Reuters Square, London

A fantastic view of Reuters square in London, encompassing the series of fantastic Mondaine Clocks they have in situ there!

Their setting here says a lot about their iconic status, visual appeal, and performance. Time is money; and in Canary Wharf, such a major business centre, up to the second accuracy is called for and delivered by Mondaine.

We are delighted to have them here at Upper 10, sticking as wqe do, their full range of clocks and watches. For a closer look, please visit us at: http://www.upper10.co.uk/mondaine.html

March is Mondaine Month!

The inclusion of Mondaine Watches to our product range has been a huge success. WHat more could you want, they are an iconic brand with a matching style and memorable design. Of course they are Swiss, which all the best watches are, and furthermore they are the official clock of the Swiss railway which speaks volumes of their accuracy and heritage. They have a wonderful provenance, and are a watch to be taken seriously by anyone building up a watch collection or simply wishing to wear a functional and stylish watch.

Mondaine's uniquely styled and legible face is echoed throughout its extensive range which includes an automatic model as well as watches with an alarm function, sporty chronographs, and pieces with enhanced water resistance and toughened mineral glass. My own favourite was the "Night Vision" which is a purposeful and stylish watch containing tiny gas cylinders rather than the traditional (and not as bright superluminova paint) it reads clearly and brightly at night and at £189- Its a snip!

For the whole of March we will be stocking the entire product range and are thye only authorised dealers doing so for many a mile.... So get down here for a peek, or check them out online at: http://www.upper10.co.uk/mondaine.html

Quite A Suit!

Since its outing at the Brits, we haven't been inundated by requests foe copy-cat suits to rival this one worn by Matt Horne.

Its pretty full on and clearly not something you'd wear every day to the office. Its also extremely close fitting, check out the trousers.... So its hardly Surprising that James Corden wasn't sporting a matching effort!

I think any suit is probably improved when standing next to Kylie!

Heart Vs Head!

Ryan Jones= Dynamic, big, good carrier, goes forward

Steve Borthwick= One paced, too small, goes backwards with the ball

Above in microcosm is one of the many problems we face tomorrow. I'm not an England basher, in fact I'm very patriotic, and I also have nothing against Steve Borthwick. I think Borthwick, is a very nice man, intelligent, and an excellent rugby player- however, he's not big, fast or nasty enough to be a truly international calibre forward.

And basically Wales, on paper at least, are superior on almost every department to us, and they're at home ...... So:

Prediction:

Heart: Eng 18-15 Wales

Head: Wales 38-12 Eng

I know that is a huge cop out and that basically 2 predictions is no prediction at all!- But there you go!

Cold Snap!

This cold snap is getting ridiculous. I can't remember such a prolonged period of having to listen to Dom going on about how much he enjoys wearing longjohns.

A very pictorially topical blog today; thanks for that to the ubiquitous and historically capped Mr Beckham. Clearly comparisons between him and Bobby Moore are not entirely justified, and I think most will agree their true sporting parity begins and ends with their current number of caps.

The superior number of caps on offer these days and Beckham's lack of real success with England surely place him well behind Bobby. But one must commend his admirable stickability, professionalism and ability to do one thing VERY well. Testament also to his fitness which despite one or two high profile injuries has been excellent (think Michael Owen).

Also he's a handsome devil, and wearing this scarf rather well!! If you're shivering away at the moment pop down and get one of our Lovely Merino numbers, very soft and very warm!- And on sale at £35- BARGAIN"

Feedback

We would love some feedback on our revamped site. It has been really successful since it relaunched before Christmas, getting lots of traffic and whilst I doubt it is troubling Amazon in terms of sales it is doing really well.

All rather surprising considering it was built by a gastropod mollusc:

Anyway, please havea look and send us an email with any thoughts!

Ciao for now,

Da Slug

X

Suits You Sir!

Online Surveys & Market Research

West Indies 392 bt England 318 & 51 by an innings and 23 runs

Not the best day for English sport yesterday- And certainly not the best for Cricket. There seems to be a rather large hubristic element to the fiasco following, as it did; hot on the heels of the the IPL sales. I'm not sure of the total sales value of Freddie, KP and Colly, but perhaps their minds were elsewhere!!

Hopping Mad!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7875271.stm

The weather has obviously been a major talking point of late, but this is about the most amusing thing I've seen to come from the snowy conditions! Reminds me of some of the moves I've seen being thrown in the basement of the Gallery in York!

