Though most umbrellas today are rickety, mass-produced items, a few makers still build top-shelf umbrellas by hand.
The best-known name in this rarefied world is London-based manufacturer Swaine Adeney Brigg. Quality comes with a high price tag, however. A Brigg with a one-piece shaft and handle fashioned from applewood, maple or Malacca cane sells for about $225. Cherry (about $275) has a devoted following. (Polished chestnut is $50 less but looks identical.)For $350 or more, you can equip the handle with a flask or a cigarette lighter. Customers of retailer UK Stuff often pay $30 extra to have their initials engraved on the umbrella's gold-plated collar.
Brigg umbrellas tend to be dressed in conservative colors, and most customers go for traditional black. If you want something a bit more colorful -- herringbone stripes, for example -- consider Maglia Francesco.
Maglia, a Milan-based company, is still owned and operated after five generations by Maglias, brothers Francesco and Giorgio. Most of the company's output is under private labels; pricey umbrellas from retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman and Barney's New York are more likely than not to be Maglia-made.
If you're looking for an umbrella that makes a more personal statement, try designer Flann Lippincott's Maglias: The handles on her umbrellas range from a hazelnut T joined with brass ($205) to a sterling-silver Atlas holding up an ebony burl globe ($1,200).
Another high-end manufacturer is Piganiol of France, which makes umbrellas for Yves Saint Laurent.
You'll know a top-of-the line umbrella by the way it's built: It will feature a solid wood shaft (one-piece handles appeal to purists, but two-piecers are no less sturdy) and thick nylon, polyester or waterproof cotton fabric. Under the canopy, you'll see tiny swatches of fabric covering the joints between short and long ribs -- and the ribs will be made of steel instead of aluminum. Steel makes the canopy much stronger, but not 100 percent windproof.
If a top-of-the-line umbrella is too dear, you can still do better than the generic ones for less than $100. The D'Amazoni, whose peaked center and pointed edges give it the look of a shag-fringed leaf, uses a double canopy for wind resistance ($59 from Absolute Amenities).
These retailers will ship umbrellas anywhere in the United States:
-- Absolute Amenities: 888-926-3648; catalog available
-- Lippincott: 888-902-5584; catalog available
-- UK Stuff: 800-261-5056, or www.ukstuff.com
-- Uncle Sam: 212-582-1977