Ok, today’s post is not a watch review, but if you enjoy the kind of watches I usually write about, you should keep reading about Tracy Trainor Jewellery and her Ebb Patinated Silver cufflinks.
Before I get to the goods, a little background is in order. I have known Tracy since high school and long enjoyed her irreverent outlook and sharp wit. We have remained good friends over the years, so yes, I’m a bit biased. Now you know.
Originally from Virginia, she globe-hopped through London, Budapest, and Abu Dhabi and now lives in Ireland. In 2015, she turned her creative energy towards jewelry making. She sent me this pair of cufflinks as a gift, and I knew immediately that The Time Bum’s audience would dig them too.
Many people tend to overlook what it takes to make jewelry. They focus on the sleek and glittery end product and forget that someone literally shaped metal to match their vision. My mother was a jeweler for years, so I know its creation means hours spent with hammers, torches, absurd heat, and toxic fumes. Jewelers are pretty badass. Jewelry is if you will pardon my language, metal as fuck.
When I told my fellow Time Bum Mike Razak that I was working on this review, he joked, “Seems like a short write up: great product, secured cuffs.” Of course, that is like reviewing a watch and saying that it told the time. Sure it does. So do thousands of other watches. The question is, what makes this watch – or rather, these cufflinks – special?
Well, for one thing, Tracy’s work shares a similar aesthetic to many of the watches I feature, which is to say, her pieces are attractive, even sculptural, but never gaudy or saccharine. Take the cufflinks, for instance. Made from sterling silver, they have a rectangular face, curved arm and a fixed back. The “Ebb” and “Flow” models feature sculpted surfaces inspired by the frozen rivers of Iceland. These organic patterns have great depth and movement. I love the fact that they are so cleanly finished, but a look into the depressions reveals the scoring and striations you might find in the banks of a waterway. They are undoubtedly beautiful, but in an organic, purposeful manner with a dash of industrial edginess. Best of all, the pattern appears on both ends of the link, so your sleeve does not have good and bad sides. Both will look sharp.
Tracy offers these pieces in satin or patinated finishes. With the bright Polish looks sharp, and maybe even a touch more formal, I chose the patinated. First, because I think the dark oxidation enhances the texture and depth in the design while offering a sharp contrast against the polished edges and peaks. Second, because, as you know, from my reviews of bronze and brass watches, I love a good patina. Remember the Patina Science experiments on the bronze watches? The concept is the same for silver. Jewelers use an array of compounds, including the ever-popular liver of sulfur, to accelerate the oxidation process and create the desired aged effect. Tracy recommends occasionally rubbing them with a soft cloth to keep them clean, and keeping them away from other silver as the reaction on one piece of metal will actually breed more tarnish on another.
If you do opt for satin silver, you won’t have to worry about any arduous cleaning tasks as Tracy has a trick. Line a ceramic dish with aluminum foil, place your silver in it, and add about a tablespoon of baking soda, then pour boiling water over it all. The tarnish will fizz away onto the foil. When cool, rinse, and wipe down. Done.
The Ebb cufflinks are fabulous and made even better by their price, just €200 (about $220 USD). That is a bargain for handcrafted wearable art. If you are not into cufflinks, or are a woman, or are perhaps shopping for one, then you should check out her bracelets, earrings, pendants, and rings. My personal favorites are the bird and butterfly rings – large, animated forms that appear to be taking flight. These are not timid designs. They are show-stoppers.
I strongly recommend browsing the Tracy Trainor Jewellery collection. Orders must be shipped by December 1 to ensure Christmas delivery, so if you plan on getting your gift shopping done, you should hop to it and be sure to use code TIMEBUM10 for 10% off through November 30.
