Me and Maria (Alexander von Bronewski Manufaktur & Feinschmuck ) went for our annual Indian Summer Bivouac up the hill for less than 24 hours – offline. A great time to exercise, being outdoors, collecting the thoughts, getting inspired, watching shootingstars, drinking some good redwine, roasting some sausages, watching a fire burn, watching deer, eating blueberries, making good coffee, trying to name the surrounding mountains and exploring new paths – priceless!
I attended with Feinschmuck the Bread & Butter Summer 2014 and was part of the Amtraq Dist. stand in the Fire Department area. A great event with so many good brands. Unfortunately I did not have the time to wander around and take more images. Here just a quick glimpse into some of the brands I was close to or really caught my eye.
be-cause-bag – Leather Tote bag project
It was in my mind for a long time to finally hand sew my first handbag. The ingredients were simple. First of all the best vegetable tanned leather I could get my hands on, simple design, hand stitched with saddle stitch, best thread, no zippers (they will break at first), and some well thought of practical details. Overall it took me about 10 hours to cut and sew this bag.
A while ago I took test cast of the Indian Head from Feinschmuck out of solid copper and turned it into a button. It now serves the locking for the bag. Interchangable with other buttons and the leather straps can be easily changed as well over the years. This is just a start, I will produce more leather tote bags soon – waiting for more leather hides.
Last friday I had an appointment with Mr. Breuninger the owner of the Breuninger Tannery in Schorndorf Germany. The Breuningers tann since 1552 and since 12 generations as red tanner (vegetable tanner), so from the specs they know their business. Already have received a couple of leather samples I really wan´t to see the factory and to have a closer look at the hides. They do only vegetable tann from german cattle and emphasize on the natural look of the hides.
I was really impressed from what I saw. The aniline tanning results in really characteristic hides by preserving the natural structure of the leather. Mr. Beuninger was really informative and helpful in explaining various aspects of his profession. Finally I bought some hides and reserved one. I guess we found another, or the supplier for future Feinschmuck products.
Last week I traveled with the Feinschmuck collection to Frankfurt to attend an ordershow which was hosted by B74 & Amtraq. Some impressions I was able to capture a lot not. It was a great event in an even greater setup. Thanks Kami and his team & Amtraq to make this show happen. It was amazing to be part with a quite exclusive set of labels/brands there. Visited by some of the best german stockists who had all the time to choose their goods for 2014.
Some more images can be found @ Eric´s Life-Time-Gear blog.
Just to name a few:
Tellason, Scarti Labs, Otter Wax, Passion France, Filson, Merz b. Schwanen, Blue Blanket, 3sixteen, Fidelity, Levi´s vintage Clothing, Made and Crafted, Feinschmuck, Croots, Tanner Goods, Topo Designs, Midori, Knowledge Cotton, Reds (shame on me if I forgot a brand).
Whilst being at the Amtraq stall with Feinschmuck, I had a lot of chances to examine the wide range of products handmade by Croots in England. They have widened their product range a lot, included new colors and offering Horween leather on some bags instead of English bridle leather. Solid and skillfully made, using the best leathers available, the strongest webbing and full brass material their products are sure to gain a life time gear status at your wardrobe.
More images and info about the new launched collection can be seen at the Amtraq website with images shoot by Olli Breitwieser.
be-cause / Feinschmuck leather workshop – Ulmia Ott workbench
For a long time I´ve been watching this vintage Ulmia Ott workbench in Manfreds Garage. When I saw the restoration project of a similar Ulmia workbench @ TopHatter I finally asked him how he liked the idea of “getting rid” of this workbench. Actually he needed more space be-cause of the just bought Feinschmuck Fiat 238. So we roughly cleaned the bench, let it dry for a day and moved it into my home yesterday. This is the workspace where Feinschmucks buckles are hand sewn and turn into a belt from now on.
Here some preview images from some solid bronze items by Feinschmuck. Each single piece is unique by the traditional wax cast process. Skillful patinated and by so already unique in its look. Use the hooks to safely attach your wallet, keys or knife with a leash or chain to your jean. Right now they are available with cherry blossoms and surfaces from ray and ostrich.
Ha! I totally forgot to mention the Indian Head belt buckle which will also be available soon after the Bread & Butter fair January 2014 in Feinschmuck supplied shops.
Here some unpublished images of the Tellason Bird Raw Denim Jean, which I took for the review I wrote for Denimhunters. After about 2 month of wear Maria from Feinschmuck is more and more happy with this jean. It took here some wears to break it in and get the denim softer hence she mostly owned pre washed or stretch jean.
Here the post I did for Denimhunters:
” For men, some of the top priorities when choosing our jeans would likely be the general fit, the weight of the denim, the colour and size of the pockets for stowing in our stuff. For the ladies it’s another story; the main issue here is how well the jean makes them look from behind. Disregarding how well it may be constructed, the durability of the denim, or the intensity of the colour, the jean won’t score high at all if it doesn’t score in fit. Tellason seems to have found a way to combine all the things men value in denim with a great fit in the newly released Bird lady jean.
The details of the jean:
Tellason’s European distributor Amtraq was kind enough to let Maria from Feinschmuck try out a pair of the Bird – the one pictured throughout this article. The jean looks great and will look even better once worn in. As it’s not a stretch denim and the fit is rather slim, we expect great fades with this one. We love the fact that Tellason accepted the challenge to create a proper pair of lady jeans, top of the line in quality and fit.
Buy your bird a pair from Tellason’s website.”
The timing for the parcel by Passion France could not have been better. Right on the spot for Maria´s Birthday the shipment of her Survival Knife (ask Wolfgang why only a knife with a corkscrew is regarded by Frenchmen as a real survival knife).
At the B-74 5th. Anniversary Party we were presented the new Feinschmuck Collection right next to Passion France. Hmm, guess what the whole Feinschmuck team is now officially equipped with the finest knifes by Passion France. Thanks a lot to Sabine and Wolfgang.
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