Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Thursday, December 21, 2023

My Old Wathne Dog Head Belt Buckle



9 comments:

  1. I have the exact same dog buckle that I bought from Wathne (thank you, I had been trying to remember the brand name!) exactly 30 years ago on W. 57th Street in New York City when I lived there! Wathne was a lifestyle brand owned by Icelandic sisters and they had wonderful things (I also had a silk scarf and a yellow and navy canvas duffle tote bag from them that I used in the 1990s before it finally gave up the ghost). The brand theme was the sporting life as most of items had a hunting/fishing/equestrian theme. Cheers for the memories!

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  2. It's all coming back to me now. For those of you that know and love the brand, I believe Wathne's products were produced by the Polo Ralph Lauren company (RL also had a very high-end luxury boutique on Madison Avenue in the 90s) at the time, which would explain the similarities between products. Their logo was a fish topped with a crown because the Icelandic family that owned Wathne were noble and were fly fishing aficionados. The Labrador belt buckle is the last item that I own from the brand that remains as one of my favorite possessions.

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    1. Polo RL is just a brand, I don’t believe they were ever manufacturing anything. They could just order in factories that were producing for them. Beautiful belt though, I have something similar but with a horse head, in solid silver. Thank you for telling the story of the shop, interesting if they still exist somewhere. Merry Christmas everyone! I.

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  3. Wathne closed for business in the late 90s. PRL did collaborate with the sisters to create their brand and manufacture their products.I believe there was a patent filing in NYC. I’m in the patent industry so I’m aware of this, but those records also exist in the public domain.

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    1. Thank you, very interesting! Shame that they are gone...I.

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    2. JUNE 29, 2001, 12:00AM

      WATHNE CLOSES ON 57TH STREET

      NEW YORK — Wathne, the luxury outdoor and equestrian-related apparel and accessory store at 4 West 57th Street — one of the fanciest shops in town — has shut down.
      Moving into the 1,400-square-foot space is Smythson of Bond Street, a high-end stationer from London.
      Wathne is operated by three sisters from Iceland — Thorunn, Berge and Soffia Wathne — who have a passion for sports. They spent heavily to open the site at the end of 1993, giving it a fireplace with a handcarved limestone mantel, an overstuffed leather couch, a chandelier made of antlers, Venetian plaster walls and moldings, pearwood display cases and a French limestone floor.
      At one time, the store sold such items as sterling-silver trout-shaped belt buckles, priced at $360; suede quilted hunting jackets, $1,585, and cavalry twill riding jackets, $695. Wathne is also known for its angling gear, which includes salmon flies ($25), thigh waders ($155) and oilcloth vests ($350)

      Impressive interior deco! I think it was suppose to be an high-end PRL...
      Isabel

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  4. Sounds like their target market included those willing to spend $15k a day fishing for Atlantic Salmon in Iceland.

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  5. I worked for a friend of the Wathne sisters in the 90’s. They lived in 3 apartments on Central Park South, one above the next. They had white dogs (poodles or Maltese, my memory is fading) and would send them down in their town car to our office. My boss would then send an intern out with her own 3 white poodles to walk the whole lot around Bryant park.

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