Made For You, August 2018
In a world of fast food and one-size-fits-all sensibilities, how often does something feel made especially for you? The “Made for You” section celebrates those items that are created with such high quality of hand workmanship and degree of customization that they become individual to you. In each issue, our editors will endeavor to bring you special things from anywhere on the globe, choosing them solely on the basis of outstanding quality. Our goal is to give you guidance on the best of everything.
Destination Recording—Sonastério Studios
If you’re musically inclined and have a hankering to lay down some tracks of your own, consider Sonastério Studios, Brazil’s world-class destination recording studio and luxury home. Walters-Storyk Design Group, a global architectural-acoustic consulting firm, has created facilities atop a mountain near Belo Horizonte. As well as state-of-the-art equipment it also offers three guest bedrooms with five-star amenities. The rock group Daparte recently recorded there. Even if you can’t play with the same chops, you can enjoy the sweeping views. sonasterio.com or wsdg.com
Rocking The Rocks Glass—Glass Blower Ben
Want a really old-fashioned Old Fashioned? Or just whiskey—on the rocks or neat? Ben Dombey, a New Orleans master craftsman, will make you the glass the old school way: by blowing it. His inspiration came on a trip to Scotland and he spent years developing the right technique for the hefty vessel. As the glasses are created under intense heat, they all have the unique texture of a handmade piece, but they can be further customized by stamping the image of your choice into the base of the glass while the material is still molten. glassblowerben.com
Knice Knife—William Henry
Maybe the reason guys don’t go in for jewelry much is that they want their adornments to be purposeful and not just ornamental. Hence, watches tell time and links keep your cuffs together. And who hasn’t been in a pinch when a blade would come in handy? Enter William Henry with a range of adorned guy stuff. The Kestrel Zephyr pocketknife ($1,350), has a hand-forged, Damascus steel-blade and 24-karat-gold and fossil-coral frame. williamhenry.com
The Flask Task—Trixie & Milo
In 2011, the concept behind starting Trixie & Milo was to bring back high-quality to men’s gifts for occasions like weddings. The Portland, Oregon wife-and-husband team of the same name first got into antique-styled drink ware (they now make retro-style bags, shop aprons and multi-tools). They really found their niche with drinking flasks. Applying vintage artwork to well-crafted, stainless-steel containers, they’ve come up with a broad spectrum of retro-styled (often humorous) flasks for a number of personality types. trixieandmilo.com
Pressured Suds—Growlerwerks
A beer growler is the perfect vessel to transport choice craft brews from the draft to your house. Standard growlers, though, let in air upon opening, which can spoil your beer and cause it to turn flat. GrowlerWerks 64oz. copper-plated uKeg ($169) keeps beer fresh for longer via its patented CO2 regulator cap. The cap automatically sets pressure to optimally carbonate your beer and can be adjusted based on the style of brew. The stainless-steel uKeg also features a vacuum-insulated double wall to keep your beer cool. growlerwerks.com
A Hat For Hemingway—J. Peterman
Ernest Hemingway loved the manly arts of boxing and bullfighting, had his own version of Cuba’s most famous cocktail and spent a heroic amount of time outdoors, at times wearing a soft cap with an extra long brim. J. Peterman sells a version of this hat, with a brim so big and sturdy you can balance a Daiquiri on it (we tried). The fitted cap, made of soft duck canvas, is comfortable, and the six brass grommets make it ideal for warm weather. The sturdy calfskin brim is what makes this hat stand out. It’s built to shade your eyes when The Sun Also Rises. jpeterman.com
