last week i got my awesome LTG buckel made by FEINSCHMUCK back with a new dark chocolate brown leather belt. this was well done by ALEXANDER v. BRONEWSKI who is doing the great BECAUSE blog. now the belt is perfect. it is made of a very nice and strong SCHACHENMEYER leather and ALEX did the perfect size for me: best fit! and he put a really great surprise on to the belt: inside the belt he embossed my initials EJ and LTG with two stars. great idea! thank you so much ALEX! pics | LTG
today something very special for the wishlist: super rare RED WING boots #8150. there are still some pairs available at B-74 and RED WING STORE FRANKFURT – nowhere else, just exclusively @ this 2 locations and online @ www.b-74.de. this camouflage RWS is one of the finest boots in my collection: a-never-ebay-item, life time gear. if you want so more pics please check my post from january 2012 when the #8150 was my boot of the day #111 and another post with some more facts. pics | LTG
i love my wallets from TANNER GOODS. so i needed these in black and oxblood. as you see in the pics below the oxblood colored is my favorit. i own it now for a year and since i got it, i wore it nearly everyday. just changed sometimes to the black one or the TANNER GOODS card holder. the wallets are made of 3.5 oz HORWEEN CHROMEXCEL, feature four cards slots in which you can put easily more than just one card, two interior pockets for cash and receipts, one zippered coin pocket, which i do not use because of avoiding my cards crashing. each wallet is burnished, dyed, waxed and stamped with the TANNER GOODS signature maker’s mark by hand. the oxblood wallet i usually combine with the original LONG TETHER and sometimes with a lanyard from PETER FIELDS. the black one i combine with an OBBI GOOD LABEL wallet chain i got from BURG & SCHILD. AMTRAQ does the distribution for TANNER GOODS in germany, austria, switzerland, netherlands and belgium. please check this link where to get this perfect wallets: AMTRAQ stockists. pics | LTG
as a great POPEYE fan i own my talisman from FEINSCHMUCK since they’ve done the first pieces one year ago. beside the talisman, FEINSCHMUCK does a POPEYE BELT BUCKLE and different POPEYE ZIPPOS. all pieces are manufactured by hand by the small FEINSCHMUCK team in bavaria, germany. these pieces are made of bronze and you can get it with patina or without. in germany you find this great stuff at PETER FIELDS, berlin, and B-74 in frankfurt, main. pics | Alexander v. Bronewski | LTG
LTG’s POPEYE TALISMAN, after 13 month of wear
there is not much to say about this comb: it is just PERFECT!!! i never possessed such a nice comb which i got from POMADE SHOP here in germany. it is medium long, made of KENTUCKY steel, processed in INDIANA, and finally laser cut and hand polished in CHICAGO: so 100% made in the usa. Matt brushed, satin finished, 5.5 inch long (14 cm) and 1.18 inch high (3 cm) and has 41 teeth, unbreakable and inflexible, perfect to handle. for sure it is resistant to pomades, hair tonics and easy to clean with hot water. this thing from the CHICAGO COMB CO. is a really MUST-TAKE-WITH-YOU-OBJECT. in german we say “this is a HAND SCHMEICHLER” – what means that you have to touch it all the time … pics | LTG
since years i wear these belts made by DUKES VINTAGE ARTISAN: 24/7. all belts i bought at volls.de. KLAUS was one of the first dealers offering these beautiful stuff. this is what he says about: “Dukes finest Vintage stands for selected, unique and handmade originals. The collection is a very exclusive range of extremely rare belts. After selecting and cleaning each belt with special composed leather lotions all emboss and paint is applied. Every step to produce these character loaded originals is done by around 200 handmade steps to guarantee a unique and authentic vintage lovers item.” yes. here some pics of my own belts and the top #04 of belts you can order @ volls.de or to put on your xmas wishlist. pics | volls.de | LTG
LTG’s DUKES belts
