The week's randoms

Here's a few shots I found this week that I couldn't think of anything to write about, put together in some sort of a flow.

Rolex Submariner: The writing must be red

What is it about red lettering on watches? Somehow that little flash of colour lifts the piece into a whole new league.

It isn't just red, mind. It might also be orange (Steve McQueen's Explorer II comes to mind).

Take these Submariners by PXD - the SS2 and the SS3. There are a whole load of other subtle features on these watches, but it's the red that stands them out. That and the black powder coating for one of them. Can't go wrong with that.

Via Slamhype

Sophnet x Barbour Bedale jacket: small and waxy

Sophnet and Barbour. Now there's a couple of names you wouldn't expect to hear muttered in the same breath.

One is a high-end Japanese brand with a focus on sharp, classic quality garments and the other is a product of the Surrey country set which has only recently woken up to its potential as a major street style player.

The result is this colab Bedale jacket, which for the life of me I can't really tell apart from the original. Save the camo lining.

I would expect the real difference would come with the wearing. Knowing Sophnet sizing, it probably won't fit.





Via Freshness

N.E.R.D Hypnotize you produced by Daft Punk: French fancy

Here's another glimpse into the latest N.E.R.D album, Nothing, this time via a track produced by the plastic headed French house duo Daft Punk.

I've also added an interview Pharrell and the boys did with Mark Hoppus recently, which is worth looking at if only to guffaw at the balaclava being worn by Chad throughout. Who told him that was a good idea?

N.E.R.D. - "Hypnotize U" Prod. Daft Punk by Slam x Hype


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Le P'tit Velo: Rapha riders on the lawn

I have been fascinated with little die cast cyclists ever since their existence as brought to my attention by Rapha.

The French miniatures have long been a rite of passage for boys who have collected the tiny representations of their cycling heroes for years.

But given the part they have played in the nation's history, they have proved notoriously difficult to track down.

I couldn't believe my luck when a few appeared on Ebay made by Norev and Visage, but as my knowledge of the chaps grew I realised I had been buying the wrong ones.

Then Rouleur magazine got a few in stock - the very same as the models which featured in issue 11, made by Roger Fonderie and photographed by Janol Apin.

The painted versions had already sold out by the time I had logged on, so I bought one unpainted.

The finished article is above, and below I have pictured the various stages of his creation. He proved tricky to paint, particularly the lettering on his jersey, but I'm generally fairly pleased with the way he turned out. So much, in fact, that I ordered another four, which I plan to kit out in their own individual Rapha outfits.

I might put one up for sale if anyone's interested.

www.janol-apin.com

Rudy Jan-Faber skateboard art: Tatt's the way to go

As if skateboarding wasn't dangerous enough already, Rudy Jan-Faber has designed some decks that will be guaranteed to distract you from keeping on the things.

You will be too busy checking out the intricacies of the subject matter, resplendent in semi-nakedness and some fine tattoos.

And as you go arse over tit while looking south, do not fear the angel of death. It is merely that middle girl's winged belly skull about to smash you square between the eyes.

I can think of worse ways to go.

Via Fatkids

Two nights in Shoreditch: The Huguenots

Given that we're shortly to be moving house, I have started to notice where other people live and the colours they have used in the decoration of their homes.

Now the Huguenot houses of Spitalfields are far removed from the little three bed detached cottage that we've bought, but the colour schemes are right up my street.

These are the homes built by the Huguenot silk weavers who arrived in London as refugees from France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

The houses were built for the master weavers in the 17th and 18th centuries a but by the Victorian era the silk industry had declined to such an extent that the merchants' houses had become slums and Spitalfields the criminal centre of town.

These days the Huguenot houses have been restored to more than their former glory. They are studiously maintained by their owners who paint them all manner of Farrow and Ball shades, and have added things like roof terraces.

Th artist Tracey Emin lives in one, and they have become as much a part of East London tradition as bangers and mash.

A couple of the Huguenot houses of Fournier Street have been restored to their original period splendour, and one contains a museum, although don't ask me which.