Accessories

German, British and American makers dominate here, and they split along a clear line. The German and Scandinavian entries tend toward reduction: a single material, a visible fastening, no branding on the face. The British and American ones lean workshop — waxed canvas, brass, oiled leather, a maker's mark somewhere you can find it. Neither approach is better, but knowing which one you are buying into saves a lot of returns.

This is also the category where multi-brand stores earn their place. A good accessories retailer has already done the editing — rejecting the merely photogenic — and browsing one is often faster than approaching a dozen individual brands. Roughly half the entries here are stores rather than makers, and that ratio is deliberate.