A piece of jewelry makes a very special gift, but not all men like to wear it. There are some subtle men's gifts that are special and practical but with lots of pizazz.
What to get the guy who has everything and doesn't want anything
The first thing to do is determine what his personality is and what he can actually use. Does he have to wear expensive suits to work or a tie every day? Maybe he's still carrying around his old Velcro wallet from 1984 and needs to update his money holder.
Ah, a simple gold money clip can bring him into the adult world and he won't embarrass everyone when he pays for dinner. Cuff links make a great gift for the guy who loves to dress impeccably. The fun thing about these little items is that they come in a variety of styles from simple gold to a fish. Whatever his hobby is, there's something for him.
What's the occasion?
There are some occasions that call for gifts just like these. Graduation from college means he'll be joining the work-force. Start him off right with a tie clip so that he is neat as a pin for his interviews. Maybe the groom needs to buy something for all of his groomsmen, ushers and his best man- any one of these gifts is a great choice.
He can still individualize each gift by relating to what each guy likes to do. So, by getting one groomsmen golf ball cuff links and one with fish, it's like getting different gifts and they know that the groom put some thought into choosing them.
The kids want to get Dad something special but they don't have a lot of money. They can easily pool their resources get any one of these mens gifts, personalize it just for Dad on Father's Day. Maybe a bride wants to get her groom something special so she provides custom cuff links for him to wear with his tuxedo.
Personalize it
Here's a chance to make each mens gift really special. A simple gold business card holder can be engraved with his initials or even a special message. Every time he hands someone a card, he'll think of the person who gave him the holder.
Engraving can be done on pretty much anything that has a flat surface so that means that tie clips, oval or round-shaped gold cuff links and money clips can also be personalized. It's really just about going that extra step to let him know that he is special and that a lot of thought went into his gift.
It is so easy to make these practical gifts very meaningful and fun for the guy who has everything. Choose the right item, personalize it with some engraving and add a special note or card to finish off the gift. He will be able to use these items forever because they are durable, classic and never go out of style. They will last a lifetime and also make great heirlooms to pass down from father to son.
Mens gifts can be made really special. Cuff links make a great gift for the guy who loves to dress impeccably. Choose meaningful gifts from the range of gifting options at http://www.gemaffair.com Good Luck Charms & Amulets From Thailand It's been said that amulets/good luck charms can be dated back to when man crawled out of caves. It's not my intention to take you back that far. In fact, I'm going to limit this article to Thailand and only back a few hundred years. There were some amulets found in an old temple in Northern Thailand, Phitsanulek actually, and these were found to have been made in approx. the 1400's. They were found to have been made of materials that are also still used in making amulets today. Soil, flower petals, plant seeds and human ash, all mixed in with a clay mixture. The human ash probably came from where it still does today, a deceased monk who was thought to have been holy or possessed of supernatural abilities or attributes. It is widely believed that some old Tudong monks, or wandering monks, as they are know as, probably was the forerunner in distributing these amulets. These were monks who spent most of their lives wandering around in the forest in search of solitude and enlightenment and probably hand carved some amulet from a piece of wood or some soft stone. Probably the wood or stone came from someplace they thought was holy, or someplace they spent the night and had some remarkable vision. Anyway, as these monks got older and found it hard to get around, they settled in some temple somewhere and either gave these amulets they had collected to a favored temple devotee or maybe a protégé monk. I'm not sure anyone knows exactly who started the next amulet/good luck charm phenomenon, but what happened is this. One of these older, former Tudong monks found a way to earn some money to use for temple repairs. Making and selling some blessed amulets/good luck charms. These at the beginning were sold for about a dollar or two each. And they didn't have the modern convenience of mass producing, so they probably only were able to make 500 or 1000 or these amulets out of a simple mold. These molds were usually made of wood and were hand carved either by the guru monk or some talented devotee. You should remember though, a dollar went a lot further then than it does now. Two guru monks that I know of, Luang Por Parn and his protégé, Luang Por Ruesi Lingdam, built a beautiful temple complex up in Uthai Thani. Wat Tzudong. I've been there and I have to tell you, it's something to behold. There were in the beginning and I guess still are, two kinds of amulets/good luck charms. One was to help the wearer in seeking spiritual insight and to ward off misfortune, and the other was to help in invoking to the wearers benefit, good luck and prosperity. You find more of the latter today, especially since Thailand instituted a national lottery. Wearers of the first are usually policeman, soldiers and construction workers. For obvious reasons. Some of these old guru monk made amulets still bring a good price. I've seen some Luang Por Parn amulets selling for upwards of 3 to 5 thousand dollars. I can't even find a Luang Por Ruesi Lingdam amulet, and probably couldn't afford one if I did. There are a lot of guru monks whose amulets still command a lot of money. Here's a few of those guru monks. Luang Por Parn, Luang Por Lee, Luang Por Koon, Luang Por Pae, Luang Por Hong, Luang Por Pern, Luang Poh Toh and the list goes on. I've found that different peoples preference comes under two categories, either they wear the amulet from the district the guru monk comes from or some relative experienced some really good luck wearing a certain monks amulet or good luck charm. Now we come down to today's #1 selling amulet/good luck charm in Thailand. The Jatukarm Ramathep Amulet. This amulet is not really Buddhist related. It's considered to be a guardian angel, guardian spirit amulet or good luck charm. It's been around since about 1987, but got really popular the last 2 or 3 years. The original maker of this amulet was a policeman, Khun Phantharak Rajjadej in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, located in Southern Thailand. He originally designed it to help ward off misfortune. It must of helped because he lived to be 103 with the rank of Police Major General. About 3 years ago, rumors started surfacing of people wearing this amulet/good luck charm, winning the lottery, their business not only tripling, but going up even 10 fold, having motor cycle wrecks and coming out with only skinned knees or bruises, all kinds of stories. And the boom was on. It is reported that sales of this Jatukarm Ramathep amulet has reached in excess of 500 million dollars. U.S. Dollars. That's approx. 16 billion Thai Baht. Unfortunately for the Thai government though, most of these sales are tax exempt. Because most of these sales occur in the temples which are exempt from taxes. You can not walk around any market area anywhere in Thailand and not see this amulet for sale. I've seen some of these early amulets bring upward of 25 thousand dollars. U.S. Dollars. Most of the good Jatukarm amulet/good luck charms are not cheap, at least the real ones aren't. Now, I have to warn you. In order for these good luck charms/amulets to work or at least given a chance to work, they should be associated with or made at a Buddhist temple. As is in all cases where there is something being sold of some value, there is always going to be someone copy this item and make a profit. For example; Levi jeans, Rolex watches, Polo shirts, etc. So be extra careful when you purchase one of these amulets/good luck charms. Give your self at least a halfway chance at receiving some of the invoked powers that the monks at the temple chanted into them. The fake ones are just going to be a piece of clay or metal.
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment