By John Shanahan

Technically speaking, if you have ever stapled two pieces of paper together, you have ventured into the realm of cold connections. To jeweler and metalsmith Tim McCreight of Brunswick, Maine, cold connections are everywhere. “I bet right now you’re wearing three or four,” he says. “If you’ve got jeans on, you’ve got rivets, you’ve got a zipper, you’ve got buttons. You’ve got lacing in your shoes and in the way your clothes are stitched together. They’re all cold connections.”