In my world, there aren’t many things better than a military watch. The fantastic Hodinkee featured this vintage 1940′s pilots watch from German watch maker A. Lange & Söhne. I have a personal connection with Lange, since I helped with their PR at one of my previous jobs. Near the end of WWII the A. Lange & Söhne factory in Saxony was bombed and completely destroyed by the Allied war machine, forcing the closure of the company for nearly fifty years. The brand lay dormant until its revival in the early 1990′s by Switzerland’s Richemont Group. So this pilot’s watch is one of the last remaining time pieces from the old German factory and is something you won’t see five of your friends wearing, that’s for sure. More on the watch here.

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You see a lot of Individualized shirts in Japan. At my perennial favorite Beams+ and a million other stores in Tokyo. It is interesting because you don’t see the Individualized brand (which is American List endorsed) much in the U.S., the company opts to stay behind the scenes. Much has been said recently about Pennsylvania based Gitman Brothers (which is a division of the same company that owns Individualized) and their many brand partnerships — which I equate to their flexibility and ability to work in small quantities — but I wonder if Perth Amboy, NJ based Individualized will get into the same game here in the States. Why market one brand in the U.S. and one in Japan?

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A new addition to The American List is Vista, California’s Walz Caps. I learned about the company — as I do many good American companies — through the esteemed blog Archival Clothing. Bicycle caps can be tough to pull off, but the Walz caps do a terrific job of melding form and function. The ear flapped wool hats are the perfect cover for rebuffing the cold and are well priced. The cost is especially good when you consider the caps are made right here in the U.S. The entire Walz Caps offering can be seen here.

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Where would one ever realistically wear this coat? I’m sure there are some real world applications, but I would be content with simply owning it. Doesn’t really make much sense, but I like the concept and that’s all that matters. The coats pictured are from Japan (natch), but the Southern California based Vintage Trends has some good military deadstock should you want to take your coat ownership game to the next level.

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