This story originally appeared on the Gents Cafe Newsletter. You can subscribe here.
Meet Sam Kovel (@swkovel), a New Jersey-based advertising professional and the founder of The Sunday Reserve newsletter. Deeply dedicated to the pursuit of craftsmanship, with his newsletter Sam fosters a more intentional approach to life, oriented on enjoying the finer details and slowing down as a necessary recalibration in our fast-paced world. His appreciation for heritage is also reflected by his watch collection, which is rooted in a family tradition of passing down personal stories alongside timepieces to the next generation.
Where do you live and what do you do for a living?
Right now I live in New Jersey. I work in advertising, and I’ve done a lot of different things in the field, like revenue operations and strategy, but I am currently in the process of looking for my next role, so I am in between things. I am also the founder and editor-in-chief of The Sunday Reserve, a newsletter that’s focused on slowing down and appreciating sort of the finer details in life, whether that be a well-made garment, a great cocktail, a watch, or even something as simple as having a nice cup of coffee on a Sunday morning, taking back a little bit of that time in a very hectic world. We cover a full range of interviews and product reviews that keep this “slowing down” mentality in mind.
What are your main passions and how do you cultivate them?
My main passions really revolve around craftsmanship and the well-made item. I like to read about objects that fascinate me, as well as collecting things. This might involve going to trade shows, or to a thrift store and searching through products and old catalogs and looking at where the history of whatever it is has come from, whether it’s clothing, a wine, whiskey… I’m really just absorbing that holistic concept of well-made craftsmanship from various different angles of my day-to-day.
I’m also a big music enthusiast. My brother was a music blog writer a long time ago, and my parents grew up in the 60s and 70s, so I inherited a lot of their music taste. My music passion is wide and diverse, from Frank Sinatra to ’90s rap to EDM to classic rock and roll.
As a new dad, my passions are starting to evolve into taking care of a house and being with my daughter, while setting aside some time to just enjoy what’s going on around me. This includes taking care of our outdoor space or continuously refining our home—things that I didn’t really do when we had an apartment a couple of years ago. I’m finding new craftsmanship projects and passion points throughout that process.
As a new dad, my passions are starting to evolve into taking care of a house and being able to set aside some time to just enjoy what’s going on around me.
How did you first develop an appreciation for style?
I have three older brothers, and I think all of them have a different (although a little overlapping) style. One comes more from a hippie music scene background, one is very preppy with an inclination for classic tailoring, and one has a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers vibe. So I eventually absorbed a mix of all that knowledge and their take on clothing, especially when they moved out.
We were originally from Pittsburgh, and they moved out to New York, which brings its own breadth of fashion. Whether you’re in the tech scene or the legal scene, it’s very diverse. Learning through them over the years, I kind of leaned into caring about what I wear, how I look, and the materials, fabrics, and brands. As I got older and had my own income, a job, and a career, I really started diving into the world of menswear.
Over time, I became a newsletter junkie; I read 40 to 50 newsletters a week around menswear, some very obscure, some more broad, really just learning more and more as I go. These include the likes of Gents Cafe, Retro Ralph, WM Brown, Permanent Style, and David Coggins, Drake’s editorial and many others—I learn everything I can and just see what feels right to me and what doesn’t.
As your life changes, your style changes too. Especially after becoming a dad, my style has definitely become more relaxed, but still put together. You want to be ready to take care of a baby who might spit up on you, but you might also have to run outside and do an errand real quick. You want to be looking and feeling put together, but comfortable in whatever you’re wearing. It’s been an evolution as I’ve grown up, gotten older, started a job, and as my life and family have changed. It’s just been a journey, and I think it will always be.
How do you find time to unwind and slow down?
On the weekends, I always need an hour or two in the morning to ease into it. Waking up, having a good cup of coffee, sitting down, listening to some very soft jazz in the background, reading some of those newsletters, and maybe doing a little creative writing for the Sunday Reserve. I slowly get into the day and into the rhythm of whatever is ahead of me.
That really just helps set the tone to not only reflect on what has happened in the past weekend or week and what I could have done differently—whether in work or writing—but also to look a little bit ahead and decide what I want to do, accomplish, or read about this week, or where I want to dive in for a few stories for the newsletter. It gives me that recalibration moment. Without that, I feel like my week gets a little bit untangled.
I would love to do it every morning, but during the week it has to be more of an afternoon pause, whether it’s an espresso or maybe having a beer or a cocktail at five o’clock. It’s really just taking that moment of pause to sit and do a little reflection, thinking to myself about how things are going and how we can continue progressing through the week.
It gives me that recalibration moment. Without that, I feel like my week gets a little bit untangled.
What does an ideal Sunday look like?
It definitely starts with that beginning I mentioned. Afterwards, if it’s nice out, my wife and I love taking our daughter to the park. We’ll walk a couple laps, get the steps in, and then maybe have a picnic. We let her just kind of lay and enjoy being a newborn in the world, and we enjoy a meal that we packed, really not putting a time frame on it—just letting it play out. It could be as long as three hours sometimes!
