Accessories: Bags, Belts, Watches and Jewellery Worth Owning

Accessories are worn far more often than individual garments and are bought far less often, which makes it worth understanding the specifications. Most of them are readable from a listing.

Leather grades, decoded

The terms are used loosely, but they have meanings:

• Full grain — the whole outer surface, nothing sanded off. Strongest, develops a patina, most expensive.
• Top grain — the surface lightly sanded and finished. Smoother and more uniform, slightly less durable.
• Genuine leather — despite the name, a lower grade made from the layers left after the top is removed.
• Bonded leather — leather scraps glued together. It peels. Treat it as a synthetic.

"Genuine leather" stamped prominently on a product is usually a sign of the grade, not a mark of quality. Good-quality leather goods tend to state full grain or top grain explicitly.

Bags

• Stitching at the strap joints, which is where bags fail. Reinforcement or rivets there matter more than anything else.
• The zip. A named zip manufacturer is a real quality signal.
• Lining. A lined bag lasts longer and does not shed into the contents.
• Hardware weight. Solid metal fittings outlast plated plastic.
• Strap adjustability and width — a narrow strap on a heavy bag is uncomfortable regardless of quality.
• Dimensions against what you carry. Check a laptop actually fits before ordering, measured rather than assumed.

Watches

• Movement type. Quartz is accurate, cheap to maintain and needs a battery. Mechanical is serviceable and lasts generations but needs periodic servicing and keeps time less precisely. Neither is better in the abstract.
• Water resistance is misunderstood. The rating describes static pressure, not activities. A watch marked 30m is generally splash-resistant only; swimming usually needs 100m or more. Check the manufacturer's own guidance rather than the number alone.
• Case diameter and lug-to-lug length against your wrist. Lug-to-lug matters more than diameter for whether it sits properly.
• Crystal. Sapphire resists scratches far better than mineral glass.
• Strap changeability, since a strap is the cheapest way to change how a watch looks.

Jewellery and skin reactions

Reactions to jewellery are usually a nickel allergy, which is common. What to look for:

• Solid gold, sterling silver, titanium, niobium and surgical stainless steel are generally tolerated, though some stainless steels contain nickel.
• Gold plating wears through to whatever is underneath, which is where reactions start. Thicker plating lasts longer.
• "Gold filled" is a thicker bonded layer than plating and lasts considerably longer.
• Purity marks — check for a hallmark or stamp rather than a description.

Sterling silver tarnishes; this is normal and polishes off. Storing it in a sealed bag slows it.

Belts

Sizing is measured from the buckle to the middle hole, not by trouser size. Full grain leather in a single piece outlasts bonded strips, which crack across the surface. A removable buckle lets you replace either part.

Before you order

Check the leather grade is stated explicitly. Check bag dimensions against what you actually carry. For watches, check the manufacturer's water resistance guidance rather than the depth figure alone, and check lug-to-lug against your wrist. And for jewellery, check the metal composition rather than the colour description if you react to nickel.