The original craft brewer
Beer lovers, we live in fortunate times. The craft brewing revolution is in full swing in America, from Seattle to South Beach. But while most craft beer makers are “micro” in every sense of the word, there’s one with a long history and the capacity to make its beer available coast to coast: Leinenkugel’s. Sure, [...]
Back with a splash
Nowadays, you can hardly throw a dead fish without hitting another new dive watch brand. The availability of Far East shops that will stamp out a few hundred watch cases based on a napkin sketch means that almost anyone with a little ambition and a small loan can start their own watch company. And there [...]
High watchmaking goes deep
Earlier this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced its retro-tastic Deep Sea Vintage Chronograph at the annual Salon International de Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. The watch made just about everyone’s “Best Of” list (including ours) with its creamy “aged” luminescent markers, textured dial and old-school pump-style chronograph pushers. The watch was homage to a watch JLC never produced [...]
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz
By now if you’re an endurance athlete and you don’t know about the importance of staying hydrated, you probably deserve to become a desiccated roadside carcass. But most smart runners and cyclists know that being hydrated means more than just sucking down liters of water. Your body needs electrolytes, those sugars and salts that keep [...]
Braveheart’s watch
There are some things for which Scotland is known: single malt whisky, Sean Connery and bagpipes, to name a few. You may soon be able to add wristwatches to that list. Young Scottish product designer, Gordon Fraser, is a watch enthusiast who wanted to create a watch that would be accessible to other guys like [...]
All Day I Dream About Sailing
While traditional boat shoes have long been a mainstay of summer wardrobes, few ever see the deck of a 12-meter yacht, nor are they suited for that environment. Leather uppers and laces stay soaked and chafe your feet, and slip-on shoes don’t inspire confidence when you’re headed up high in the bosun’s chair. So leave [...]
Changes Come Easy
Let’s face it, times are tough and it’s not just European governments that are implementing austerity measures. A lot of guys can’t squeeze a new watch into their 2012 budgets. But don’t despair, there’s an affordable way to get a fresh look for your existing watch – change the strap. You might be surprised at [...]
Welcome to hell
The so-called Grand Tours of cycling, the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, get all the attention from casual cycling fans. They’re colorful pageants in the warm days of summer, usually won by a photogenic skinny guy who goes up mountains like a spandex festooned goat. But the Spring Classic [...]
The right stuff
Reaching down to deploy the cupholder, you glance through your aviators at the chunky pilot’s watch on your wrist. You’re good for an on-time arrival. Suddenly, you spy a minivan bearing down on you at four o’clock so you quickly disable cruise control and switch into manual mode as you approach your exit. This is [...]
From a tiny acorn
The concrete canyons of Manhattan are pretty far away from the wooded alpine serenity of Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux, but it was on Park Avenue that Swiss watch company, Audemars Piguet, decided to kick off a celebration tour for its mightiest creation: the Royal Oak. Appearing in 1972 with a price ten times that of [...]
Amble on
KEEN is the master of versatile footwear (though they have yet to make a killer pair of wingtips), shoes that effortlessly go from trailhead to casual Friday to happy hour. And just when we thought they couldn’t possibly make another cool day hiker, they come out with a new one – the Ambler. Rather than [...]
So manly, it hurts
On a brisk, sunny February afternoon in an industrial corner of Minneapolis, a critical mass of men in raw denim and Red Wings gathered to check out the all that’s cool in fashion, accessories and hand tools. On Saturday, Architectural Antiques, a worthy destination on its own, hosted the SnowGRADE men’s popup market. SnowGRADE is [...]
Veloce e furioso
People buy watches for all sorts of reasons. Some buy a historically-important watch for its collectability, some for its name or its appearance, and some buy a watch for the artistry or innovation of its movement. Still others buy a watch because of a tie-in with a celebrity or marketing campaign. But sometimes a watch [...]
Ride in style, all year long
Testing cycling gear during a Minneapolis winter is not the most appealing proposition, even on the most unseasonably warm days. As if navigating ice patches, potholes and salty streets aren’t enough, the cojones-shrinking wind-chill will make even the toughest rider consider joining a spin class at the gym. But as the well known adage goes, [...]
The original Global Positioning System
Let’s face it, guys, we’ve gotten soft. Our smartphones and cars tell us how to get to the shopping mall and we can fall asleep in London and wake up in New York six hours later, none the wiser. That’s why watches like the Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle are so important. Not for its technical [...]
