Latest Review
I’m unabashedly a fall/winter person. Those hot days of summer most revel in leave me struggling in front of my a/c, counting the days until I can tie-on my boots, layer shirts with sweaters and zip-up to face the brisk NYC air. Yes, this is my favorite time of year, when the weather tops out around 50-55, and I can wear the textured, heavier, darker materials that call out to me.
To complement winter wardrobes, Suigeneric, purveyors of the renowned, printed waxed-cotton mil-straps, has released several new straps with interesting patterns. There are a total of four new series, plus one independent patterns, for a total of 11 straps to choose from. Starting with the latter, you have the Royal Stewart Tartan, which is perhaps the most festive of the whole lot. Bright red with green diagonal stripes, criss-crossing and overlapping in true Tartan fashion, you can almost smell the pine of a Christmas tree and hear the crackle of a fireplace when you strap this one on. I would have shot this one on my wrist in my favorite reindeer sweater and shearling slippers had I not left them at my log cabin. (j/k, I don’t have any of those things)
Moving into the series’, first up we have some camouflage. While perhaps not bringing immediately bringing Winter to mind, the Tiger Camo is a dense pattern, actually developed for Jungle warfare, that looks great with earthy colors and knits. It’s a bit less obvious than traditional camouflage, but is still welcome on military timepieces. This one is available in green/brown or a a stealthier black/gray (not pictured).
Next we have the fairly season-neutral Boating Stripes in Green or Navy blue. These patterns mix bold diagonal stripes of two widths to create straight-forward patterns, reminiscent of classic tie patterns. A bit preppy and certainly bold, these will add a nice contrast to dense solids, like a wool peacoat or blazer.
Toning it down a step and heading a more classic direction, there are three Drop patterns in navy, green and black. The Navy is perhaps my favorite of the trio, with a subtle, faded blue, complimented by red drops with yellow outlines. The green is a brighter tone, though still not loud, and is paired with black drops with beige outlines. Lastly, there is black, which is also matched with red drops. These are interesting, more subtle than stripes, but very different when worn on the wrist.
Up last are the real winter stand outs, three Fair Isle straps. This outdoorsy, winter staple is typically found in knit sweaters or socks, but now can adorn your wrist.. which might sounds absurd, but the rhythmic, geometric shapes and contrast colors found in the pattern work surprisingly well. For this pattern they also went with three options. First is off-white, which is complimented with bright blue and grey shapes. The blue and white look great together, and are an obvious, icey combo. Next is a base of grey paired with dark red, black and light green marks. The addition of red here gives this one a nice, warm feel. Lastly is dark grey (near black) with orange, purple and yellow in various tones.
What’s really interesting about these three is that despite having the same patterns, they look very different. The use of color was very interesting here, emphasizing different areas of each strap. On the off-white strap, the blue really stands out and is even, bringing everything to the foreground. On the grey, the black stands out, but is used less than the red, so you have a more subdued pattern. On the dark grey, the brightest colors jump out, but they are used sparingly. So that one at a glance seems to have most negative space, but the highest contrast. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of them.
If you’re looking for a colorful or patterned alternative to your leather straps this Winter, Suigeneric has you covered. Each style is available in 18, 20 and 22mm sizes for $35. As always, these are all hand waxed, giving them a unique look and feel.
