Given that GQ has become a woke, pathetically worthless magazine, the Rake, a fairly recent magazine devoted to gentlemen's style, is the finest available. Their byline states: "the modern voice of classic elegance." See their website which includes the magazine and the accoutrements of the stylish lifestyle.
Switzerland is still the home of the finest watches in the world. Many brands are renowned: Rolex, Patek Philippe, Chopard, and Piaget. Rather than the exuberant (or, less charitably, ostentatious) multi-feature and/or bejeweled watches, I prefer a classy, more restrained, style.
Vacheron Constantin makes an elegant minimalist design in the Patrimony.
The watch mechanism itself is only 1.64mm thick. A fantastic feat of engineering!
For years my favourite watch brand has been Blancpain. Not as plain as Vacheron Constantin's Patrimony but still understated elegance.
My favourite is the Villeret Ultraplate with Roman numerals and a date function.
If I was going to step up to more complications, I would choose the Villeret Quantième Complet with month/day/date and moon phase.
This is an interesting creation from A. Lange & Söhne of Glashütte, Germany: an analog version of a digital watch.
The various functions on a mechanical watch beyond the hands that indicate the local time are referred to in the industry as complications. The above Vacheron Constantin Ultrafine 1955 has no complications; the Blancpain Villeret Ultraplate has one and the Quantième Complet has four.
Another standard complication is the chronograph which is basically a stopwatch or timer function. Repeaters are watches that chime out the time, usually activated by a lever on the side. Watches can have dual time settings, typically with the addition of a second hour hand, set either to a selectable second time zone or to GMT as the reference. More unusual complications are a power reserve indicator, world time indicator, and the very unusual planetarium which shows the position of all the planets.
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| World Time |
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| Power reserve indicator (upper left) |
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| Planetarium |
But the king of watch complications is the Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 with a record 57 complications! It has 2800 individual parts and took 8 years to assemble. It has two faces, one shown below. This was a bespoke watch made for a single client. The sale price was confidential, but has been estimated at about 10 million dollars.
There is another level of fine watchmaking: those discreet makers who only make a few very expensive watches per year. One of the most lauded is Philippe Dufour who makes only about 10 watches per year. When he started, his watches sold for $150,000; they now start at $600,000, and he has made only 150 watches so far. One of his early, much sought after, Grande et Petite Sonnerie models recently sold at auction for $7.63 million. Other exclusive watchmakers are Rexhep Rexhepi, Denis Flageollet, Kari Voutilainen, Sven Andersen, and F.P. Journe.
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| Philippe Dufour Grande et Petite Sonnerie | F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain Clr. 1403 | Kari Voutilainen Copper Observatoire |
And if you are going to have a high quality watch, why not have one of the highest quality watch straps that is available from Jean Rousseau of Paris. They have a huge selection and also do bespoke bands. With bespoke bands you get a choice of material, backing and stitching. Kirby Allison has a couple of videos on buying and using Jean Rousseau watch straps.
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| Tan leather | Semi Matte Alligator | Salmon Mustard | Burgundy leather |
The above diagrams and others can be found at the Real Men, Real Style website.
Some instructional videos:
The Full Windsor
The Half Windsor
The Old Bertie
The Four in Hand
Kirby Allison has a good video on tying a bow tie.
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| Black | Blue |
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| Silver Paisley | Sky Blue Paisley |
An interesting article from the Permanent Style website on 21 bespoke shirt makers noting the different approaches each takes. In London, for example, he notes that Turnbull & Asser and Emma Willis tend toward traditional styles whereas Budd can be more contemporary and innovative. Note that his preferred style is Italian so he is less enamoured of British and French tailors.
Of Italian tailors he notes D’Avino of Somma Vesuviana (near Naples) and Luca Avitabileas of Naples with Simone Abbarchi of Florence as a good place to start. Many of these bespoke tailors also do made-to-measure and ready made shirts.
Of French tailors Charvet in Paris in most noted.
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| Budd shirt selection |
Turnbull & Asser are an old establishment shirt maker holding a royal warrant.
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| Pale blue cotton | Blue and white | Pink and white |
Harvey & Hudson have also been around for many years.
Kent & Haste, noted gentlemen's tailors, share accommodations with Stephen Lachter, maker of bespoke shirts.
Emma Willis is one of the leading bespoke shirt makers in London. According to her, “A man just needs three beautiful white shirts and three beautiful blue shirts. A mixture of button cuff and double cuff, so you have some formal shirts too.”
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| Emma Willis MBE |
A cheaper alternative to the truly bespoke shirt is the made-to-measure which can come close to a custom fit. Typically this is achieved by taking multiple measurements: collar size, sleeve length, shoulder width, chest size, stomach size, and hip size. The shirt makers typically have a large selection of fabrics that can be high quality, and the shirts are well constructed.
Recommended by Patrick Boyle, Tailor Store is an online company that makes bespoke shirts based on an extensive set of measurements that the buyer submits. They seem to have much more customization than the above made-to-measure suppliers; you can select collar and cuff style, tail length, back and shoulder style, pleating, button colour and thread colour separately, as well as monograms. Available in cotton and linen blend in a large variety of fabric colours and styles. Prices are from about $160-260. Use the Patrick Boyle link to get a 25% discount on your first purchase.
One of the premier wallet manufacturers is Ettinger of London, available in both billfold and jacket versions. They also make the highest quality key case available.
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| Saint Crispin billfold wallet w. 6 C/C | |
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| Ettinger Sterling Coat Wallet with 8 C/C | |
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| Saint Crispin 6-Hook Key Case | |
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| Leather Balm | Leather Wax | Cotton Cloth |
G. Ettinger Ltd., 215 Putney Bridge Road, London SW15 2NY
Call or email to book an appointment to visit their showroom
info@ettinger.co.uk
011 44 (0)20 8877 1616
(TUBE: East Putney stop — District Line)
Another English manufacturer of quality leather goods is Whitehouse-Cox. They have a selection of wallets, belts, key cases and travel bags.
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I love paisley, and I really like these silk ties from Turnbull & Asser.
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| Pale blue paisley | Orange paisley | Light petrol paisley |
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| Kelly green paisley | Dark navy paisley | Blue paisley |
Budd Shirtmakers of London are another supplier of paisley ties, made in madder silk.
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| Blue madder silk | Burgundy madder silk | Navy madder silk | Red madder silk |
Hilditch & Key are another supplier of paisley ties, made in both silk and cashmere.
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| Blue with Blue Cashmere |
Blue with Green Cashmere |
Blue with Red Cashmere |
Blue with Brown Cashmere |
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| Blue with Grey Cashmere |
Red with Blue Cashmere |
Turquoise with Blue Cashmere |
Blue with Purple Cashmere |
Oliver Wicks are another supplier of paisley silk ties.
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| Light Blue | Green | Pink |
The Nines, Paris have a good selection of silk and linen/silk blend ties. The linen and silk ties are a 50/50 blend.
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| blue linen/silk | blue linen/silk | blue linen/silk | blue linen/silk | blue linen/silk |