6 Nations! - and Glory Days!

I'm not sure that at the start of the 2004 6 Nations after the above took place, or at the start of the 2008 tournament after JW had steered England to an improbable 2nd consecutive final, that anyone would have thought it would be Andy Goode lining up at No. 10 for the 2009 series. Goode has never been first choice, and still isn't now; but for his calf injury Toby Flood would be starting. However, I wish him luck, he's a decent player and has a solid kicking game and has a chance to claim for his own the berth he has had to watch JW, Charlie Hodgson, Toby Flood, Danny Cipriani and even Olly Barkley dominate. He's more one dimensional than any of those others but Johnson will be banking on him to be more solid and dependable than all (but JW). A solid start is what we need tomorrow, dominate possession and territory get the scoreboard moving and maybe cut lose with our exciting backs towards the end.
I don't think it promises to be a glory Year for English Rugby.
For those wanting a permanent reminder of our high-water mark then try:
http://www.upper10.co.uk/category-22/jonny6.html
Still a best-seller!
I predict: Eng 28-12 Italy

Time Flies!

http://www.upper10.co.uk/mondaine/A6673033811SBB.html

Well, its already a month since I tied the knot- time really does fly... And to think they said it'd never last!
Married life suits very well, I've upgraded from worn cotton slippers to a shiny leather pair and now only the finest shag tobacco ( http://www.smoke.co.uk/acatalog/Shag__Fine_Cut__Tobacco_To_Weigh_Out.html )makes it into the pipe. These are just two of a plethora of small adjustments I've made to live a lifestyle commensurate with my new married status.
Some things remain the same, like the faultless timekeeping of my Mondaine... For those unacquainted check them out on the link above...Timeless Swiss perfection!
Ciao

Happy New Year!

And what a way to start the Year. A beautiful day in Hull and a smashing evening in Beverly. Magic.

Be in touch soon, busy slug at the mo as the Big Cat and his Tigress are sprawled on a beach somewhere!
X

Show Dates

Here is where you can find us over the next few weeks:

13 - 14 October: Presents Galore, Kelso
15 October: NSPCC Gift Fair, Uckfield
15 - 16 October: The Durham Shopping Extravaganza, Durham
27 - 28 October: Tynedale Fair, Matfen
28 - 29 October: Auntumn Fair, Westonbirt
3 - 4 November: Angus Fair, Scotland
4 - 6 November: Irnham Bazaar, Lincolnshire
5 November: Duntreath Fair, Scotland
6 - 7 November: Christmas Shopping, Castle Howard
10 - 11 November: Buriton Fair, Hants
11 - 13 November: Arneston Fair, Perthshire
14 - 15 November: Nettlecombe Court, Devon
18 - 19 November: Malcolm Sargent, Scotland
19 November: Osberton Hall, Lincs
20 - 21 November: Erskine Christmas Cracker, Scotland
24 - 25 November: Perth Fair


More Will be added as we go along!!

See you there

SS

It's SHOWTIME!

So here we go again. We have begun our 2008 CHRISTMAS show season. There you go, the first mention of Christmas this year, October 8th - not bad.

The Big Cat is already on the road - the Ladies of Beaconsfield are about to be offered some seriously tempting wares for the gents in their lives.

This year we are breaking records - over 40 days of shows, between now and the 1st December, so it's going to be busy, busy, busy.

I can hear you all wondering - Will I end up in a more curious lodging than the Salisbury House of Prayer of 2006?

Will Big Cat eat only Pasta Pots from now till Xmas? (what about the wedding diet? - Don't think we haven't noticed BC - only 7 beers last Saturday - that got the alarm bells ringing)

How many Pen Again demonstrations will take place? (my personal estimate = 200-300)

Will The Sherrif be left deflated by my aleing for the 4th year running? (very likely)

So we'll keep you up to speed with all the shows and hopefully some amusing anecdotes along the way.

Remember there are only 78 shopping days till Christmas.

The Slug

PS Relaunch of our website www.upper10.co.uk check it.

Wedding Fever

Firstly apologies for the lack of action recently, our blogger in chief has been busy planning his nuptuals and I've been busy worrying about how long before a wedding to get my haircut, in order that on the day it is represented to it's fullest self. I kid not, and to add to the tension, after I calcluated that it should be 17 days before, I booked a 1/2 hour slot to visit the barber and when I got there, his card machine was broken and I found myself 800m from a cash point with slightly straggly hair.

So here I am, 13 days from N & A's wedding and still no haircut - so I have a decision to make - do I attend with my hair too short, or do I continue to let it grow and hope that the thickness and irish wave of the hair on the side of my cranium steals the show and directs attention from the sparse covering on top...

Next weekend is the trip over to The Lakes to celebrate Big Cat's stag. It's going to be triple wicked. Just organised a little surprise for the Great cat himself, he's going to hate it but that's not the point is it!!

