never been one for men's jewelry. Never got an ear pierced, never tried a pinky ring, didn't even do the Lance Armstrong Livestrong bracelet. But I have certainly seen men that pull off jewelry quite nicely, so on a recent trip to New York, where we placed our opening order for Catherine Zadeh's line of cufflinks, bracelets, belts, pendants and rings, Catherine was extremely generous in offering me that bracelet. At first, I was hesitant, but when she showed me her husband's bracelet, it had this beautiful patina about it. It seemed to have a greenish-brownish hue which looked stunning given that the bracelet, brand new, is jet black.

My instructions were clear -- never take it off. Wear it in the shower, in the ocean, in snow or oppressive heat. All of those things will combine to form a unique patina for this bracelet. Although it's only been 3 months, and the bracelet is still mostly black, the patina is coming. As for my plans for the weekend? Saturday I'll be watching paint dry, while Sunday I'll watch the grass grow.