Made For You, December 2019
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.
A Hit With Your Mitt—FC Goods
Men finding it difficult to part ways with their old childhood baseball glove now have an option that allows their memories to live on. FC Goods has teamed up with Korchmar, a 102-year-old leather goods crafter, to offer a program that repurposes ball gloves from yesteryear into custom, one-of-a-kind leather products. Send them your treasured glove and in about three weeks the leather artisans will have transformed it into a highly personalized card case, billfold or money clip. Prices start at $75 and include shipping. fcgoods.com
Right Heat For The Meat—Meater Block
You’re cooking holiday prime rib, but your crowd likes it rare, medium and well-done? Check out the Meater Block, a wireless cooking thermometer that charges four separate probes for separate degrees of doneness—or even different meats. Working on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, the probes are truly wireless (no ungainly cable connecting to the unit outside the oven). The device ($269, from Apption Labs) reads temperatures on smart phone, smart watch or the bright OLED display on the Block itself. The probes also measure ambient heat of the oven along with the internal heat of the meat. meater.com
Charming Card Holder—Ettinger
Ettinger has been making leather goods in the United Kingdom for 85 years, and it prides itself on quality and patience: it takes more than five years to train a new craftsperson. The company’s Sterling Flat credit card case (£115, or $160) is a simple example of the company’s style. Made with a combination of red and black calf leathers, the piece sports four card pockets, plus a holder for receipts or a few bills, just right for a night out without the bulk of a large wallet. ettinger.co.uk
Dash Meets Craft—Gallery Sollands
So often the trade-off with contemporary furniture is that it doesn’t come with Old World craftsmanship and durability. Not so with London’s Gallery Sollands. The colorful and innovative Gra Collection, from Grazyna Solland, is on display in Mayfair, but built at Solland’s atelier in the Norfolk countryside by traditional British craftsmen. The unabashedly contemporary works were chosen to furnish this year’s New York’s Salon Art + Design fair (Nov. 14-18). sollands.co.uk and thesalonny.com
Stovetop Speed—Hestan
What do performance cars and topflight cookware have in common? A need for speed. Stovetop pots and pans should heat up and cool down quickly at the whim of the chef. ProBond cookware from Italy’s Hestan, uses a cold-forging process and triple-ply construction that puts steel where it needs to be to guarantee even heating and optimize responsiveness. Walls are thinner, and bases and rims are thicker. Sandwiched between stainless-steel layers is an aluminum core. A 10-piece set (currently $799.95 on discount) covers everything from skillet to sauce to stock. hestanculinary.com
Pressure On Tap—Growlerwerks
The ability to fill large-format containers (growlers) from the tap at many breweries is one of the best advancements of the craft beer culture. The downside is it forces you to drink up fast or lose the fizz. The Pressurized Growler Keg from GrowlerWerks takes off the pressure to drink up fast by keeping the pressure in the beer. A CO2 system keeps your beer fresh for up to two weeks, and you can even regulate carbonation to your liking. The double-insulated 64-ounce growler ($149) can also be refrigerated. thegrommet.com
