Steampunk Cufflinks

One of the things I love and respect about steampunks is their attention to costume detail. If the character one dresses up as is truly worth it, every article of clothing has been thought about. If you wish to strike up a conversation at a steampunk convention, just ask about a unique item of attire. For example, “Wonderful brooch! Is there a story behind it?” Expect at least a five- to ten-minute tale regarding the wearer making a great find in the back of a poorly lit antique store that has a box of cast-offs, which includes brass doodads that are far too heavy and outdated for modern tastes, or of some maker that created a masterpiece from raw materials, including the antiquated appearance and appropriate aging.

This brings me to cufflinks. And the metal artist and jeweler, James Marker.

James is a friend of ours who, starting as a hobby, was working with metal-infused clays that can be baked into an aged-looking metal art piece. The material he uses is called
BronzClay. Starting with our logo for The Adventures of Drake and McTrowell, he fashioned a pair of rustic cufflinks that be bestowed on me as a present.

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Aged Drake and McTrowell Cufflinks


Yes, they do look like they’ve been through about 150 years of rough use, perhaps even dug out of the rubble of a misfired electrostatic blaster rifle. I wear them proudly at steampunk conventions.

James also made these trilobite cufflinks.

Trilobite Cufflinks in Box


These are less aged, have hints of brass or bronze, and are very obviously trilobites. That gave Katherine and me an idea! With James’ permission, we presented them as a gift to the person that introduced us to steampunk,
Girl Genius co-creator and artist Phil Foglio. I’m sure Phil has lots of fan gifts with trilobites, but they’re our way of saying, “Thanks for introducing us to steampunk with Girl Genius,” because steampunk has sure made our lives fun! Here’s a picture of Phil showing them off after we presented them to him at Steamcon III.

Phil Fogio With Trilobite Cufflink


Yeah, you’ll have to squint a bit to see it, but he was proudly showing off our gift. It was our way to give back to the steampunk community.

Thanks, James!!


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