Environmentally Conscious Timekeeping

I am a watch guy; not dedicated to one particular style or maker, my tastes run the gamut. Vintage, brand new, elegant complications or chunky dive watches; I like them all. I have become a bit of an evangelist about one thing though – I think people should wear mechanical watches or watches that don’t need traditional batteries, if any.

With all the talk about going green, we should each take along hard look at ourselves; at our wrists, specifically. Are you still wearing one of those battery powered timekeepers? Well, shame on you. Just think about what it takes to manufacture, ship, store, replace and throw out millions of those little batteries each year. It’s enough to make a Swiss master watchmaker cry.

These days we have some great high-tech and low-tech options for marking time in an environmentally friendly fashion. Mechanical watches in particular have made a big comeback in recent years and they are the perfect investment if you’re looking for something to pass down to your kids. You can find quality mechanical timepieces in a range of prices, from $500 to $50,000.

Leaving aside the $25,000.00 Patek Philippe that most of us will not be acquiring in the near future, there are many affordable mechanical watches that will last a lifetime and remain stylish through most any trend.

The Rolex Submariner is a classic sports watch and at around $5,500.00, while not exactly cheap, it is a possible choice for many professionals. If you are looking for one “good” watch, you can’t go wrong with at Submariner. A very affordable alternative is the $375.00 Seiko “Orange Monster.” Yes, I said Seiko; watch aficionados know that they make some of the most reliable mechanical movements in the dive industry and the Orange Monster has its own cult following.

Want microsecond accuracy without having to shake your wrist? Citizen’s Eco-Drive technology transforms your watch into a big solar collector. The watch’s face and crystal absorb all types of light and convert it into the energy that runs your watch indefinitely. One of the most popular is the Citizen Skyhawk Black Eagle which lists around $475.00. It’s tough enough that no one will make fun of your social consciousness.

If you’re a fan of the unstoppable Jack Bauer from the TV action drama “24”, check out a favorite of mine, the Blackhawk by MTM. This is the very one Jack wears and it has a cool illumination feature that can be used to signal commandos, blind an assailant or just track down your car keys. The company’s revolutionary rechargeable lithium ion battery is good for 10 years and the watch needs only an overnight recharge every three months or so to keep it running strong. And don’t worry; the Secret Service and Delta Force have already tested it for you, so it’ll survive a rough afternoon on the back nine.

These are just a few of the hundreds of watches that can help you look sharp, telegraph your values and interests, and take a small but important step to reducing you personal carbon footprint. They also give you an excuse to add to your own collection.

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How to Buy Luxury: Hermes

There is a saying that the most luxurious items you own will probably be those you wear least. While I can see why this may be the case (your black tie, patent shoes and dress studs are unlikely to be cheap) it is depressing.

I have always liked a little touch of luxury. But I am at heart a cheap man. So I go to every effort to eschew this rule and buy quality items that I will use frequently. The principle can apply to, for example, a work bag that you use almost every day. To your luggage. To one dark brown belt and probably one dark brown pair of leather oxfords.

If you are going to buy a luxurious suit, why not make it a mid-grey flannel one with two pairs of trousers? The jacket will always be useful to wear with odd trousers, even jeans (normal, worsted suit jackets never look right in this regard). And the flannel trousers themselves are the standard for odd, patterned jackets.

My latest discovery in this spirit is a reversible Hermes tie. Obviously, an Hermes tie is an aspirational item. But the printed variety never really appealed to me – there’s something about a grown businessman wearing flamingos on his tie that smacks of infantilism rather than elegance.

But this one, found in the Sloane Street store, is knitted silk. Most importantly, it is reversible. Twice. The two blades are of identical width, and each has one colour on either side. The brand offers various colour permutations, but the most practical – and the one I ended up buying – is black/grey/light blue/dark blue (see picture).

These are surely the four most useful solid ties a man can have. And while you can’t wear a knitted tie on more formal occasions, these are fewer and further between today. I end up wearing this tie once or twice a week, which is a lot considering that I don’t wear a tie every day.

It’s satisfying wearing something luxurious so often. As Will on asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com is fond of saying, the real value of an item is its price divided by the number of times it is worn, plus some multiplier for the pleasure it engenders in the wearer. Which makes this Hermes tie, despite being twice the price of any other tie I have ever bought, pretty good value.

(One last tip – if this sounds like a good idea then try and find the line of ties in duty free. I bought mine in Heathrow airport, and saving 17.5% softens the impact on the bank balance a little.)

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One Thing: The Lightweight Macintosh

As things warm up here in the nation’s capital and spring weather becomes the norm, I like to put away the cold weather clothes and get ready for the new season. Even though I won’t need the heavy barn jackets and top coats, there is one piece of outerwear that stays in the front hall closet – my lightweight macintosh.

A good raincoat is a wardrobe staple for every man. It keeps the water off your back and, if you chose wisely, will impart a certain film noir-like finesse to your movements. But rain protection in warmer months requires a specific type of raincoat. Lighter and shorter are the code words for a warm weather macintosh. The lightweight mac quickly becomes a fashion accessory on those days when the rain may be spotty but you still have to wear it around town, waiting for the few drops that will justify your wardrobe choice.

As opposed to the typical double breasted trench coat models that anonymously roam the rain soaked streets, a macintosh will give you a bit more of a modern swagger. Named after the inventor of the first waterproof raincoat, Charles Macintosh, this style of rain coat is often single breasted, unbelted and knee length.

