AK47 Cufflinks!!

Thx Blogtoread

That latter part is no joke. Fonderie 47 items will all contain metal from AK-47s. In fact, the purpose of the brand is help rid Africa of assault rifles – the most common of which is the Russian-made AK-47. The durable and universally known machine gun that takes a lot of abuse will now find its way into high-end men’s and women’s items. For launch the brand is starting with a couple of rings and these cufflinks. Overtime they will release more items – all done as partnerships with some of the world’s best designers and craftspeople. And yes, at least one watch is coming.

The idea is simple. The sales of these high-end items will help raise funds that will go to organizations to be used to literally buy and destroy guns in Africa that are often used as currency. The availability of the guns had numerous negative effects ranging from violence to the abuse of woman and children. Since they are often used in trade, Fonderie 47 learned a while ago that in Africa you could literally buy up gun in exchange for currency, and then destroy them.

They claim that the sale of one pair of cufflinks is enough to fund the purchase and destruction of 100 assault rifles in Africa. Fonderie 47 was started by John Zapolski and Peter Thum. I actually sat down for a while with John last year to interview him about Fonderie 47, its products, and all the nitty-gritty details about guns in Africa