INSPIRATION | FREE & EASY, FEBRUARY 2011

Being an avid reader of Free & Easy is like marrying a Brazilian man when you don't even speak Portuguese. You can't understand a damn thing and probably never will, but my God it just looks so damn pretty and never fails to make the heart go pitter patter.

Anyway, I purchased this one at Unionmade Goods (from a fellow named Spencer Lemon - fantastic name); below are some of my favorite morsels from this month's issue and check out my Flickr for the full set. As the Japanese might say, Enjoy! (^_^)  - M

Camera Porn

Love this vintage cover.

You now have permission.

Cabourn. Never fails.

Like a glove

Sexy Sandwich Man

Inspired by Redford.

The Muytjens

Tweed jacket, deconstructed

A classic

Carryall lust

Want x 4

This guy wins.

Adore this

 

The Newman

Couldn't resist

MORE ON FLICKR

IN CONTEXT | NIKE AIR ROYAL MID QS 'WORKBOOT' SNEAKER

The Nike Air Royal Mid comes in two colorways, black & wine each with leather uppers, white contrast stitching & white mid-soles. A perforated Swoosh marks them as Nikes. $150 at sneakerhead.com.

Sure, this post is kind of apropos of nothing and yes, I am more than a bit behind the game on these considering they debuted in 2009. But who cares. Look at them. They're spectacular. They need to be revisited.

I found these these while doing my sneaker homework on sneakerhead.com, and realized I was looking at a perfect love child of classic and street. And I so here I stand, seduced. While they're definitely not snow ready, they'll do the trick for the dry times of a colder season and, if the customer reviews are true, they get points for durability.  Also, they're Nikes? Who knew?

Both have black outsoles &
burgundy patterned laces held by gold eyelets
on the wine pair and silver on the black.

Quick aside: The cult of the sneaker has recently peaked my curiosity. I find it to be the antithesis of what usually attracts me - functional, classic, sustainable, small brand - which is probably why I'm intrigued. The whole 'buy a pair of $300+ kicks and keep them in a plastic box in your closet for 20 years' thing? Mystifying, yet I'm fascinated.  As sneakers go, this pair is decidedly more subdued, but they've whet my appetite none the less.

Anyway, below you'll find a freshly inspired [In Context] and pics after the jump. I could definitely get the hang of this sneaker thing...  - M



PS. I don't profess to know much (read: anything) in the way of Nikes, but if you do, I'd love some impressions from an aficionado's perspective.

[IN CONTEXT]

Nike Air Royal Mid QS + Other choice things

Nike Air Royal Mid QS
Mackintosh x Kitsuné London Jacket
Tellason John Graham Mellor Selvedge Denim
Fred Segal Bd Baggies Foundry Button Down
Henry Vibskov V-Scarf in Green
Need Supply Chunky Knit Cap
Wings + Horns Black Cashmere Cardigan
Uniform Wares 200 Series Calendar Wristwatch
Makr Canvas Fold Weekender Bag

Click 'Jump' for more pics

VIDEO | TAILORING TRADITION THE NAPLES WAY

As the descendant of Italian tailors and seamstresses, this little vignette made my heart jump. Regardless of background, you should take a few minutes and watch it, for if there's anyone in the world with a passion for tailoring, it's classy men from Naples. Attenzione Italiani: questa piccola meraviglia è narrato tutto nella lingua più bella del mondo ;). Allora, forza ragazzi, enjoy and be inspired. - M

(via Por Vocaçã )

GUEST POST | SINN 756s UTC | BY CLAY PARKER JONES

Anyone who's been following my delicious feed knows I've recently become slightly obsessed with watches. Specifically: mechanical watches, the kind that are powered by stored kinetic energy (potential energy?) and don't require a battery to tick the minutes by.

So after a lot of research, and a lot of obsession, I bought myself a Sinn 756s UTC. I've been eyeing it for some time (it's one of my earliest posts on Svpply). I'm in love with it.

THE SINN BRAND

Founded in 1961, Sinn has been
since owned by
Lothar Schmidt of Porsche Design,

 IWC and A. Lange & Söhne.

Sinn is a relatively unknown German watch brand located in Frankfurt, and is known for tool/instrument watches and advancing case technology. For example, they've got a range of watches that are filled with oil to prevent damage from deep-dive compressive forces. Intense. More on that later. They've got about 70 employees and manufacture around 14,000 watches every year, primarily using Swiss ETA movements, with a range from around 600-20,000 euro in price.

Fascinating aside: many of the mid- to high-range mechanical watches sold every year use an off-the-shelf movement from ETA or modify an ETA base to match their specifications. Much of the industry has standardized on their internals, though a few stalwart manufacturers (notably Rolex, Panerai and IWC in the imaginably affordable range) still build their own movements from scratch. I suppose this is similar in nature to Mac using Intel processors, but I didn't expect that level of standardization in such a pricey category that prizes handmade/artisanal values. Anyway.


THE WATCH

My watch

My particular watch contains an ETA Valjoux 7750, running at 28,800 beats per minute, parts of which are shown in the above. It's apparently quite reliable. Which is good, because the case of the 756 is a beast and should be damn near apocalypse ready: the stainless-steel case has been hardened to 1,200 Vickers, is pressure-resistant to 200 meters, and includes a soft-iron case around the movement to prevent it from being affected by magnetic forces.

The case is 40mm wide and 14mm tall and there's a little removable capsule of copper sulfate crystals that absorb moisture, prolonging the life of the lubricating oil and keeping the crystal fog-free. It'll play well with leather bands, and is offered on a bracelet. I'm thinking about swapping in a nylon strap, or a custom Horween job as below. Photos to come if that happens.

Left: with Horween strap, a one-off DIAPAL model, uses low friction elements in the movement to eliminate the need for lubrication.
Right: with nylon strap, also not mine.

In any case, no matter the specs, it's designed to take some abuse. Which I like.
Generally speaking, though, I love that as a designed artifact, it's all about purpose.

• It's heavy because steel and soft iron are dense materials.
• The numerals are huge to make them instantly legible.
• The hands are sword-shaped, to give them width for visibility and a fine point for accuracy.
• The second time-zone hand is yellow and open to distinguish it from the normal hour hand.

It's perfect for me, and that's that.
_____________________________


**Editor's note**

Clay is a digital strategist and ping pong paddle craftsman extraordinaire. As a co-worker and friend, he's been a great influence and trusted advisor in getting this blog off the ground for which I thank him very much. If you enjoy this I strongly suggest you follow his blog and Tweets for more good stuff. - M