In this week’s edition of Good Finds, we’re accessorising with three distinct watches, two lovely perfumes, and a glasses in a pair(tree).
Watch Your Back
Aballe, long admired for its jewellery based on the human spine, has turned its hand to watch bracelets; Cartier Tank and Rolex Datejust, to be precise. You simply give them your wrist size, and they cast a sterling silver vertebracelet to fit.
The rest of the range is bracelets and rings in sterling silver and 18K gold, including a diamond-pavé spacer bracelet for when the bones need a night out.
From $16,781 for the Tank set at aballe.com
Yves Me Alone
Yves Saint Laurent made big frames part of his look, and the 1972 from Bird & Cage is a tribute to those originals.
Max Shustovskiy makes every pair himself in New York, a trade he learned over 30 years in optical, including a stint at Alain Mikli. This one is black buffalo horn, which he says is about 30% lighter than acetate and warms to your skin as you wear it. It has titanium nosepads and spring hinges, and it comes in a handmade leather case with a bottle of horn care lotion, because your glasses are now a pet. It's the kind of frame that makes a plain shirt look like a decision.
US$2,200 at birdandcage.nyc
Cushion The Blow
Between a watch built for a Call of Duty character and the cast of The Odyssey, Hamilton has been on a roll with unique releases all year.
The latest, the American Classic Cushion is lifted straight from Oppenheimer, where Cillian wore an Art Deco watch of the same design. It comes in a multitude of colours, dial finishes, and sizes (30 or 34mm diameters), but the engraved case is sure to strike big with menswear mavens, copying a trick Ralph Lauren has been running for years.
$1,725 at hamiltonwatch.com
Motor Juice
In an unexpected collab, Lamborghini has teamed up with niche fragrance house Xerjoff for three high-octane scents.
Avanguardia is the bright one, with mandarin, a cherry bomb, and violet over tonka bean. Fierezza runs warmer, with pink pepper, frangipani, amber and suede. Perseveranza is the woody one, built on ginger, vetiver and styrax, with a nice pimento overture.
The bottles wear Lamborghini’s colours, the shield sits on the front plaque, and the boxes borrow the hexagon from the cars. In some ways, it’s brand merch for people who’d never wear a cap.
A$699 to A$789 for 100ml at libertineparfumerie.com.au
Bondi Baroness
Penhaligon’s has taken over the Love Letters photo booth in Bondi this weekend to launch The Manoeuvres of The Baroness, the 14th scent in its Portraits collection.
It’s a delicate mix of orange blossom, Chantilly cream and sandalwood topped with the classic gold animal head – this time a gazelle.
Step into the booth for a Baroness-inspired film strip, and you’ll leave with a tote bag, an orange blossom treat, two Portraits samples (I’d go for the Duke, Finley, or Lord George) and a 30ml Luna body and hand lotion. There’s also a bounce-back offer at the QVB boutique. It runs tomorrow, 10 and 11 October, 8 AM to 6:30 PM, at 95 Gould Street. It’s a lower-commitment way in than the bottle, and you get a photo out of it.
10 and 11 October, 8 AM to 6:30 PM, 95 Gould Street, Bondi.
To Time To Dial
OMEGA has been the Bond watch for more than 30 years, and in anticipation of an impending Bond reveal, they’ve released both Bond and Spectre variants of the iconic Seamaster Diver 300M. It’s the first OMEGA Spectre since the 2015 Seamaster 300 limited edition, this time co-opting the 300M silhouette Craig’s Bond has been associated with.
Both are 42mm no-date divers on brushed mesh bracelets, with the same Master Chronometer Calibre 8806 inside. Bond gets a blue dial and a titanium bezel ring. Spectre gets a black grained dial, a black ceramic bezel and an octopus on the rotor, and it keeps most of its branding out of sight, which is par for the Bond course.
It may be a sign that Bond’s recent Amazon acquisition is pumping out more merch than ever, but not one that I’m especially mad at… yet.
A$13,575 each at omegawatches.com