Ok, I'm outtahere, the only thing to say is to thank one time Team Member 'The Sheriff' and the rest of the Department in Lincs. for putting up with Damo this week, we all know he's not easy company and he hates drinking load of ale, but we appreciate it. Fear not, I will be making my annual pilgrimage in October where I can show you what proper aleing is.

Ciao, The Slippery Slug X

Keep On Running!

Tuesday night saw the culmination of the aforementioned Summer Series of 10k races. The final 6th race in the series is different to the others in that competitors are started in Reverse Speed order according to a handicap arrived at by averaging the times in the previoius 5 races.
So as anyone who has seen my previous times will know, I started pretty near the front, with the best runners starting a full 20 minutes after me.
Several things of note occurred;
1. Rachel overtook me after 5.5 having started over a minute behind, this was disappointing as I though for once I might break the tape ahead of her. She actually finished in the top 10 overall and won a T-shirt.
2. I overtook a horse! Yes it was moving and being piloted by a jockey/rider (no they weren't obese) but I suppose I would be exaggerating if I said it was moving at more than a slow trot. Pleasing all the same.
3. I actually got to see some fast people running. Normally the "elite atheletes" disappear on the B of the bang and I never see them again- I think that they are generally at home in bed by the time I finish. But the handicapping worked really well and in the last kilometre they came streaming up alongside (and past me) at alarming pace, it made me realise quite how far I've got to go in terms of improving beyond the group of seniors and stragglers I'm usually surrounded by.
As for whether I manage to keep it up without the spur of competition to galvanise my resolve remains to be seen!!!

Marathon!!

Congratulations to Rachel who completed her first marathon at Lake Windermere last weekend. The triumph was sealed in a time of 5hrs 6mins, no mean feat considering the elevation of the course which in her words was, "mountainous"!- Don't believe her check it out at: http://www.gillman.org.uk/misc/windermere-elevation-2007.jpg

Lots of effort went in during the previous months of training, as well as on the day itself- so a big WELL DONE!!

During Rachel's enforced absence due to "marathon recovery" I have been press-ganged into a spot of running myself. Wearing the number 45 bib, I represented York Knavesmire Harriers on Tuesday night in the Tadcaster 10k, known by all to be a particularly hellatious run encompassing some "everest-like peaks". Those of you who believe the Vale of York to be pancake-like, I urge to to re-study the local topography. (ok I may be exaggerating slightly, but there were some nasty hills)!

As you can see from the link below, I did the vest proud and trundled in on 56 and a bit mins to claim 169th spot just ahead of an asthmatic, octagenarian double-amputee..... With performances like that, not for much longer will rachel be the Haile Gebreselassie of U10!

http://www.ukresults.net/yorkrrl/2008/race2.html

Expansion

No - I am not referring to the waists of the Upper 10 board, in fact I refer to Peter Obank.

Pete is a long standing friend of The Big Cat and myself and so we are delighted to announce that Pete has become an Associate of Upper 10. Pete is going to be working with some of our existing clients and forging ahead to create his own portfolio of Shirt clients, and immeasurably improve the shirt scene in London.

Pete, a one man hurricane (with a tape measure), brings with him a wealth of sales experience and a pedigree of impeccable sartorial taste.

You can contact Pete on pete@upper10.co.uk and he will be only too happy to arrange an appointment with you either at work or at home.

Pete is also a wonderful dancer. It is isn't relevant but it is worth trying to catch a glimpse.

El Sluge

X

AirWolf Meets AirWasp

We are definitely not the Gadget shop, but we couldn't resist these little rippers. You may well have seen them before but that doesn't take away the fun that's to be had with them. Easy to pilot and remarkably hardy these little fellas are totally addictive...... Snap 'em up now only £19.99.

Also, how cool is the Airwolf Music?!?!!

Over and Out!

Stacked!

Size matters, or so we're told; and between brothers so does height. Dom and I are very similar in height, we've never quite been able to call it between us, although if asked I'm sure we'd both claim to be the taller...

The debate was rekindled recently when Dom was measured by his GP and came in bang on 183cm or 6ft in old money. I reckon I'm about 6ft exactly too, so today, inspired by a delivery of fine, Bespoke shirts we decided to have a "Height off".

The measuring was conducted with Surgical precision by a combination of Tape measure, and more precisely still by stacking boxes of shirts to our respective heights. Surprisingly given the very fine calibration of the boxes we were unable to produce a winner (we both came in at 28 boxes).... So until technology produces a more accurate system for gauging height than the old "Shirt Box Stack" Dom and I will have to wait to be separated, so that the winner can claim their bragging rights!