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...

The Skull & Crossbones motif has been very hot the past few years. So hot, in fact, that I was hoping it had finally jumped the shark. I'm sure some of you will say it already had, which it did; but, that doesn't mean it doesn't still sell, which, to a retailer, means it hasn't yet run its course. 

All of a sudden, Somali pirates are all over the news, and we could be in for a few more years of skull-themed ties, belts, cufflinks, and pendants. News casts have featured words I am pretty sure I have never heard uttered by professional anchors, including but not limited to "Indian frigate" and "pirate mothership". While I can't find the audio I heard, Wired wrote it up here.

I shouldn't be making fun of it, really. But the pirates say they're strictly in it for the money, and it's hard to read that interview with a real live pirate and not ponder the notion that one man's pirate is another man's Coast Guard (no disrespect to our customers that are U.S. Coast Guard). In their defense, they (the Somali pirates) did just release a Greek ship they seized over 2 months ago with all 25 crew members unharmed.

It is the time of year when many organizations buy gifts to reward their top performers. Given the year they've had, perhaps we'll add Somali pirates to our growing list of corporate customers...

You sure can. More and more men are finding that French cuffs are a wise way to distinguish themselves from the increasing number of well-dressed gents in the workplace and on the social scene. But are they for you?

Known as double cuffs in Britain, French cuffs were once the exclusive province of boardroom swells, international financiers, and powerful attorneys, but now they’re turning up on college kids and entry-level professionals.

The trend kicked off about six years ago when Lehman Brothers became the first bank to nix its business casual dress code and insisted on more professional attire. Other firms quickly followed.

Brad Pitt gave the trend a big boost in last year’s Ocean’s 13 by wearing French cuffs in a non-traditional way—the cuffs fully opened instead of folded back, sans tie, and the shirt collar not just merely unbuttoned but splayed across his jacket lapels.

Some stylish gents prefer not to go that far. They pair French cuffs and cuff links with jeans and a blazer—a marriage of classic style to a modern trend.

Others modern gentleman like the opportunity French cuffs affords them to add a little bling—i.e., cuff links—to their wardrobe without resorting to gaudy chains or ear rings. Jazzy or snazzy, elegant or low-key, cuff links help a modern gentleman ratchet up his personal style. If only there were an online store with a wide selection of French Cuff Shirts and Cufflinks...

I first came across Robin Rotenier's cufflinks 7 years ago while working at a software company called Blue Martini Software. The company, which was a Wall Street darling until the dot-com bust, was on fire, and I was in the mood to give back. Upon seeing a pair of Rotenier Martini Glass cufflinks in a store, the only thing preventing me from buying them was the green peridot stone representing an olive; Blue Martini's logo had a lemon twist. The salesperson called up Robin Rotenier, and they were happy to make them with a citrine instead to represent the lemon. I ordered 10 pair, plus a stud set for myself, and gave them out as gifts to Blue Martini colleagues who would appreciate them. Ahhh...those were the good old days.

To this day, there are only 10 sets of Martini Cufflinks with citrine, and I know exactly who has them. Now, we carry Robin Rotenier's cufflinks & pendants on our site, and we could not be more pleased with the results so far. Their willingness to make custom designs and swap in or out stones is one of the main reasons we love doing business with them - our customers can get exactly what they want. Robin was in the Bay Area recently and we sat down with him to talk about how he got started, how he does what he does, and what we might expect in the future. Enjoy!