Fratello EDC: Gerard Shares His Everyday Carry Items From Apple, Think Tank, Sony, And Ray-Ban

It’s time for another installment of Fratello EDC, where we’re sharing our editorial team’s Everyday Carry (EDC) items. The third “Fratello” to share the contents of his bag and pockets is OG Gerard, aka G2. What “essentials” does he carry with him daily?

As a guy who likes to travel light, I don’t particularly like calling these items “essentials.” Rather, I’d say they’re necessities. They’re necessary to lock the house, necessary to start my car or unlock my bicycle, and necessary to do what I like or have to do. The things I carry have no specific hierarchy, so let’s start with the largest of them.

G2’s EDC necessities — Starting with his “2nd Brain”

“WHERE would I be without YOU?” My Think Tank bag prompts this question every time I take my laptop out. It’s funny because sometimes it gets me thinking, where would I be without my computer? Places that come immediately to mind are the tropical jungle of a remote banana republic or the beach of a deserted island. So, my bag’s gesture is probably funny, but it’s not completely amusing. Anyway, what I am taking out is pleasant. It’s a 15″ Apple MacBook Pro fully packed with goodies to make it a graphic powerhouse. Dual graphic processors, tons of internal memory, and all of it working at the speed of light. I never knew you could spend the price of a decent secondhand car on a laptop, but I did and have never looked back. Photo editing has never been so pleasant, and I would immediately repurchase a similar notebook if it were necessary.

The EDC bag itself

As mentioned already, my laptop bag — which has space for other stuff — is made by Think Tank, “The Choice Of Working Professionals,” as the brand refers to itself. And as the tagline suggests, above all, it’s a practical bag. It looks good and breathes quality, but there’s no fashion involved. Even its two-tone design and funny jokes can’t change that. Think Tank could have been a German company, but it’s not. The company was founded in January 2005 and is based in Santa Rosa, California. The bag was made in Vietnam, though. Besides the MacBook, it holds a charger, a mouse, some pens, writing paper, SD cards, a card reader, cables, and reading glasses. All in all, I’m pleased with it. It does what it should, and does so in a perfect way. Quality never goes out of style!

EDC pen and reading glasses

Two of the many items in my laptop bag are a pen and a pair of reading glasses. The latter is hardly fascinating but nevertheless essential for a “young” man of my age. The pair I put in my bag is specifically for screen reading and is from the Paris-based brand Izipizi. The pen in my bag, on the other hand, is quite an interesting one. It’s made by a brand called Caran d’Ache. Founded in Geneva in 1915 as Fabrique Genevoise de Crayons, the brand was rechristened Caran d’Ache in 1924 at the suggestion of Arnold Schweitzer, the head of the company at the time. It’s a true icon of the Swiss Made label and still a family-owned company. It’s currently led by Carole Hubscher, who represents the fourth generation of the family.

And that’s all great for Caran d’Ache, but why is the pen I’m writing with so special? Well, first of all, it was given to me more than 20 years ago by Thomas Loosli, then-owner of Auguste Reymond. But product-wise, it’s special because mine is made of sterling silver. And the nice thing about silver is that it will tarnish or patina, making this my own unique pen. Caran d’Ache’s current Ecridore models have a brass body, plated with a palladium finish to keep them nice and shiny. Similar Caran d’Ache pens with different finishes are popular gifts for watch brands. Shown above is what Roger Dubuis offered this year at Watches And Wonders.

What else do I carry?

Another item often found on me is a camera. I currently use two of them — a Nikon D800 DSLR and a Sony A7 mirrorless model. As the Nikon is heavy, it’s more of a studio tool, and as such, I’ll try to avoid carrying it around. On the other hand, the Sony is lighter and more versatile and thus is often on a Blackrapid sling around my neck. I like photography, but it’s not a passion like horology. I see and use my cameras more like tools than objects of desire. So no fancy equipment here, such as Leica or Hasselblad, just products that get stuff done and are fit for the job.

And what’s in my pockets?

Well, that’s not that exciting. Mainly, it’s just keys and a pair of AirPods to make calls with my iPhone 7 Plus. Yes, an iPhone 7 Plus — I’m careful with my stuff. Starting on the left in the picture above are my house keys with a keyfob for the entrance to the track of the RC car club I’m a member of. Did you know we have a dedicated Fratello Racing Instagram account for the peeps on our team who are into RC cars? No!? Well, you should, so here you go!

Second is my car’s keyfob, in case I travel by car. Other options for travel are a Vespa scooter or a bike. Those are the keys in the middle. Last but not least are the key and entry card for the Fratello HQ here in The Hague.

And a watch, of course

After all, we are a watch publication, so a watch definitely belongs to my EDC. Actually, many watches do. Not all of them simultaneously, but being a watch journalist means that I have the possibility or even need to wear many different watches. How would we be able to write solid articles informing our readers of hands-on, daily-life findings without wearing watches and having real-life experiences? But when I’m not wearing a watch for review, I’m generally relying on my grail watch, an Omega Speedmaster Professional. In the above picture is a 1973 reference 145.022 “Straight Writing” from my private Speedmaster collection on a Bulang & Sons leather strap.

A watch that isn’t one

I’m sure that many of you immediately noticed that I’m wearing an Apple Watch. Don’t be alarmed; I’ve done so ever since it came out in 2015 and already wrote about it then. Although the name implies it’s a watch, in my eyes, it isn’t. I use it as a portable message center and notifier. It reminds me of appointments and tells me when calls or (selected) messages come in. As these notifications are vibrant, the Apple Watch is silent, and it keeps my phone silent, which is exactly how I like it.

Sunglasses

The last EDC item that I want to mention is my sunglasses. Unfortunately, The Netherlands isn’t a country where one has much use for sunglasses. Nevertheless, I own many pairs of them and use them according to the occasion. Today, I came to Fratello HQ by scooter, and the sunglasses of choice are the Ray-Ban’s pictured above. They fully cover the area around my eyes and keep the pesky flies out of them as I’m riding.

I hope you liked what you saw, and I am curious to know what you think of the items. I’d also like to learn what you consider important stuff to carry around daily. If you want, feel free to follow me on Instagram too @gerardnijenbrinks