Hmm, I have thoughts about the it suits me assesment. I don't think it's an objective thing and it really is up to that person, and it doesn't always mean the same thing to people. On MN (especially those polished/expensive threads) it's always this narrow view of showing off the body but in a very bland prim and proper way. It's all very bourgeois tbh, but it suits me can also mean, preferred style, or personality, it's not always about aesthetics.
As for manicure sets, I think Manufactum carry some from Solingen (which is a place rather than a brand, but excellent manufacturers exclusively pretty much concentrated in one area) that are not all that expensive. If you want to pay more I'd go for Rubis (of Switzerland) or for even more money (but exceptionally excellent) Dreiturm. The most well known name you're probably thinking of is Zwilling who I don't think are worth the asking price anymore. Tweezerman also does pretty good tools separately, a bit more sturdy and suited to bigger man hands (assuming DS is son not sister here), don't know if they do sets though, have only ever seen travel sets and those are generally useless.
And, yes, Joseph has been a disappointment for quite a few years now, ever since the last designer left (sorry forgot her name).
Mm I'll definitely keep it in mind, looks like the dinners are a bit random dates with little advance warning so not great to plan around, but cocktail after works just as well, I suppose. I'll have to check trains as they're supposed to stop running for a few months soon due to engineering works 
And I also love that death star bit, it's a classic. I'm also a fan of very un-PC military humour, reminds me of the early days of the internet when it was mostly US military types and tech nerds, I still occasionally find a rare pocket of the internet that houses these two together for some random reason and it always has the best humour and often free of the usual internet polarity nonsense.