Looking to make your first independent watch purchase without dropping a month’s pay? Enter the Hamilton Maestro JazzMaster. This Swiss Made, (formerly) American owned watch maker has been doing it right for decades. The Maestro JazzMaster comes in at around $1,000 which is just right for the aspiring self made man to start his collection with. The watch is a 45mm chronograph with automatic movements in a stainless steel casing that’s water resistant up to 10 bar (100m). Not to mention both Bruce Willis in Die Hard and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black wore Hamilton timepieces. Badass.

They should absolutely use these in the next Bond film. These metal collar stays are not only effective the way collar stays were meant to be but they moonlight as a Swiss Army-esque tool. Need a screwdriver? They’ve got you covered. Loose thread? No problem. Trying to open up a cold one? Boom! This just might be the most useful accessory you could possibly carry and the best part is that no one will even know you’re carrying it half the time. The way I see it is you need collar stays anyway, they might as well be cool as hell right? Fits nearly all collar types.

There is always a debate among style “experts” like the great Glenn O’Brien, whose new book I’ll be posting about in a day or two, about whether or not men should wear jewelry. Many say that guys should just wear a watch because it’s practical and that’s all you need. While I almost always wear only a watch on my wrists I will respectfully agree to disagree. Jewelry just like the rest of a man’s wardrobe is an expression of his personal style. There is nothing wrong with throwing on one or even several items as long as they go along with your style and don’t take up your entire arm because that will more than likely look ridiculous. The Giles & Brother rope bracelet above is something I’ve had my eye on to pick up for this summer. Very casual and easy to pair with just about anything, possibly even stacked with a small braided leather cuff. CFDA award winning jewelry designer Philip Crangi does a great job with his versatile understated pieces. Jump over to his webpage to explore the rest of his collection.

If you’ve read the site before then you’ll know that Tom Ford is one of my favorite designers, and even more pertinent to this post, that I swear by his eyewear. The last Tom Ford eyewear piece I wrote about was the Arnaud Plastic Aviator frame which have been my go to sunglasses for over a year now. Now that I’m looking for a new set of frames, of course Tom Ford’s are on my short list. Also making the cut are the “Abrams” frame by Oliver Peoples (not named after me despite sharing my last name), the V326 frame by John Varvatos, and the PO2975V frame by Persol. I’m looking for a rounder more outgoing frame since my last two pairs have been rectangular and a bit on the conservative side. A good thing to keep in mind when buying glasses and sunglasses is deciding whether your face supports a round or square frame better. Some of us are lucky enough to look good in almost any frame and can get away with playing around along the spectrum of shapes and sizes but most people tend to stick with a similar frame. Personally, I can’t wear anything too tall or too wide but I can play around with square vs. round. The TF5150 is available in Shiny Black, Transparent Grey, Light Brown, and Dark Havana.

Our Style Icon of the Month generously led us into a crucial style piece for this Spring and Summer.  The plastic aviator frame is a part of a handful of eye wear designer’s Spring/Summer lines.  Brands that are synonymous with sunglasses like Ray-Ban and Persol have plastic aviators that you will be seeing quite a bit of in the coming months.  The pair above by Tom Ford are plastic frames in Dark Havana with Dark Gray lenses and are made in Italy.  Don’t worry, if you don’t think you can pull off the plastic aviator you have other options for the summer like wayfarers or classic metal aviators.  If you’re in DC you can pick up a pair of the Tom Ford Arnauds at MyEyeDr. on 18th and M st. That’s where I just got mine. (Great selection of Tom Ford and Oliver Peoples)