Friday, November 29, 2019

Cufflinks

There is such a huge range in the design of cufflinks: plain, to abstact, or with hunting or various sport themes. I also like a few Art Deco style cufflinks. Some are original from the 1920s and 30s and some are modern interpretations.

The top three are available from The Nines.

Sologne shotgun cartridge

Sterling Silver Ship's Wheel

World Map Rhodium

Victoria Varga99 Cufflinks

Novica by Shubhra Singh

Silver Onyx


I really like Art Deco design — it is my favourite period of design, whether it is the cuff links noted above or in art (Tamara de Lempicka), furniture (Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann), jewelry (Raymond Templier and George Fouquet) or architecture (Frank Lloyd Wright).

Tamara de Lempika - Young Girl in Green E.-J. Ruhlmann

Raymond Temlier Georges Fouquet

Frank Lloyd Wright - Fallingwater

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Andrew Ramroop of Maurice Sedwell

Andrew Ramroop
Andrew is keen to say: “I work on expressing an individuality for customers. So [creating a suit] is more of a communication with that customer, getting to know their lifestyle . . . trying to some extent to get them not to conform to a sartorial image that is expected in a business environment”, and, most of all, encouraging them to “want to stand out”.  He likes to say that a customer does not come to Maurice Sedwell to buy a suit but rather “to commission a sartorial image”.

Maurice Sedwell, 19 Savile Row, Mayfair, London W1S 3PP

Pens & stationery

The pen really became the modern writing device with the invention of the fountain pen by Waterman. Prior to that the pen had to be repeatedly dipped into the ink that would last for only a few words.

The Waterman 52 with its lever filler allowed one to easily and quickly fill the reservoir. 

Waterman 52

Some of the other classic pens are the Sheaffer Balance, the Eversharp Skyline, the Parker Vacumatic, the Parker 51, and the Sheaffer Snorkel.

QUALITY PENS

Montblanc is one of the leading brands of quality pens and pencils but can be very expensive — the Meisterstück Great Masters James Purdey & Sons pen is £2,615!

Meisterstück Great Masters James Purdy & Sons

This pen was a special edition from Montblanc in collaboration with James Purdey & Sons, the master gun makers. Manufactured in Germany it includes a barrel made of Turkish Walnut checkered like the stock grip of a shotgun.

The Italian maker Visconti make exceptional pens. They produce both roller-ball and fountain pens, and everything is made in-house including the nibs made in steel and solid gold!

Made in Germany, Lamy makes a very modern (and very popular) easy to use fountain pen that is great looking and quite inexpensive. If buying a Lamy pen get the fine tip; medium is too heavy (I tried one in London).

Lamy Safari in red

For travel, the Kaweco series is small but of superior quality with an aluminum body.

Kaweco fountain pen

Diamine Inks of Liverpool makes high quality pen inks with a vast range of colours with 28 shades of blue alone! Of the colours available, I like the Mediterranean blue, Kelly Green, and Oxblood red. For that aged look they even have a Sepia coloured ink.

Enthusiast Aiden Chao has an Instagram page on all things fountain pen related.


The best quality writing paper is sold by Smythson of London.

Smythson Bordered Kings Writing Paper

Suppliers:
Wonderpens Sationary Shop in Toronto sells pens, ink and writing paper, and sells online.

Also sold online by Fendrihan Canada.

View an interesting discussion by Kirby Allison on 6 Of The Most Iconic Fountain Pens Of The 20th Century!

Saturday, May 11, 2019

What it's all about

Just starting to look into new and interesting clothing and accessories, and travel accessories. 

There are a number of interesting Youtube channels that feature clothing and accessories.

On Kirby Allison's Youtube channel he discusses primarily men's fashions and shoes with an emphasis on bespoke. From his own website he sells many clothing and shoe accessories: hangers, ties, braces, laces and a full line of shoe care products.

Ashley Jones of The Chap's Guide on his Youtube channel discusses mainly clothing, watches and colognes. His website features clothing accessories.