Cashmere is the baseline. The Allude plain sweater and Arch4's ribbed version are the unfussy end, Ralph Lauren Collection's cable and Staud's striped turtleneck add pattern, and Rohe's argyle polo takes it somewhere preppier. Reformation's boyfriend cut is the loosest of the group.

The Loulou de Saison Otis uses a rib that adds structure, so it holds a shape without a jacket. The Allude sweater is the plain crew you will wear until it wears out.

The Staud Hudson keeps the stripe horizontal and the neck high. The Rohe argyle polo mixes cashmere with wool and silk, which makes the pattern sharper.

The Ralph Lauren Collection cable knit is the traditional one and takes cold seriously. The Khaite Jackson blends wool into the cashmere, so it holds up to more wear.

Cardigans are the more useful buy. Loulou de Saison's Aidar and Nili Lotan's Arlen work as a top rather than a layer, while Arch4's Claridges argyle and the Acne Studios blend put the pattern on the outside. Doen's Anisa and the &Daughter Ada are cut close enough to button and wear alone.

The Loulou de Saison Aidar is a merino and cashmere blend, warm without much weight. The Arch4 Claridges brings argyle in full cashmere, which is the softer of the two.

The &Daughter Ada is pure wool and built to last years rather than seasons. The Acne Studios argyle blends silk into the yarn, so it has a faint shine under light.

The Nili Lotan Arlen is the plain merino blend that goes under a coat. The Zimmermann Valiant adds leather trim at the edges, which turns a cardigan into outerwear.

Alpaca, mohair and merino behave differently. Lemaire's alpaca and yak blend and Toteme's alpaca cotton have a weight and drape cashmere does not, while Marant Etoile's brushed mohair is the one with a halo to it. Theory's merino turtleneck and Leset's James are thinnest and work best as a base layer.

The Leset James cardigan is cut long and loose over anything. The AMI Paris ADC puts a small embroidery at the chest and keeps the rest quiet.

The Toteme alpaca and cotton blend is the lighter of the two and works indoors. The Marant Etoile Morine is brushed mohair, which means warmth and a visible halo to the surface.

The Ruadh Oscar carries embroidery across a fine merino. The Lemaire alpaca and yak blend is the heaviest knit in this grid and the one for genuinely cold days.

If you take one thing away, it is that ply and gauge matter more than the fibre name on the label. A thin single ply cashmere will pill within a month and a good merino will outlast it easily, so read the weight before the fibre. Alpaca and mohair hold their shape and resist pilling better than cashmere does, which makes them the smarter buy for anything worn weekly. Cardigans get more wear than sweaters across a full season because you can adjust them, and the ones here cut close enough to wear alone are doing double duty. Wash by hand in cool water and dry flat, and almost anything in this edit will still look right in five years. Machine washing is where good knitwear goes to die.