This coat’s classic design makes it just right for when you’re dressed up, dressed down or just want a little James Bond appeal. Because of its inherently versatile nature, pretty much anyone can carry off a lightweight macintosh. It also travels well, which is another key criterion for justifying a major wardrobe investment. Traditional khaki colors ranging from light stone to British tan work best. For a more urban feel, try navy and black.

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Commuter & Dad Bag Test: Timbuk2

Timbuk2 Cross Classic Messenger ($150.00) & Cross Wiki ($60.00) / www.Timbuk2.com

If there is one company that’s the proverbial 800 pound gorilla of the messenger bag industry, it’s Timbuk2. The San Francisco based company’s three paneled bags have become somewhat iconic, just like its curly-cue logo. Though owners can customize those panels to almost any color combination, the bags are still instantly identifiable.

From its founding in 1989, Timbuk2’s goal was to create a bag rugged enough to serve the street pounding bicycle messengers of San Francisco yet stylish enough to appeal to a broader market.

Unlike other messenger bag companies, whose bags were co-opted by people looking to emulate bike messengers, the epitome of cool, Timbuk2’s designs were created with potential suburban commuters in mind. In 1994, the three panel design was perfected and customers were encouraged to customize their bag designs.

This gave birth to the particularly unique Timbuk2 style wave, now seen from San Francisco to New York, Memphis to Denver. Produced in different sizes and with various functionalities, their bags all share a common look and distinctive personality that can go city slick or biker artsy based on the owner’s preferences.

The Timbuk2 web site is a combination retail portal and street art venue. You can customize your bag right down to the color of the swirling logo. The site also has an interesting history of messenger bags.

Background

The company sent me two bags, a medium classic messenger bag and Wiki laptop sleeve. Both are in the new Cross fabric that is somewhat akin to a heavy duty hounds tooth. The wide woven pattern at first looks loose and potentially weak. In fact, it is a tight weave that is totally waterproof. The Cross fabric is part of a textile experiment that has the company designers re-imagining their products with more high-end materials and treatments.

The Results

Both bags are great in their own ways. The Cross fabric is different enough to be innovative, but practical enough for daily use. In terms of bags’ functionality, they are each well designed and do what you want them to do.

Cross Classic Messenger (M)

The Timbuk2 medium classic messenger bag is in many ways the perfect commuter messenger bag. It’s large enough to hold what you need but small enough not to turn into a sack of stuff. Unlike purpose built bags that were later put to use by office dwellers, Timbuk2 messenger bags were built with that very constituency in mind.

That translates to the unique pocket panel fitted into every Timbuk 2 messenger bag. There are slots for pens, a clear window of business cards, a cell phone sleeve and a variety of other pocket in varying sizes. There are also two zippered pockets – one large and one small – for securing your valuables and loose items.

Other options like a body stabilizing strap and shoulder strap pad come with this particular model. Small but meaningful features include bag buckles constructed from metal rather and plastic and a key tether located in an outer pocket instead of the normal in-bag location.

Cross Wiki

The Wiki is a laptop commuter sleeve with a carrying handle. Other than an outside pocket that can hold a few sheets of paper, that’s it. The thickly padded corduroy lining cradles and protects your machine and the limited features keep its purpose clear and simple.

I found this to be a great bag for moving around the laptop and keeping it simple. I am a convert to keeping my laptop in its own slim and trim bag. I may not get everything into one bag, but this is a sensible and handy alternative.

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An Englishman in New York: Cardboard Jeans

It’s not much fun wearing cardboard trousers. But it’s worth the pain.

This time last year I bought a pair of jeans from Jean Shop on West Broadway, New York. A friend had recommended the place to me, but to be honest I was largely taken in by the technical terms and stylish furnishing – piles of raw denim draped over rails around the shop, interspersed by various efforts in coloured leather: jackets, wallets etc.

As casual clothes are not my specialist subject, all the talk of Japanese denim, rinsing, raw wearing and dying oils went a little over my head. But the assistant claimed he wore one pair of these jeans every day of the year. That he had bought the pair he was wearing two years ago and never bought another. I think that might even have been the reason he decided to get a job there.

Most of the jeans sold are raw denim. This means that when you first wear them they will feel like cardboard – stiff, awkward and, well, crunchy. After a few days of wearing them in they will soften. After a few weeks they will feel comfortable and seem to fit really well. A year later they will be like a second skin.

The advantage of raw denim is that, unlike pretreated or prewashed jeans, the cotton adapts itself to your own particular shape and activities. It molds to you. This appeals to me as a fan of made-to-measure clothes generally – except that here the trousers adapt to you rather than being made for you.

An investment in a great pair of jeans also appeals to my thriftiness – one pair of classic, straight dark jeans can be worn with almost anything and won’t wear out for years. Jean Shop jeans aren’t that cheap – between $250 and $290. But then they’re not the most expensive either.

I’m wearing my pair today and have done half the time I’ve been in New York. Unlike some of my recommendations (I have yet to buy a suit from Suit Supply, as one reader pointed out. Though I am eager to hear anyone else’s experience) this one is fully tested. I went back to Jean Shop yesterday and it was just as cool – plus this time I knew a little more about the product, having done my own research. I bought exactly the same pair as mine (albeit an inch smaller on the waist) for my brother. I’m sure he’ll love them as much as me.

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