Etre gloves are designed and ethically produced in the UK from pure new wool by Etre Limited. According to the company, their gloves resemble the quality of other luxury brands such as Paul Smith, Margaret Howell, and Folk; I am inclined to agree. Etre produces two different lines of gloves, the Etre Touchy and Etre FIVEPOINT, both of which are tightly knit wool gloves designed to work with capacitative touch smart phones.
Having worn the gloves for various activities throughout the past week, I have become quite fond of their style and quality.
Etre Touchy
The Touchy gloves have the index finger and thumb cut short, and exposing these two fingers is surprisingly helpful. Until wearing the gloves, I did not realize how often I needed those two fingers exposed. For their primary function, using the iPhone was particularly easy. Of course, the Touchy gloves are helpful for manipulating other gadgets and thumbing through a favorite novel or magazine while keeping your hands quite toasty.
Due to the very tight fit, the threading in the crease between the index finger and thumb began to separate slightly. This may be due to the nature of a knit glove. I greatly appreciate the tight fit and accept there may be a slight separation that occurs because of the nature of a wool glove.
The various color combinations can be viewed in their new Autumn/Winter 2011 collection.
Etre FIVEPOINT
Covering all fingers, the FIVEPOINT gloves utilize a conductive thread to operate capacitative screens. Most importantly, the gloves fit very tightly, allowing for accurate typing, tweeting, and internet surfing. They do, however, cause a slightly awkward tap, as the seam is unfortunately located on the tip of the finger. The style of the glove causes the seam to be placed in that location, but it this does not effect accuracy – after using the gloves to type several complete emails, the gloves did not prove to hinder keystrokes.
It is important to note, other gloves, unless laced with the capacitative thread, are completely useless on your iPhone. The FIVEPOINT gloves combine style and practicality with their “contactwoven” fingertips to solve that exact problem.
Overall
Ultimately, they are brilliant!
Considering both styles, the quality of the material is very impressive. The pure new wool is high quality and well made, but does offer a slippery surface when holding an iPhone. To counter the slip, the tightly knit gloves fit snugly and provide an articulate, tactile touch. Moreover, these gadget-minded accessories are quite stylish and suitable to wear casually or with a full suit. To please colorfully minded wearers, both lines come in a wide array of colors and in sizes small, medium, and large.
I highly recommend either of these gloves if you are looking to keep your hands warm in the coming months while still using your beloved i-devices. You will not beat the quality for the price and the tips are not bulky like similar e-glove products. Refreshingly, the woven fiber eliminates the need for additional hardware to be placed on the glove.
You too can pick up a pair of Touchy (£35) or FIVEPOINT (£40) gloves by clicking to the Etre online shop, waltzing by a Selfridges, or stopping in an independent fashion store, including YMC and Sarah Coggles.
