Brands that represent quality above all else

Originally Posted by A Harris

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I think that in trying to be a global/fashion brand Lobb is compromising their roots and turning out a lot of really ugly and not very English shoes...

G&G fit's the bill I think, though there is really nobody to compare them to, they are their own little niche.

I would not consider G&G : Quality above all else firm. Style above all else yes ,but I have seen too many poorly made G&G shoes posted on this forum.

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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Interesting. They do a lot of research.


- B

So, I would expect their boxes to sound good. What happens during production?
Anyone who thinks B&W is quality sound is simply a loonatic.
As far as cabinet making they not up there either: Sonus Faber makes much better furniture than B&W.


Quality above all else would be Toyota.

Originally Posted by Tidybeard

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Liverpool Football Club (the best quality of football played by the highest quality players with the best pedigree of any team.....

Have to disagree with this.

Taku Sakashta

Originally Posted by EnglishGent

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Have to disagree with this.

I thought someone would

Originally Posted by manouche

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Dunhill
No, above all else Dunhill stands for logo-festooned accessories sold to a mainly Far Eastern clientele. Sad.

Originally Posted by unpainted huffheinz

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Sulka had that quality of seemingly effortless elegance which I don't really find amongst current brands. Ralph's Purple Label has some of that, but not everything measures up to the same level: shirts for example are a weak point.
At the very end, Sulka's RTW shirts, at the very least, were completely blah. Sulka went through ups and downs in its history -- in the early 1980s Flusser wrote of them returning to high quality.

Originally Posted by tlmusic

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Charvet

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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Yeah...but how do you deal with the RTW output into high end retailers? Don't you thing there is some compromise involved?
Quite possibly the best machine-made RTW shirt. Charvet doesn't have pretensions towards handwork. The RTW is excellent, and they haven't ventured into image-compromising brand expansion in RTW like certain other brands.

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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Sulka: so on the money.
At the closing of the Paris store I bought my father, a frequent traveler, some leather luggage tags. They came apart in a few months.

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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Charvet shirts have proven to be the most durable of all brands of shirts I have owned. I still have a few from a 1990 trip to Paris that have suffered many years of commerical laundering.

I just wish the collars were a bit more generous in scale...but I recently scammed an unlined seven fold Rubinacci tie from another forum member, that that might finally tie a knot proportioned to the Charvet standard collar.
Go to Paris and go bespoke. They can make just about anything, such as the late RJman's collar.

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

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I think that all SAB products maintain this level.

- B
Goosnargh.

Originally Posted by tlmusic

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As far as quality standards for leather and uppers and sole treatment, I think Gaziano and Girling are far more commited to quality.
G&G have far better customer service, but I think EG may have a slight, slight edge in quality.

I agree with the Iron Heart jeans mention.
Merola and Lavabre-Cadet gloves.
I would have said Cucinelli's cashmere, but as a brand they've forayed into RTW tailoring whose quality doesn't measure up to that of the cashmere.
Hermes's image has gotten more troubled with J-L Dumas-Hermes' withdrawal from the brand. He was an amazing leader for it. The nylon bags with a branded patch don't seem fitting.
For SR tailors, Henry Poole stands for quality, or at least reliability.
Those Lambourne trousers on STP represent quality to me, too bad Lambourne is out of business.
Marinella and Drake's ties.

Originally Posted by merkur

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edmorel

+1



Anyway, this is one of those things where you can find someone disagree with every name mentioned but here is my off the cuff list:


Bill Amberg for leather goods
Attolini's shirts and ties
Valentini Sartoria pants
Vianny Halter/Harry Winston watches
Lattanzi shoes

Originally Posted by AlanC

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I've not seen one in person, but Glaser Bags certainly seem to be a quality first brand.

They are... I've owned a couple of their pieces since '92 and after considerable wear and tear - if not downright abuse - they show little sign of it. Superlative quality.

Of the things that I own, only two fit this description:

Vass shoes (already mentioned)

Goodall Guitars (I have a Goodall Standard)

Originally Posted by RJmanbearpig

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I agree with the Iron Heart jeans mention.
Merola and Lavabre-Cadet gloves.
I would have said Cucinelli's cashmere, but as a brand they've forayed into RTW tailoring whose quality doesn't measure up to that of the cashmere.
Hermes's image has gotten more troubled with J-L Dumas-Hermes' withdrawal from the brand. He was an amazing leader for it. The nylon bags with a branded patch don't seem fitting.
For SR tailors, Henry Poole stands for quality, or at least reliability.
Those Lambourne trousers on STP represent quality to me, too bad Lambourne is out of business.
Marinella and Drake's ties.

Sadly, Merola no longer sells under its own name--I don't know whether they still supply anybody else. Meanwhile, the cheaper and inferior Sermoneta seems to have spread like wildfire.

My Marinella ties were fantastic.

You missed Longhi for leather goods, particularly belts. But I suppose they are semi-defunct now, too.

Staub cast iron pans
All Clad pans

All Clad is awesome. Mauviel is also great if you want to pay for copper.

Originally Posted by mafoofan

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There was an old article on Timezone that took a close look at Lange's finishing. It's not merely that the dial side is less extravagantly finished, but that it appeared to be finished in a very rudimentary fashion. I think Lange addressed this problem at one point, but it's a still a little unsettling to wonder if they'd take other shortcuts so long as they could get away with them.

I think you're referring to the old Walt Odets article comparing the keyless works of a Patek and a Lange, since I believe he's the only amateur who had the nerve to take apart a Lange himself (among other things, because of the 3/4 plate, Langes are exceptionally difficult to put back together without destroying them, and destroying one is expensive in a way that taking apart an Allen Edmonds is not). He found the keyless works in the Lange inferior to the Patek, but in that article and others he points out where the finish or construction on Langes go beyond Patek...although perhaps unnecessarily so. I think that Lange did, in fact, redesign the keyless works later.

The top plate of Langes are also finished more elaborately than the bottom...they have no problems with this discrepancy, but one can differ philosphically with them.

I also agree with that Lange is somewhat an ersatz brand. No watch can equal Patek's pedigree.

Originally Posted by mafoofan

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Maybe I'm just bitter that Lange got rid of the 1815 line, which were, to me, some of the prettiest and most elegant watches out there.

Well, Odets felt that the 1815 was unequalled in execution, even though it did not represent an innovation in watchmaking.


- B

Barbour?

Originally Posted by Britalian

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Barbour?

Some of the new stuff is sub-par: either too oriented toward fashion wear, or less ruggedly constructed. Also, they took to embroidering their logo on pocket flaps.