Kala eyewear. Made in the USA.
Fab.com is having another 50% off deal on Lookmatic eyewear. That means prescription sunglasses or regular glasses for $47 shipped, and non-RX eyewear for $32 shipped.
These are solidly crafted frames at a great price. I myself own 4 pairs of Lookmatic sunglasses which I’ve purchased through various deals, including an earlier 50% off Fab coupon…
The red frames above are the “Ricky” model, and are very similar to the Moscot Lemtosh, and the other pair is called the “Austin,” and they owe a debt to the Ray-Ban Clubmaster.
Here are a few pictures from yesterday’s epic tie haul. Not epic solely for the content—although there were some gems, but for the price. Thirteen ties at .50 a tie put me at just over $7 after tax.
Ties are something I hardly ever pay retail for. In fact, I hardly ever pay more than $3 for them. They are probably among the most commonly gifted items men (and women whose sartorial proclivities tend towards the traditionally masculine) receive, and a good deal of these are given by people who know little of the recipient’s personal taste, style, or aesthetic preferences.
This failed exchange is the bedrock upon which your tie collection can be built. Another man or woman’s tastelessness is your ticket to an enviable tie collection purchased at pennies on the retail dollar.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy ties at retail, but I am saying that you don’t need to always do so. Pop into a thrift shop when you drive past one and a parking spot is available in the lot or out front. You never know what you might find. Some of the stuff might not even be used, like these NWT Brooks Brothers ties I bought yesterday…And though they didn’t come with tags, I think the Faconnable and Bergdorf Goodman ones might be new as well. Test your luck, you won’t regret it.
The picture above is a six-fold navy grenadine tie I am currently working on. All six folds are visible in the picture and it is still taking shape as I have not given it a light pressing yet. While I was working on it I realized that the more folds a tie has, the less likely I am to…
I met Greg Walton (proprietor of Louis Walton) at the StyleForum 10th Anniversary party vendor showcase. He’s an extraordinarily kind gentleman, as well as a skilled artisan (he sews all Louis Walton ties himself). His ties are beautiful—and the grenadines I handled were perfect. I promised him that once I was ballinandbespoke I’d purchase one from him, and I’m sticking to that promise.
I believe he may have just started his tumblr, and it’s probably worth a follow as he has much knowledge to impart, and some great fabrics available for his made-to-order ties. I gather he’s planning on expanding his line of men’s accessories in the future as well, so keep your ears to the ground and your eyes pealed.
I’ve been receiving a lot of questions lately about my watches: what are they? how many do I own? where did i buy them? where are my straps from? and so on.
As a result of the interest, I thought it might be about time to do a dedicated watch and watch strap post. I used to collect watches. Not high-end watches, but medium-end automatic watches of both Swiss and Japanese manufacture like Fortis, Oris, Hamilton, Seiko, Orient, etc. I’ve since sold the majority of the watches that used to make up my modest collection, and have kept the ones you see in the above picture.
I frequented the major watch forums, mostly PoorMansWatchForum, but also TimeZone, SeikoCitizenWatchForum, and WatchUSeek as well. I never posted much, but bought and sold a number of watches on their classified boards. Those are great places to buy gently used watches from people who are honest, and care for their timepieces. Many of these watches can be had for a great deal.
For those of you looking to get a nice automatic watch, but don’t have the money for a high-end Swiss timepiece, I would recommend several. If you want a diver watch (with a Rolex Submariner type look), then I’d go for the sterile dialed Submariner-style watches made by Parnis that are widely available on ebay. They have ones with Chinese made Seagull movements, which are very solid and dependable, for ~$100 shipped. If you want one with a Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement they’re available as well for about ~$250. If you’re not a watch nut, I’d opt for the Chinese Seagull movement—the case, dial, and bracelet are the same, the only difference is the movement, and the Chinese ones are now, to my knowledge, fairly dependable workhorses. I have a Parnis Explorer-style watch with a Seagull movement, and it has worked perfectly since day one. For other watches inspired by Panerai, IWC, and others, just do a general ebay search for “Parnis Watch.”
Another option for an inexpensive Japanese-made diver watch is the Orient Mako which will set you back about $115. Orient still makes their movements in-house, and they’re of incredibly high quality and dependability.
Another classic is the Seiko SKX-007. These sell in the $200 range new on ebay, but are widely available used on the watch forum sales boards linked to above. Also, the Seiko SKX-007 is a frequently modded watch, as many different companies make after-market parts for them: dials, hands, bezels, etc. You can often buy ones on the forums that are already modded. The sterile-dialed diver you see in the pic above is one such modded Seiko which has an MKII dial and hands. MKII used to be the main seller of after-market Seiko parts, but it looks like they now only sell complete Swiss-made watches designed by MKII’s American team of watch nuts. I’m sure the quality on those is top-notch, and if you’ve got the dough, you’ll be the only person wearing an MKII in a room full of Rolexes, Omegas, etc.
If Swiss-made is what you want, but you don’t want to break the bank buying luxury brands, and don’t want to buy used, you can check out WestCoastTime for some solid watches by makers like Ollech&Wajs. These will set you back about $350. The case, dial, and movements on these are solid, but the bracelets feel a little cheap for the money. But if you’re going to be throwing the watch on NATO straps and/or leather straps, that shouldn’t be too much of a concern.
That leads me to straps, and the colorful NATO straps I receive many questions about. I buy most of mine on ebay, and mostly from this seller here. They’re about $9 shipped, and come in a variety of colors combos and sizes. Make sure you know the size you need for your watch. Rolex Submariners, and their less-expensive Parnis and Ollech&Wajs counterparts have 20mm lugs, so that’s the size you’d go with. The Seiko SKX-007 has 22mm lugs, and so you’d need a larger strap for that watch.
I hope this has been useful information, and wish you all luck in your watch-buying endeavors!
I’m wearing a Church’s (the English shoe company) tie today. I thrifted it a couple of weeks ago for $2. It’s made in Italy, and has a manufacturing/care label very similar to some I’ve seen on Zegna ties—perhaps they came from the same manufacturer. Church’s no longer, as far as I can tell, sells ties under its label, but I’m very happy with this one. It’s very Spring-ey.
It’s raining here again, as evidenced by the raindrops on my right shoe.
Umbrella: Marimekko. I bought this with the first Groupon I ever purchased. It was $25 for $100 worth of merchandise at a local store that sells absolutely nothing of practical value. I bought a few Marimekko umbrellas, two for myself, and one as as gift. I also bought some reusable produce bags, and a portable one-serving French press. Not really the best $25 I ever spent.
I’ve ‘liked’ several photos of this watch, every time a new picture of it comes across my dashboard even…But I think I ought to reblog it at least once, so my desire for it is not lost to posterity, nor assumed to be only fleeting.
Max Bill Chronoscope by Junghans. Legit Bauhaus design. First released in the early-1960s I believe. Has been my grail watch since I first saw the re-release a couple of years ago.
(Source: whereisthecoool, via speedmaster)
So I organized my ties the other day, and these are my classic Churchill/polka dotted ones. I have a few other more elaborate Italian dotted ties. This shot is of 3 PRLs and 1 from The Custom Shop Clothiers. All thrifted. Am I crazy if the second and fourth (from the left) ones are different enough in my mind to justify keeping? I mean…look at the different way in which the white dots are spaced on the two ever-so-slightly different shades of burgundy silk.
