Briefcase shopping in NYC

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by iammatt

The Valextra piece broke after about two weeks. Unfortunately, it was form over function. I do have a briefcase from Bea that is about 8 years old, but I have never posted pics.
What shoddy trash; there goes their ambitions to be an Italian Hermes. Does it have a warranty?

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

What shoddy trash; there goes their ambitions to be an Italian Hermes. Does it have a warranty?
yes, they took it back. thankfully.

 

[LabelKing]

A lot of those Italian design goods have really dodgy quality which is not the case with say, German design products.

 

[itsstillmatt]

I suppose that it depends on the type of product. If it doesn't have too many moving parts "Made in Italy" isn't so bad, but when there is any engineering involved probles often occur.

 

[LabelKing]

A minor incident was when I owned an OMAS 360 fountain pen. I bought it new and it used to leak everywhere.

For a $400+ pen, I would not imagine it would be a seeping fountain.

Rather like old Italian cars, it is best to buy Italian pens after they have been (expensively) serviced by the first owner.

 

[The False Prophet]

Originally Posted by LSeca

I am trying to find out a way to obtain one of these without my wife knowing the cost. The purse-spending retaliation if she ever found out would be obsene. For some reason I can justify the briefcase but not the women's purses...

While there is often a significant markup on cases, owing in part to fairly small volumes and in part to the purchase of many traditional makers by luxury conglomerates, at least there is SOME relation between the cost of a case and the quality of materials and construction.

With purses, you are so often paying to be part of a trend, and even the nicest ones probably have a shortish shelf life before they fall out of fashion.

Taking these factors into consideration, one may conclude that the Hermes Birkin is not a bad deal - amazing leather, and never goes out of style. If my special lady agreed not to buy any more bags for, oh, a decade, I'd be happy to spring for one!

Speaking of same, Hermes cases are quite incredible - I'm thinking the make is "Sac a depecher"? (Forgive the lack of accents)

 

[montecristo#4]

A self-serving and borderline inappropriate cross post for anyone who wants a good deal on an excellent briefcase:

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...lson+briefcase

 

[Artisan Fan]

I don't believe it was Iammatt who posted his case. If I recall, Iammatt has a white Valextra piece.

I did not see Matt's briefcase but we went to Bea's store back in the Fall when I was in the Bay Area on business.

 

[poorsod]

Aportnoy's post got me thinking. We have a shoe Appreciation thread but no briefcase thread. What gives? Don't briefcases get some loving too? You guys have any good pics to share?

 

[AlanC]

Originally Posted by poorsod

Aportnoy's post got me thinking. We have a shoe Appreciation thread but no briefcase thread. What gives? Don't briefcases get some loving too? You guys have any good pics to share?

I'm all for it. Start a thread.

 

[BroadwayLocal]

You may want to take a look at the cases made by Jack Spade. The leather ones are gorgeous, and they hold up really well. Mine has been riding the subway daily for over a year and is still holding up well. They are a little less traditional than some of the others in this thread, but I spend most of my time below 14th street, so it suits me fine. Check out their store on Greene St., you'll be nicely surprised I think. Good luck finding what you want.

 

[gdl203]

I have had a Barantani briefcase for a couple of years and I am very happy with it. You should consider their products and they come up on STP at good discounts. Here is my soft-sided case. Leather is very soft and hardware and details are quite nice:

 

[zjpj83]

I started a separate "Briefcase Appreciation" thread for you guys to post up your pics