Official Umbrella aficionados thread

[logboy]

Send us pictures please.

this is blueberry7's kirchtag posted in the dedicated thread >

Kirchtag Umbrellas

Anyone know anything about these? Crazy expensive, wondering they are the ne plus ultra or something else.

www.styleforum.net

all the information on their website is very good insight if you google translate it. especially the origins of parts and preparation of sticks. gives a sense of the effort and skill involved.

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The stick is made from waxed cherry with horn tip.

 

[logboy]

What about Talarico ?

no idea.

 

[ojaw]

Beautiful work there

 

[konstantis]

this is blueberry7's kirchtag posted in the dedicated thread >

Kirchtag Umbrellas

Anyone know anything about these? Crazy expensive, wondering they are the ne plus ultra or something else.

www.styleforum.net

all the information on their website is very good insight if you google translate it. especially the origins of parts and preparation of sticks. gives a sense of the effort and skill involved.

Really good looking frames. I am impressed

 

[logboy]

received heurtault this morning. no pictures yet, as arrived with a couple of issues. shop is closed today. awaiting response. tips have marked the stick, horn ferrule is pale when i said dark. not wrapped very well, in my opinion - just one piece of paper loosely around handle (which didn't stop tips moving onto shaft), placed within bubblewrap and box. needed to be held into place to stop movement of it.

anyway, clearly something a cut above. very slender, elegant stick which is weighty and strong. lovely firm, silent mechanism. beautiful fabric (metal navy blue). canopy is a domed shape, which is my choice that's a little out of the ordinary, looks stylish. almost unbelievably crisp fabric when unclipped and wraps very easily back into shape. has a matching sleeve. discrete black tags inside both.

suspect i will be asking to have it remade with correct ferule and wrapped securely to not damaged in transit.

 

[konstantis]

Did you purchased a Heurtault except from Kirchtag ?

 

[logboy]

Di you purchased a Heurtault except from Kirchtag ?

heurtault directly from heurtault. had an initial response. says, quite belligerently, either send back for refund (at my expense, it seems) or keep it as is. no apology, no understanding horn colour was requested as dark, no concern wrapping was poor and damage easily avoidable. have asked for it to be remade, and this one retrieved at their expense. we shall see what happens.

 

[konstantis]

May i ask the price of Heurtault ?

 

[logboy]

May i ask the price of Heurtault ?

590 euros plus 35 shipping.

if it had been done with the correct horn, and wrapped properly, it would be worth every penny. quite amazed at how well it's been made, but very carelessly packaged. initial email response to problem also puts me off recommending them as far as ordering by mail is concerned.

 

[konstantis]

Thank you. Please let me know how you find thw quality compared to Kirchtag , when you receive it. How is the quality compared to Maglias that hoy have owned ?

 

[logboy]

Thank you. Please let me know how you find thw quality compared to Kirchtag , when you receive it. How is the quality compared to Maglias that hoy have owned ?

infinitely better than the maglia. the frame is metal throughout, extremely firm and solid; maglia's has some plastic elements, i think. very slender fit against the stick, so wrapping the canopy back up doesn't pressure the frame against the stick particularly. silent operation and very smooth. the quality of the fabric impresses me far more than maglia, too, sleek and fine, feels more durable. the way it holds it's crisp shape and rolls back into place when closed is something else - looks like a silk japanese umbrella, very elegant. have noticed some more marks on the stick on the frame further up, which haven't had many opportunities to occur because it's been made in the last week.

 

[ojaw]

infinitely better than the maglia. the frame is metal throughout, extremely firm and solid; maglia's has some plastic elements, i think.

That's ****, really sorry to hear about such slack packaging for a fine product. Which parts of the Maglias are plastic? Just looking at my Ince and I don't see any except for a rubber stop (rosette?) at the top interior.

 

[logboy]

That's ****, really sorry to hear about such slack packaging for a fine product. Which parts of the Maglias are plastic? Just looking at my Ince and I don't see any except for a rubber stop (rosette?) at the top interior.

on mine, i think the main mechanism is. not sure.

 

[logboy]

Thank you. Please let me know how you find thw quality compared to Kirchtag , when you receive it. How is the quality compared to Maglias that hoy have owned ?

kirchtag apparently shipped to me last friday. not arrived yet.

heurtault seem intentionally deaf on making a replacement. they're ploughing on with giving me details for return and saying they'll cover that cost when they refund me. great shame. still baffled someone would make something so nice and wrap it so badly - didn't take me very long to wrap it up properly to send it back. if it had arrived with a dark horn tip, and undamaged, i would have kept it. gladly had it remade if they'd understood - and agreed to - take notice of the original specification and considered how to protect it in transit.

 

[logboy]

heurtault has been received back in france, most of the money has been refunded. awaiting only the return shipping costs.

still gutted by the loss, and (more so) by the dismissive customer service that's worded in a polite-but-arrogant manner that seems to lean on "it's handmade" explanation, which, to my mind, is an excuse. you could argue it all day, but, when i think of what else is made, and how much of the flawed (doesn't) make it to market outside of anything but a returns / sales / sample outlet, and given the reputation of heurtault, how lesser makers have navigated the issues which plagues the umbrella i received, i can't help but feel there are aspects it's all too easy to say they need to improve. i've seen handles protected during manufacture. i've seen handles wrapped with consideration for canopy tips being next to solid stick shafts. it feels far too much like the mail order customer might not get the same consideration, and once it's made it's job done. if not, they should have been apologetic not belligerent in not wanting to remake the order, in trying to force it to stay with me at the high price i paid. as brexit hits the fan for imports on january 1st, and, as most other makers seem inaccessible or compromised, stylistically questionable or unappealing, it's game over for umbrellas with me, as far as i can tell.

the kirchtag arrived last week. same issue. tips damaged the stick. has also gone back. no refund yet, but not arrived in austria at this time. making the same claim as heurtault : unavoidable, nobody else has ever returned one, handmade ... blah blah. not buying it. literally, not paying for that. protect what you put so much effort into. it can be done.