When you work at a small business like Create Gift Love there’s always something keeping you busy, whether it’s the mad rush of Father’s Day orders in June, forward planning for Christmas (in July - yes, that early!)... or launching a brand new website, which is exactly what our team have been working on for the last few months!
You might know that Create Gift Love started after our founder Emily made some wooden cufflinks for family Christmas presents back in 2011, (we still make those cufflinks, you can find them here) but did you know that we also have another brand specialising in luxury personalised cufflinks? Introducing our little brother, Man & Bear - formerly known as Man Gun Bear.
Why the new name?
We’ve been running Man & Bear alongside Create Gift Love since 2014, offering luxury personalised gifts for men including premium quality cufflinks and handcrafted men’s leather accessories. The original name, Man Gun Bear, came from a drinking game that Emily and Tony used to play at university, similar to Rock Paper Scissors. When it came to naming their new men’s accessories brand years later the game’s fun, snappy name came to mind, but our business has never had anything to do with guns (or bears either, for that matter).
In 2021 we decided it was time for a change and time to drop the gun. The name was never meant to be controversial or political, just a nod to the playful spirit of our youth, but we realised that it’s a reference not many people understand and we didn’t want customers to think any harm was meant by it, especially given the heartfelt nature of many of our gifts. So, we renamed ourselves “Man & Bear” and took the opportunity to have some fun with a revamp: a new name, new logo, new branding and new website. It launched earlier this month and you can explore the whole website here.
What does Man & Bear do?
At Man & Bear we design and make handcrafted luxury accessories for men: for their suit and desk, their travels and adventures. Our products are designed for the man who wants and expects the same high quality, well-made pieces to accompany him whatever he’s doing, whether he’s in the office or on the road, pitching a tent or walking down the aisle. Or, as we see it, whether he’s Man or Bear. Our range includes high class cufflinks, traditional handcrafted leather wallets and travel pieces, and premium yet practical motorbike accessories - something for all of life’s adventures. Plus, everything is personalised just for you.
Everything you can find at Man & Bear is handcrafted by the same team as Create Gift Love, here in our Ringwood workshop, on the edge of the New Forest. Our materials are locally and sustainably sourced, and over the years we’re really honed our skills, working with traditional techniques that celebrate the best of UK craftsmanship. We finish each piece by hand to ensure the highest quality for our customers and we pay close attention to every last detail. At Man & Bear we’re all about the finishing touches.
What kind of products do Man & Bear make?
If you like what we do at Create Gift Love, we think you’ll love Man & Bear too. Here are three product recommendations based on some CGL favourites.
1. Personalised Brass and Wood Cufflinks
As we mentioned earlier, our whole business journey started with Emily making wooden cufflinks, and cufflinks have very much remained part of our story, both at Create Gift Love and Man & Bear. They’re the perfect gift for men for special moments like milestone anniversaries or for your groomsmen on your wedding day, and we can engrave them with personalised messages fit for the occasion. For our Man & Bear cufflinks we work with a local aerospace engineer to precision turn our designs from solid high class metals: brass, bronze and stainless steel. Each pair can be engraved on the circumference and underneath, they are polished by hand for a quality finish and are packaged in a complimentary leather storage pouch.
This solid brass and wood pair is inspired by our original Create Gift Love wooden cufflinks, inlayed with beautiful walnut wood from the New Forest. They’re available in stainless steel too.
2. Personalised Leather Cufflink Pouch
When Tony started designing the first Man & Bear cufflinks he knew they needed to be presented in packaging that reflected their premium quality, which led to the creation of our signature leather cufflink pouch. All our Man & Bear cufflinks include a complimentary leather cufflink storage pouch as standard, all part of the gifting experience, or you can order it as a solo gift, perfect as a stocking filler or birthday present for a very smart dresser. The pouch is great for storing cufflinks at home or when travelling, and you can personalise the pouch with initials on the outside and a message or photograph printed under the flap.
Look familiar? The cufflink pouch inspired the personalised wedding ring pouches that we added to the Create Gift Love range last summer.
3. Personalised Leather Coin Pouch
Remember our personalised coin purses? They now live at Sbri (our sister brand, we’ve got quite the family in the workshop now!) - but before we made ladies leather coin purses we started with Man & Bear luxury leather wallets. We now have a whole range of men’s wallets at Man & Bear, including traditional card holders, origami inspired wallets and bi-fold wallets with RFID protection. All our wallets are made from beautiful British leather in tan brown or classic black, and can be personalised with hand stamped initials.
Our Man & Bear coin pouches were the inspiration for our Sbri coin purses - they’re designed for cash but can hold cards too and are complete with debossed lettering.
