10 Well-Crafted Accessories Worth Obsessing Over

While the fashion world continues to be inundated with brands proudly "disrupting" everything that goes in your closet, there's one thing that no amount of vertical integration or radical transparency can replace: fine craftsmanship. We're talking about the best raw materials on planet Earth paired with the skill sets of designers, artisans, and fabricators that yield pieces that are impossible to replicate by machine (or most other humans). Nowhere is that more apparent than in these 10 well-crafted accessories that blend decades' worth of know-how and timeless design into quality pieces you'll have forever.

Hermès Cape Cod watch

Hermès is known for making many plenty of covetable objects, but chief among them are their leather goods and timepieces. This watch offers both in one extremely appealing package—which also happens to be a piece of fashion history. The Cape Cod watch was born in 1991, but in 1998, Martin Margiela added a double "tour" strap to the design, upgrading it from a fine luxury timepiece to a conversation-starting grail. This version retains all the appeal of Margiela's, but renders it all in a Batmobile-ish blackout colorway (with polished red trim no less) that's elegant and sleek as hell.

Feit hand-sewn high sneaker

Goodyear construction and cordovan leather are hallmarks of the finest shoes out there (e.g., the John Lobb dress shoes you'll find below). But rarely had the technique or material been applied to the world of sneakers—until Feit came along. The 14-year-old brand has turned sneaker-making into a fine art by using top-notch hides and traditional hand-sewn craftsmanship in shoes that are more hypebeast than high-powered attorney. And just like those fancy dress shoes, Feit's kicks can be resoled—and live forever.

Bottega Veneta Intrecciato duffle bag

Bottega Veneta's signature"Intrecciato" woven leather design was first introduced in the 1970s as a way to break away from the box-shaped, rigid bags of the era. Using glove leather that was lighter and more pliable than cow skins traditionally used at the time, the brand's craftspeople wove strips together to create a criss-cross pattern that achieved a lighter weight, more supple bag—that also stood out from the smooth-skin crowd. The artisanal technique remains a cornerstone of Bottega's aesthetic today, used in everything from streamlined wallets to the most baller trashcan money can buy.

Falke No. 13 Sea Island cotton socks

Why do Falke's No. 13 ribbed socks cost five times as much as any other pair you've ever purchased? It's not the fit nor the just-right calf-high length, spot on as they may be. The answer is in the yarn—in this case, 100-percent Sea Island cotton fibers. The particular strand of super-soft, long-staple cotton (the longer the staple, the softer the cotton) is only grown in one area of the Caribbean with the right climate to sustain it.

John Lobb Marldon whole-cut shoe

John Lobb is one of the world's premiere shoemakers and their Marldon silhouette is one of the reasons why. It's bench-made (as in: by hand, on a work bench) from a single piece of calfskin that's molded around a last (cobbler-speak for a piece of wood shaped like a foot) and sewn together with a single seam at the heel. In case you're wondering: no, that's not an easy feat. There are literally no corners to cut here. Building a shoe like this requires a perfect hide (i.e., a whole cut), and the nimble fingers of a master craftsman who can Goodyear welt the leather to the sole. The result is an extremely modern, almost minimalist shoe—made by extremely old-school methods.

Goyard Matignon Mini zip wallet

Goyard’s easily-identifiable chevron pattern (a nod to the “Y” in the house’s name) comes printed on coated natural canvas cloth that's lighter weight and more durable than leather might be, despite looking very much like it. That's a key point when we're talking about a wallet that's jammed in and yanked out of your back pocket on a daily basis. The brand's Goyardine fabric (yep, that's its proper name) was originally used for the house's trunks. Here, the know-how of constructing handsome holders for a man's wares has been applied to a perfectly sized, all-around zip wallet that's as impressively constructed outside—check those hand-dyed edges—as it is on the goatskin-lined inside.

Hestra Edward leather gloves

The first thing you need to know about these gloves is that they're constructed from hairsheep, a specific breed of sheep that produces ultra thin and buttery leather dyed in Naples. Over the course of about two hours, the baby's-butt-soft skin is then paired with a wool lining and hand sewn by one of Hestra's master craftsman into a pair of second-skin gloves. The second thing you need to know about them is that you'll never want to take them off.

Larose Paris bucket hat

Take the time-tested traditions of millinery and apply them to styles more readily seen at the skate park then a fancy opera opening, and you have a sense of what makes Larose so appealing. The company's hats are designed in Paris, and made from materials that run the gamut from tweedy Prince of Wales wools to fuzzy polyester cheetah prints.

Berluti Eclair calf leather ankle boot

Berluti was founded in 1895 in Italy, and for more than a hundred years, the label made one thing: shoes for aristocrats, crafted from the finest Italian leather, and burnished to a see-your-own-reflection perfection. Starting in 2012, the brand expanded into the rest of a one-percenter's wardrobe, still retaining the highest-quality standards. When globe-trotting nomad Haider Ackermann took over the shop in 2016, he turned out some killer clothes—and redoubled focus on the footwear. Which is how we wind up with these Eclair boots: ultra-tall and ultra-slim (thanks to artfully hidden stitching), with zips down the side, and burnished to bright brown heaven. Ackermann's no longer with the brand, but these boots still are, for good reason. Who would get rid of these?

Moscot Lemtosh sunglasses

For five generations, family-run Moscot has crafted fine eyewear for the masses while pushing the design of optical frames and sunglasses forward. (Green Italian acetate shades don't come from nowhere.) And it's not just the brand's commitment to using only top-notch materials in their frames, lenses, and assembly—like the way the hinges are riveted through for added strength—that makes it legendary. It's also Moscot's uncanny ability to sculpt frames that sit comfortably on your face—which explains why most GQ editors who need specs end up with Moscots on their faces.