Equus Leather - English Handstitched Bridle Leather Belts - Official Affiliate and Review Thread

[Equus Leather]



I'm very grateful to have seen your thread and heard about your belt manufacture. Just recently I was quite disappointed by the reply I received from a belt firm called Only Brown: I asked them what they thought of the green bridle belt offered by Manufaktum. This green belt looks a bit like yours. http://www.manufactum.de/Produkt/0/...nglisches-Sattelleder.html?suchbegriff=Gurtel The description states the leather is from England, but the belt was or is made in Germany.

Difficult to be 100% certain but that looks very, very like Sedgwicks to me and Ive seen quite a lot of it!

Interesting look with brown edges, not sure I like it TBH, I think black brings the colour out better. Perhaps thats just what Im used to seeing though.

Coincidentally there is a Bottle Green Sterling Silver West End on the bench at the moment

Charlie

 

[Naive Jr.]

Thanks very much for taking the trouble to reply and for your professional evaluation (which Only Brown didn't offer). I looked at your website and saw that the bottle green is a special colour for your best belt. Since it costs about £150 - do you subtract VAT for orders outside EU? - it will take awhile before I can buy such. What do you mean by on the bench now? Do you mean that this special green edition will be available for awhile?

PS: Sterling Silver refers to the buckle - this is a new theme for me, so I need to study it. I have two modest belts: one brown from Ludwig Reiter with only one leather counter strap (seems better than two) and another in braid by the German Bree which ends in the braid as well. I found the belts with Greek alphabet offered by New & Lingwood entrancing - maybe the holes have an ancient significance for a code or whatever?

 

[Equus Leather]



Thanks very much for taking the trouble to reply and for your professional evaluation (which Only Brown didn't offer). I looked at your website and saw that the bottle green is a special colour for your best belt. Since it costs about £150 - do you subtract VAT for orders outside EU? - it will take awhile before I can buy such. What do you mean by on the bench now? Do you mean that this special green edition will be available for awhile?

Not at all, its why we're here!

The bottle green did start as a limited edition colour, but I think I like it enough it will become one we stock permanently. We can happily make our standard belts using it as well as the Lined and Raised, so you could have one for around £40 - £50 if you wished. We are currently VAT exempt, though that won't last for very long so the prices on the website don't include VAT.

By on the (work) bench I mean a belt thats currently being made - excessive jargon on my part! The bottle green belt in question is one of the final pre launch tests of the sterling silver buckle range we're about to launch

Hope this helps,

Charlie

 

[Naive Jr.]

If one invests in a belt, wouldn't it be better to buy the best? If so, what would be the advantages of the experimental = pre launch test (?) belt on your bench you mentioned? What do you think - Would the money spent on that pre launch test be better invested in your best belt?

PS: The New & Lingwood belt with Greek alphabet is no longer advertised on the N&L website. I tried to phone to find out why, but it was busy.

 

[narcissism]

I will repost my question since I would like to order today:

I am almost ready to place an order but have one more question. I think I want to go with the stirrup buckle but the stirrup buckle in the pictures on your website look thicker on the dark brown belt than the stirrup buckle on the london tan belt. Is it just me or all the stirrup buckles the same size or does a larger stirrup buckle come with the 1 1/4 width belt?

 

[Naive Jr.]

May I ask for your professional impression and commentary of this belt, which seems to be Manufaktum's pride and joy:
http://www.manufactum.de/Produkt/189774/1442956/Kreis-Fettlederguertel-Natur.html

PS: I asked Manufaktum why their German and English language websites show so many discrepancies in article description and availability, but I didn't receive an answer. For example, they neglect to advertise the green belt on their English language website - rather strange, if one considers thir claim that the leather is made in England.