As we get home afterwards, I love to put on some good sporting event—whether it’s some Premier League, a baseball game, or a hockey game—kick my feet up, and have a nice beverage of some sort. I love ending the Sunday by grilling. I’m starting to become more in tune to just really slowing down and cooking a good meal, enjoying the presence of being outdoors, playing some music in the background, and talking with my wife. It’s all pretty unstructured, and you kind of play it by the hour.
What’s a brand that embodies quality, and why?
I’ll be the American in the room and give an American brand: Alden. I bought my first pair of snuff suede penny loafers from them around the time of my wedding.
The quality and craftsmanship of these loafers are insane. I think I got one of the last pairs they were doing; the guy at the store told me it was the last pair that was handstitched with the bottom soles that were easier for traction in the city, and that sold me. Right when I put them on, they were amazing. You feel that good quality heavy suede and that really nice craftsmanship in the stitching. They broke in easily. I wear them probably way more than most people would wear them, but they were my daily in-the-office loafers, and they feel like a product that would outlast me on this earth.
They are a historic brand and clearly not trying to do anything too flashy with marketing or promotions; it’s a kind of brand that simply makes great products, puts thought and care into it, and I think they are worth the higher price tag. They totally embody that quality concept.
Where do you draw style inspiration from?
My style is very “high low” and diverse in range. Besides the influence of my brothers and the diverse background of my parents (my mom is Native American, and my parents were hippies from the 60s and 70s), I also interview a lot of companies that make quality goods.
I am personally as comfortable learning and getting inspired by people of all different backgrounds and types of styles. Just as much as I’m reading Permanent Style and other guys who are into the finer tailoring and higher-end side of your wardrobe, I’m also inspired by thrifters, those who go to concerts, and those who just enjoy wearing an old pair of baggy chinos, a good t-shirt, and mocs.
What inspires me is just people living comfortably in whatever it is that they’re wearing. I don’t think there’s a clear definition of what style needs to be. It’s really more about whether you’re actually comfortable in what you’re wearing at that time and if it can bring you from point A to point B effortlessly.
As a dad, some days that’s an old pair of chinos, a t-shirt, and Birkenstocks. Some days it’s a tailored button-down and loafers, and some dark denim, and everything in between. Some days it’s a $10 jacket I got at a thrift store; some days it’s a Baracuta or a Barbour.
What inspires me is just people living comfortably in whatever it is that they’re wearing. I don’t think there’s a clear definition of what style needs to be.
Do you collect anything, and how did that passion start?
Amongst my friends, I’m known for collecting watches. I want to say it started in second or third grade. As far as I can remember, I always wanted to have a watch with me. At one point, it was even a little bit of pocket watches.
When I was 13 and got Bar Mitzvah, we had a friend who was a jeweler in the family, and his tradition was always to take off the watch that he was wearing and just give it to you. A story like that carried over to me, teaching me that this is more than a product; it’s someone’s story, and when it gets passed down, it makes it even more of a heritage story. In the back of my mind, I want to collect not just for myself and my own pleasure, but also watches that I would love to hold on to and pass down to my own children.
Right after college, I got my first “big boy” watch, an Omega Speedmaster. I still have it today; that really just started my interest in the mechanical side of watch collecting. I think I have about 10 watches now, but it’s a low range. Some of them are Omegas, Tudors, or Cartiers, and some are eBay finds. I have a vintage ’80s L.L. Bean-retailed Hamilton that I got for almost nothing that I wear just as much as more expensive pieces in my collection. It’s really just whatever feels comfortable and fun to collect and what I want to wear, but also keeping in mind that at some point, I want to hand some of these down and continue that story.
What are your three favorite movies and why?
I think Casino and GoodFellas are tied for first. They are very similar movies but very different in their own way, and I’ve watched both at least 30 times each. Casino is obviously a fashion statement of the entire movie—De Niro’s wardrobe is Giorgio Armani, and it’s just incredible. I was always into gangster and mobster movies, which covers those two.
Then, more on the humorous side, the third one is Billy Madison from Adam Sandler. It was a movie that my brothers and I grew up watching, we can recite every line, and it’s one of those funny, random movies when you compare it to Casino and GoodFellas. Those three I would say are my favorite movies.
What are your three favourite cocktail bars and why?
I love Employees Only in New York. I think they make fantastic cocktails. The first time I went in, a bartender asked me what I had for lunch and made me a cocktail based on that taste profile, and it was fantastic—they are on another level of knowing what they’re doing. They make a great Martini and Negroni.
Second is Borgo Santandrea in Amalfi, Italy. We were just there, and that was one of the best Negronis I’ve ever had in my life. Maybe it was the atmosphere of being on the coast or that it was our honeymoon, but it was a phenomenal drink.
For the third, I’ll do another New York bar: Dante in the West Village. They are classic and effortless. I think that’s what they do so well—they are just effortlessly turning out great cocktails with great tastes, and it’s a fun place to be, especially if you can get in when it’s not busy. You can never have a bad time there.