this knife is something really special. something with an exciting but sentimental history. the MINEUR was used as the name tells by miners from the middle of the 19th century on. and it is really difficult to describe the environment of this so hard working men and their families in the east of france in these old days. underground mining was the hell: brutal heat, high humidity, dusty. the miners were called by the folks “GUEULES NOIRES” what meant “black muzzles”. it was extremely dangerous in the mines and the families were so poor, because of lowest payment for that hard work. the wives had often worked in a second job and they tried to get a small garden just to get some vegetables, salad and other things to survive. the MINEUR knife was the daily companion of the miners and the people living in that mining regions. the miners wore it open in their bootlegs underground to kill all the hungry rats. when working was done the knife was used in garden or in the kitchen. often the MINEUR was the only knife in a household – unbelievable nowadays. WOLFGANG from PassionFrance told me the history of this simple knife and i was absolutely impressed. everytime i hold this knife i must think for the “GUEULES NOIRES”. 2005 the last mine was closed but the knife still is part of the culture und tradition in the typical mining areas like ARDENNES, ALSAC and LORRAINE. the bar end is so black as the miners faces were. the size and the form enables a perfect grip – i love the edging. it is made of ebony, the blade is 10 cm long and the ressort is needle etched by hand. a wonderful present with a great history. available at VOLLMAR&SÖHNE: www.passionfrance-shop.de . pics | LTG
that’s what social media is good for: i met ROY VAN CREIJ at facebook. and some day i saw these handmade crocheted bow ties that he posted. for me as a bow tie lover an absolute must-have. yesterday i got a letter from the netherlands with these two really nice looking and well done pieces for a nice price. it is easy to fit the ties with the two buttons in the back. i think the orange one has to be ordered too! isn’t that a wonderful gift for christmas? beside the bow ties ROY offers different sorts of bracelets at the MONSIEUR BOJANGLES etsy store. pics | LTG
a week ago i got a mail from my friend WOUTER the guy behind LONG JOHN in which he wrote about a new brand named BUTTS AND SHOULDERS. WOUTER created BAS in collabaration with friends which share the same authentic passion he does. together they had the idea to create the ultimate travel bag. and now you can see the result after one year testing. 50 bags were made in the first run. here some more facts WOUTER told me: “Our Butts and Shoulders bag is made of 100% natural vegetable leather. We call it virgin leather. The moment you unpack it, you are starting the unique ageing process. By using it, touching it and even by exposing it to daylight the looks of this unique bag will change. The more you will use it, the more beautifull it gets. Like a true friendship that will grow over time., Butts and Shoulders will be your buddy for the rest of your life. Every bag will be delivered with a leather certificate with the unique bag number. The certificate reminds you to the start of the ‘virgin’ leather and it’s also the testimony of the registered original. The bag is 100% made in Holland.” in the following you can find some more facts with the pics. it is an exciting project and i am really interesting what will happen next. you can get this unique bag with your personal choice of the limited number you want to get @ the BUTTS AND SHOULDERS online shop. pics | BUTT AND SHOULDERS
for me the MONOCLE series from CDG is one of my absolute favorites since years. last week the third fragrance was launched: SUGI. before there was HINOKI and LAUREL. SUGI’s top note is cypress and an intensive but so nice pepper smell. the heart note is of iris and virginia cedarwood while the base note is of pine and vetiver. a distinctive fragrance far away from mainstream. this is what my favorite fragrance dealer AUS-LIEBE-ZUM-DUFT writes about: “Created in Paris by Comme des Garçons head perfumer Antoine Maisondieu the light, energising and sophisticated fragrance is inspired by the sugi – also known as the Japanese cedar – which is a popular ornamental plant in Japan. Sugi is a refreshing unisex fragrance, beginning with top notes of Mediterranean cypress and pepper from Madagascar, followed by iris from Florence and cedar from Virginia, finishing with notes of pine and Haitian vetiver. “We’ve been working with Comme des Garçons for four years on Sugi and wanted it to bring a new dimension to our fragrance range,” says Monocle editor in chief Tyler Brûle. “Sugi sits seamlessly alongside Hinoki and Laurel as a distinctive Monocle scent but brings an added clean, fresh and delicate appeal.“ From the amazing yellow box, to the graphic design, every element of Sugi’s packaging was created by Monocle creative director Richard Spencer Powell and his London design team to reflect the sophisiticated and intelligent values of both magazine and Comme des Garçons. The fragrance is presented in a bold yellow matte-glass bottle with similarly distinctive yellow packaging, again featuring Monocle’s highly recognizable font and design. © First in Fragrance (p/sc)”. pics | LTG
LIFE TIME GEAR 