The house has also expanded its made-to-measure custom business, offering a wide range of fine leather gloves and cashmere and wool socks (or "hose, " as it quaintly still calls them), silk ties, even boxer shorts.

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Studying the covetable accessories gave him a keen appreciation for the fine points of leather design.

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The cabin felt like a design cocoon of fine materials, leather, metals and woods.

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On the other hand, the Switzerland-assembled TL700 smartphone is very much the same as before: still Android Gingerbread, 3.7-inch 800 x 480 display with sapphire screen, 0.3- and five-megapixel cameras, 1, 400mAh battery, 316L fine stainless steel body and genuine leather back.

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First comes the heavy-handed hints, then you pull a racy leather number from the wardrobe before declaring that you're fine without it and never wanted the thing anyway.

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