Independents

Let's face it. Some of us get excited simply because there's a Patek Philippe logo on a wallet. Not realizing those wallets are made by an external corporate gifts supplier who hired a contract manufacturer in Florence, Italy to make the wallets. An emper...  

I think there’s a lot of money to be made in lunching downstream brands with lower quality. Still good, just more value focused.

You only have to be slightly better than Hermes, and you would be able to sell in high volumes. Also, look at M.A.D. watches, the revenue from that is substantial!

Is that many people don’t really care about quality. It’s surprising to me and I don’t get it fully

Driving this brand of car, wearing this brand of clothes, wearing this style of watch; all have these connotations and stereotypes. I want to be associated with those stereotypes, or I think I fit those stereotypes, thus I buy that brand of car/clothes/wa... 

endorser try to tell me what to buy. Personally I look for quality, in any product over the brand name attached to it. I have said it before on the forum, name brands and high prices do not always indicate high quality. Look closely at what you are purcha... 

The pens are made in-house and are of a very high quality (but at an even higher price tag). But the leather goods are dear in price and not usually dear in quality.

Montblanc bags being made by workers less than qualified to do so, and it was not flattering to Montblanc. I have confidence in their writing instruments and have several, I do find them to be high quality albiet expensive, As much as Iike their leather g... 

bag, fear of spending big $$$$ and getting an inferior product. But that is the risk with any purchase anymore. Buyer Beware!!

Even the gold nibs are made in house and not contracted out anymore (they were using an external supplier at one point).

Montblanc pens are decent. But, if you look at other brands of pens, Montblanc can be seen as a poor value. Thus, I would say, the best pieces from Montblanc are standard 146 and 149 pens. The value in the pen is in the size of the feed and the size of th...  

But I didn't get the Guggenheim. The Borghese is fairly modern looking. I do like the Guggenheim, but alas, I can't use them all! I still really like Peter the Great. What a stately pen! Totally uncomfortable to write with though! I've never written with ...  

Eventually we started a friendly conversation and I learned he owned some duty-free stores worldwide and was traveling to China to meet with the head of a large manufacturer of clothing. To cut it short, he explained how these people would make shirts for... 

Li and Fung is a business that does that - I don't know if they own retail stores in airports. But they do make garments for many well known brands.

But, certain names do associate with a history and assurance of quality. In Italy there are so many independent leather establishments with no particular name and which I would always choose over many standard high street luxury brands.

Almost hard to think of a big name that is still super-focused on quality. At least in the leathergoods industry.

the product on store shelves quickly that they have let quality become a thing of the past.

A lot of artisan made pieces have bad proportions.

In my experience very few people are interested in substance and understanding the product that they buy. For example I'm always surprised at the amount of people who have no clue what kind of engine is in their cars, the same can be said about watches or... 

No offense to Porsche fanatics - I used to be one. But the 911 and the Boxster/Cayman are the only very-expensive cars that still use a MacPherson strut suspension (aka single wishbone suspension). Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, McLaren, Lamborghini,... 

a brand name gives the confidence that the product would be at a certain level of quality. Whether the premium you pay for the brand over the no name product is worth the extra confidence (or quality) is another matter. I for one have to rely on the brand... 

I don't drink coffee. But I still need to buy a coffeemaker every now and then. And when I do, I go to a reputable kitchen appliance store and buy the shiniest looking machine. We can't be experts in all things. But, let's say I claim to be an expert in w... 

I shall wait patiently for your article on the European leather artisan. By the way, I remember well your great articles on the Faber Castel pencil and the luggage.

Thank you!

The differences between the calfskin and the crocodile examples are quite clear here. Looking forward to reading your article on the European artisan. Wishing you an enjoyable weekend. Best, Emmanuel

It's going to be a quiet weekend! A good thing!

I am not impressed by brand recognition, celebrity endorsement, etc. (Not even secondary market demand.) Give me an outstanding quality, under-recognized underdog, and I'm happy. ;-D

Do you like leathergoods? I've got an underdog for you.