Vintage belt buckle from Amtraq being feinschmucked:
When we visited Uwe from Amtraq at his showroom in Munich he gave me a vintage belt buckle from his personal collection. Feinschmuck did 3 reproductions in bronze. One was just polished, one was darkened (angeranzt) and one is being coated with silver (still in electrolytic bath, images will be available soon). Which one you like the most?
Manufactum Nr. 25, my personal highlights – summer 2012 catalogue:
Yesterday the new Manufactum catalogue No. 25 was shipped. Here some of my personal highlights.
Sinn Chronograph, Butterfly chair (Fledermausstuhl), copper hotty, a pair of woolen mittens, FHB corduroy pants, Herkules suspenders, Herder Windmühlen knifes, baking gloves, berkel cutting machine, Bentheim pork products, Fendt toy tractor and some whistles.
Fat Boy Clothing Bandanas:
FBC just released some great Bandanas, all hand mande and dyed with ecological pigment. So no fancy skin rush. They are 55 x 55 cm and available now on their webshop.
Braun RT 20 Radio by Dieter Rams 1961:
I always wanted a tube radio, so a couple of years ago I found this Braun RT 20. The usual tube radios with their mostly dark brown and rustic design were a lesser option. I love the design but the soul of this radio as well. It takes about 10 seconds to start making sound (sometimes I forgot that I switched it on by then) and It takes some adjustments to the frequency after some minutes.
Only about 6600 pieces were built around 1961 by Braun Frankfurt – Germany.
Most will know the famous Schneewitchensarg record player SK-4 by Dieter Rams.
I have to retune the frequency …
Amtraq and Merz b. Schwanen Showroom visit Munich:
Yesterday we visited Uwe and Alex from Amtraq, and Dirk from Merz b. Schwanen in their temporarily Showroom in Munich. What a great combination, just a bit hard to handle all that great stuff in one place, too much to see. The Dehen jackets, the indigo dyed Merz b. Schwanen shirts, the Rising sun stuff … Thanks for the great time!
Happy birthday mom – French forge de laguiole knife:
Couldn´t post the images earlier be-cause I did not want to spoil her birthday present. Recently I was in France and I saw this beauty. It´s hard to find a fitting present for her, but this time I think I hit it. She is into pocket knifes as well, and probably carry hers more often than I do. Im sure I inherited the fascination for knifes from her. At least she did not do anything against it – im glad for that.
But getting back to the forge de laguiole knife. I always wanted to have one and there is the saying that the best presents are the ones you struggle to let them go. It got a very elegant shape, perfect piece of craftsmanship and nice details. Love the bee or fly, the decoration cuts on the back of the blade and black, gold and silver matched so well together. I do not want to start to talk about the details of a original laguiole knife, there are others who are more versed to do so.
I wanted to check some details on the knife and she had to get it from her handbag. So it seems to be well accepted.
Straight Razor – my first strop!
About 2 years ago I bought my first strop to hone/sharpen my straight razors. There are some fancy 100 Euro + models out there and my first thoughts were, you got it for decades so – spent the money. On the other side I wasn´t sure If straight razors would be my thing.
Luckily I went for a relatively cheap one. It´s not that I stoped to straight razor shave, but as a beginner you cut the leather so easily. In most tutorials or movies they strp very fast, which makes absolutely no sense esp. if you are not a “master” in it. Just go about 20 times slowly with hardly any pressure over the leather, thats it.
And at the beginning you are a bit nervous or let me say not so focused. So making a false movement with the blade is done so quickly. So my advice is, save the money and buy a nice one after you ruined the first one.
I guess in about a year, I´m ready to buy something more appropriate for my razors. But in ne meantime, this one serves me well.
Seaman Trouser handtailored for Gasoline Alley:
A weekend in Munich and esp. the saturday “morning” isn´t complete without a visit at the Gasoline Alley. So last saturday I was there around 2pm, just to come back again 2:55pm (5 min before closing) be-cause of this seaman trouser/pants. Burkhard Pflug created this trouser with a lot attention for details and I have to say It is perfect. The fabric and the cut feels very comfortable and areas which more stress are reinforced.
I´guess there is no real excuse not to have one. You can chose between navy blue and beige.
Tellason Denim Chore coat arrived at the shipyard:
Last week the guys from Amtraq were at the lake of constance for half a week. After reading my post about “stuff that works at work” they decided to sponsor a Tellason Chore coat / Coverall jacket which I had to promise to use at the shipyard. I agreed, but knowing that paint, hardener,rasin and all the tools will be tough on the great jacket made me somehow sad.
Wonderful details, I especially like the huge pockets, the reinforced buttons and the possibility to close the collar tight around the neck – this will somehow restrict the itching fibres finding their way to the skin.
It´s no summer 30 C usedforworkalldayjacket but as soon as the days get colder it will be used more often.
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison:
Yesterday night they showed a great doku at ARTE about Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison jail. The beginning of his career and the LP is one of the best!
be-cause - style, travel, collecting and food blog 
