The glove-making tradition in Transylvania dates back more than 200 years with the area being a global epicentre for the trade. Hungant came into being in 1925 and became part of the state manufacturing apparatus until it was privatised in 1995. The brand uses the finest quality materials and time-honoured craftsmanship to produce some of the world’s most luxurious gloves. Famed for their extremely soft leathers and comfortable linings, Hungant gloves are highly sought after, particularly their classic driving gloves.
Category Archives: ACCESSORIES
S. T. DUPONT
When his carriage manufactory workshop burned down in 1872, Simon Tissot-Dupont endeavoured to begin anew, acquiring a small leather studio which would produce high-end leather goods and briefcases for the most rarified Parisian gentlemen. The brand was a success and he soon won contracts to supply the great department stores of Paris and further afield. Today, the Dupont brand is synonymous with exquisite luxury goods, including their leather goods range, ornate pens and, especially, their top quality lighters.
VUARNET
In 1957 two Parisian opticians introduced a new, specialist lens to the market, designed specifically for skiers, the Skilynx lens was revolutionary. It would filter out the extreme reflection often experienced from snowy terrains whilst providing clarity and shielding the eyes from the elements. Having fitted them to sunglasses, they offered their product to the French ski team and at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Jean Vuarnet won the gold medal in Downhill skiing. Wearing the Skilynx glasses, a partnership was born that would define the brand’s pedigree for ever more. Vuarnet agreed to lend his name to the enterprising start-up and the name would come to be synonymous with high-quality, luxury performance sunglasses.
IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
One of the most renowned of all Swiss watchmakers, IWC was founded in 1868 by an American emigré named Florentine Ariosto Jones, a businessman in the clock industry. He sought to establish a Swiss made brand for import into the US market, however his time at the helm was relatively short-lived. Facing closure in 1880, the marque was transferred to the Rauschenbach family who created the famous brand we know today. Under their direction, the firm acquired a number of fabricators to ensure the production of their own movement and the creation, ultimately, of some of the most prized timepieces ever created. The house is now a part of the Richemont luxury goods conglomerate.
DUNHILL
An iconic British gentleman’s brand, Dunhill, like so many of its peers, started out as a saddlery business that offered various equestrian accessories for well-heeled customers. When Alfred Dunhill took over the family business he began to manufacture various accessories for the motoring enthusiast and for wealthy travellers. A successful foray into smoking accessories for the travel market opened an entirely new business for the brand which opened its first tobacco shop in 1907 and continues to trade in cigars and smoking instruments today, now under the watchful eye of its parent company, Richemont. Dunhill is a quintessential English gentleman’s outfitter, continuing its tradition of supplying “everything but the motor”, with various accessories, leather goods, apparel and even bespoke tailoring.
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Van Cleef & Arpels is one of the world’s pre-eminent jewellery houses, famed the world over for their beautiful iconic pieces. The brand was founded in 1906 in Paris and, today, has boutiques in key markets across the world. Fashioning pieces to order, VCA is a high jewellery brand with a significant ready-to-wear selection, earning them a loyal and even royal customer base. Van Cleef & Arpels pieces are highly collectible. The marque is part of the Richemont conglomerate.
VACHERON CONSTANTIN
Vacheron Constantin is an iconic Swiss timepiece marque, one of the oldest in the world having made watches since 1755. The brand is the most exclusive of the so-called “Holy Trinity” of ultra-luxury major watchmakers (alongside Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe). The firm quickly became a favourite of Kings and Queens, besotted with the delicate and ornate mechanics of the house’s beautiful pieces, indeed, the early Fabergé eggs would contain Vacheron Constantin timepieces as the surprise within. The firm is highly prized amongst collectors with some of their most famous models being amongst the most coveted clocks and wristwatches ever made, achieving some of the highest prices ever recorded at auction.
BAUME & MERCIER
Ths famous Swiss marque first came on the scene in 1830 when Louis Joseph Baume opened his watchmaking atelier in Les Bois, in the Swiss canton of Bern. His two sons, Louis-Victor and Célestin Baume, would work with him and, four years later, re-registered the company under their names as Baume Frères. The firm quickly gained a reputation for quality workmanship and excellent accuracy and, in 1840, the brothers opened an outlet in London’s horology epicentre, Northampton Square in Clerkenwell – the destination of choice young men equipping and provisioning themselves with all that they should require before voyaging across the world in service of trade and empire. Baume watches were very much in demand as campaign and maritime watches – their reliable precision timekeeping complementing the race to set records in transatlantic, eastern and oriental voyages on tea clippers and, later steamships and ocean liners.
ARMAND NICOLET
One of the grand Swiss watchmakers, Armand Nicolet is a connoisseur’s horology brand, founded in 1875. The house’s eponymous founder was born into a watchmaking dynasty and was a master of his craft when he opened his workshop. From the outset, Nicolet gained a reputation as an expert manufacturer with a honed eye for the finest complications and mechanisms. The brand’s signature is elegant, timeless timepieces befitting the high taste and high status of its typical customer. The firm’s most famous watches include moon phase and chronograph movements, with the M02 model being the most sought after.
BENNY & CO
A New York brand whose history and reputation is intertwined with the rise of the 1990s East Coast hip-hop scene, Benny & Co began as a jeweller providing custom after market detailing to wristwatches and jewellery before launching their own eponymous range. The brand reached its zenith in the late 1990s and early 2000s when their “iced out” (diamond encrusted) watches were highly prized amongst their celebrity customer base and those who aspired to emulate them. The watches are increasingly rare today and are still relatively popular amongst collectors and connoisseurs of the music scene with which they are associated.
FITZGABRIELS 