Eli and his ring...

Eli is back for only two weeks from LA. We had a small get together to watch the soccer the other night. Eli wears an unusual Mayan ring, bought in Mexico off a street vendor. It is huge as can be seen in the above picture. It is made of a soap stone material and exhibits a Jaguar curling onto itself. I will get a more detailed scan in a day or so.

Birthday girl Cathy and her sparkling top...

H and Cathy...

Happy Birthday Cathy! She wore a great sparkling top to her party. I think it is essential that women, especially if you're the guest of honour, to stand out. Cathy wore a gold sequenced top with purple piping... you really couldn't miss her...

Ant's turned back cuffs...

Ant had a really nice shirt on tonight. The unusual feature are the "turned back" cuffs. They are a cross between traditional buttoned cuffs and French cuffs. I think they should be more common, as they give a great alternative without the need for cufflinks (which I do lile) and a semi formality. As a matter of fact James Bond was one of the original purveyors of this style.

Matty's style and preppiness

Matty has always been an icon of fashion amongst my group of friends, from a pistachio coloured suit to cool stripey knits.

(top) Tonight, Matty wore a grey marl cardigan, but not your traditional grandpa's version, it was tapered, slimmer version - more modern. Additionally, he wore pin stripe pants to complement the outfit.

(bottom) At his future bride's birthday party, Matty wore his favourite party shoes, a snake skin loafer. I have seen him wear these on numerous occasions with immense success and style!

Matty pulls everything together without sticking out like a "sore thumb" but enough to make an impression...

Rolex 50th Anniversary GMT - Maxi Dial

Finally I bumped into someone with a Rolex GMT 50th Anniversary in 18kt Gold. The limited edition Rolex comes with the company's green colour dial (as per the Green Bezel Submariner). It is slightly larger, particularly noticeable in the lugs. The dial has maxi markers and the bezel is made of a scratch resistant ceramic. I hope they make this one in steel next year, as they just released the steel/gold version recently.

Bernie's back with another Lange and Sohne

Bernie just received this from a service. Lange and Sohne, a German manufacturer with a great pedigree. Looks simple and basic, but you really have to see these in the flesh to appreciate the craftsmanship!

Marie, individual style... fresh

Here is Marie. She has a funky and quite individual style. A refreshing change from the same things I see everyday.

Eli is back from the USA...

More on his personal style later.

Here is Eli sporting his Omega Seamaster Chronograph on a retro styled wrist band.

More on the Horizontal stripe theme...

We went to the Country Road sale the other night. H bought this knitted cardigan with some nice detailing... waist cord and snap button clasps. The best thing was she got nearly 60% off the RRP.

Country Road's line has come "good" in the last couple of seasons, in particular the Women's wear. Nice tops and knits, classic styles with a bit of retro and funk. Unfortunately Men's wear still has a little way to go. Men's wear range is in my opinion boring! The suits and shirts are quite standard (CR shirts needs to have a new collar cut!). I found absolutely nothing in the CR sale and that's one mean feat for me!

Matty and his stripey V Neck

Matty was wearing a very fitted knitted V Neck. I love V necks and I'm glad they have made a revival in the last few years. Matty's version is in a horizontal multi striped green, which looks great on someone slim like Matty.

Matwat and his Panerai

H and I ran into an old friend Matwat, one of my original watch mates from around 9 years ago. He is sporting his Panerai. Matwat has a fetish for Japanese denim, you know the really expensive stuff, that you have to wash several million times before they feel comfortable. I reckon he has a small fortune tied up in his denim collection!

H's Barbie boots...

As many of you may know or acknowledge, H has one hell of a boots collection.... probably make the Lone Ranger envious...
These are one of my favourite boots she has. I call them her Barbie boots. As you can imagine Barbie probably have a similar pair in her closet!

Den's Submariner

Well is seems like most of friend's wear Rolex. Which is definitely not true, just a coincidence. Den is a coffee man. He has started a coffee roasting company which specialist in "haute cafe". I can attest to it being a fantastic roast... Check it out if you that way inclined... http://www.fetishcoffee.com/

Anyway when I saw him last, he was wearing a Rolex Submariner 14060M. The most basic and Submariners... Notice the non bubble date, very clean dial. He has a side business in selling watches... www.watchclub.com

Michael and his groovy style...

We were at Nay and Ant's daughter's forth birthday on the weekend! Happy birthday Sian!
Michael was there with his son Hugo. The funny thing was I took this picture because I knew Michael to be quite an alternative/funky sense of style. However, after I snapped him he said he was wearing pyjama pants... (Sian had a pyjama party) but I know he actually wears similar style of pants to these... long live individual style!

Nathan and Marj's native jewellery - Spinifex Creations

Nath and Marj are old friends of mine. I went to school with Marj. Nath, her boyfriend taught me how to rock climb... a long long time ago.

They have started a business up, mainly selling in weekend stalls and other events. They work with native seeds and flora to create some pretty cool necklaces and jewellery. Nath is wearing one in the above scan. Each creation is unique and use 100% Australian plants. They are quite reasonably priced (ie the one Nath is wearing is around $60 AUD) and I would consider these to be excellent gifts for friends and family overseas (as well as oneself).

You can contact them on nathandmarj@pocketmail.com.au

Steve's Breitling

I had a quick bite with my father in law, Steve. He is a professional pilot - a 737 Captain for Qantas. A running joke with Steve is "how do you know your speaking to a pilot at a party? don't worry he'll tell you in the first 2 minutes..." which really sums up pilots in general.

As a Captain, he was constantly getting "outclassed" by his First Officiers in the watch department. The de rigeur brand for pilots is Breitling (historical link with aeronautics). Most First Officiers were wearing Breitling Aerospaces... well this had to be rectified, so when I was selling my Breitling B-1, Steve "naturally" took it off my hands (wrists?). He has been sporting the B-1 now for over a year and can't give it enough praise. I guess Steve now wins the watch competition in the cockpit!

Down a dark and "haunted" alley

Was in the city the other day and I had to traverse from Little Collins Street to Lonsdale Street. I started to walk down this alley, name which escapes me at this time. I suddenly dawned on me that this was an alleyway which we walked down on the Melbourne Ghost Tour. Back then, it was a night and chilly. During that night, we were standing around whilst the guide was narrating that there is a Ghost/Spirt in the pub at the end etc... suddenly the light which we all were standing under, went out. Right on cue....

Even in broad daylight, the alley is quite spooky. I also noticed this graffiti, which says it all...

Sam's other Cavalry Boots...

As you know, Sam is a die hard vintage militaria collector. I visited him again and he was wearing another pair of Cavarly boots. These boots are actual issued models, as opposed to the earlier post which are "private" purchased.