Factory Visit - Leiftur / Sp/f. Sjóklæðir

A couple of days ago, I stopped by Sp/f. Sjóklæðir to make a surprise visit, hoping to get a look of the production, sewing machines and have a chat about the company. I was greeted by a sincerely friendly lady, Bjørg Nólsoy, who was happy to show me around.

This morning there was very little activity in the white painted, rather anonymous looking house, which serves both as Sjóklæðir's storage and workshop. This was due to the fact because the shipment with new supplies from Belgium unfortunately had taken a detour to Latvia and therefore was expected to arrive later that day.

The company is situated up a hill in the biggest fishing community of the Faroe Islands, Klaksvík. The past 50 years It has been providing Faroese fishermen, farmers and the fish industry ashore with work wear the.

Initially the garments were branded 'Mammut', but it was renamed 'Leiftur' meaning baby whale, because a factory in Denmark, more or less similar to Sjóklæðir, also called itself Mammut.

In its early days the factory also manufactured a range of everyday apparel including jeans and jackets. Today the company is run by Bjørg, who is the daughter of the founders. Nowadays the company employs six people. In the golden days as many as 40 people worked at Sjóklæðir.

Very little has changed in the production. The customers are the same people wanting exactly the same things when the previous are worn out.

Sometimes small adjustments are being made, when a number of fishermen have proclaimed that a hood or sleeve is too wide or narrow for instance.

This is also why Bjørg has no website and why she doesn't advertise. ”People know we're here and what we're about”.

All words and photos by Fríðgerð á Hálvmørk

READ MORE - Factory Visit - Leiftur / Sp/f. Sjóklæðir

"My First Watch" by Rasmus Jakobsen

I'm a watch enthusiast. It was a quartz-diver from Citizen that sparked my passion approximately 10 years ago. I was on my way into the military, on a 12-month self-chosen conscription with Den Kongelige Livgarde (The Royal Life Guards), and of course I had to have a watch with me  that could withstand the hardships in the field. I was born as a gear-freak, so it felt like an obvious move.

I spent a long time looking for the perfect watch, and it was probably due to Frømandskorpset (the amphibious attack and infiltration unit in the Danish Defence) that I ended up with a Citizen, as they used this particular watch in service. I figured, if it was good enough for them, it was probably good enough for me.

Unfortunately I had to face the fact, that the investment of around DKR 3000, which was a great deal of money for me back then, had made a impression on me too big to handle. This meant, I could not even in my wildest dreams imagine it being used - or rather abused - during military service when I finally got the damn watch,. And with this new realization I of course had to put the watch away in a closet and let go of the idea of me being equal to the guys of Frømandskorpset.

But the experience got me going. It was obviously not an infatuation with the movement, as the diver was an quartz, but the solid construction and high reliability of the clock fascinated me to such an extent, that I began absorbing an enormous amount of knowledge on military watches - with the diver being the absolute starting point.

My interest in watches has never declined. Much has happened since my innocent love for a quartz-model, but the fascination of these small wonders is alive and well. Today I concentrate solely on mechanical watches (automatics and hand-wounds). I still geek military watches (and even to great lengths), although I now have moved on to sports and dive watches from the 50s onwards.

I hope that my future posts on this fine blog will provide you readers with just a humble insight in the wonderful world of mechanical watches. If it gets too intimate, you are very welcome to speak up, just like you are more than welcome to drop comments and inspiration if you find it relevant.

Best regards,

Rasmus

READ MORE - "My First Watch" by Rasmus Jakobsen