 

[Equus Leather]



May I ask for your professional impression and commentary of this belt, which seems to be Manufaktum's pride and joy:
http://www.manufactum.de/Produkt/189774/1442956/Kreis-Fettlederguertel-Natur.html

PS: I asked Manufaktum why their German and English language websites show so many discrepancies in article description and availability, but I didn't receive an answer. For example, they neglect to advertise the green belt on their English language website - rather strange, if one considers thir claim that the leather is made in England.

Its OK if you like that kind of thing I guess. Silver plating is not a good idea IMHO - the plating will be wearing away in a year or two to reveal patches of brass on the corners of the buckle. The belt is machine stitched so as soon as one thread catches it will likely all unravel. Whilst I am not a impartial judge I don't believe its good value for moony given our Lined and Raised uses much more expensive leather and is entirely hand stitched and is no more than 30% more expensive. Not my cup of tea, in short!

 

[narcissism]

My question keeps getting gobbled up by another member. I can't PM you because Styleforum on my iPhone won't let me, but I would like to place the order today. Could you speak to my buckle question?

 

[Louis XIV]

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[Equus Leather]



I will repost my question since I would like to order today:

I am almost ready to place an order but have one more question. I think I want to go with the stirrup buckle but the stirrup buckle in the pictures on your website look thicker on the dark brown belt than the stirrup buckle on the london tan belt. Is it just me or all the stirrup buckles the same size or does a larger stirrup buckle come with the 1 1/4 width belt?

Hi Narcissism,

Sorry, I didn't see your post.

The Stirrup comes in 1" and 1 1/4" sizes, and the buckle is proportionate to the strap, that is the 1 1/4" is longer as well as wider so that the proportions still work. The Burgundy Stirrup used for the photos on our website is in 1" and the London Tan is in 1 1/4. Also all of the stirrups in the photo Ville kindly posted above are 1 1/4" if that helps.

I believe that the 1 1/4 has better proportions than the 1" and I think that is what your picking up from the photos.

I hope this helps,

Charlie

 

[Equus Leather]



If one invests in a belt, wouldn't it be better to buy the best? If so, what would be the advantages of the experimental = pre launch test (?) belt on your bench you mentioned? What do you think - Would the money spent on that pre launch test be better invested in your best belt?

Hi Native,

I just mentioned the pre launch belt in passing. It is destined for my waist and nowhere else! I love Bottle Green and I have reserved the first of the Sterling Silver buckles for my own use on a Bottle Green strap. We'll launch them officially in the next 3 or 4 weeks I'd say.

Charlie

 

[kasakka]



Just to help everyone decide their preferred colours, here is a picture of my Equus collection.

Shades from left to right are (and in real life):
-London tan (very light)
-hazel (regular brown)
-Australian nut (darker brown)
-dark Havanna (near black)
-burgundy (more close to burgundish brown than true burgundy)
-blue (near black in office lighting, dark blue in sunlight)

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I've been wondering, why do some belts have the edges what appears to be black when the rest is a totally different color? The ones in the pic seem to have that too.

 

[Equus Leather]



I've been wondering, why do some belts have the edges what appears to be black when the rest is a totally different color? The ones in the pic seem to have that too.

Hi Kasakka,

Full grain bridle leather belts like our need to have their edges sealed and polished so the raw leather isn't visible and doesn't wear. We feel that an edge dye that is a bit darker than the leather its applied to is a nice visual effect and helps to bring out the highlights of the leather. Given the majority of our leathers are browns black edge stain is the obvious choice. Its interesting to compare the look of the green non Equus belt linked to a few post up with ours that right at the top. To me ours with black edges looks much nicer than the one with brown thats made using the same leather. It is personal preference though I guess.

For completeness, the lighter colours like London Tan get lighter edge dyes that are a shade or so darker than the leather for the reason above.

Charlie

 

[Naive Jr.]

Thank you very much - Charlie from Equus and the member acquainted with the belt manufacturer Kreis - for your quite competent judgments! The theme of belt is new for me and I shall meditate on your replies, which impressed me. Style Forum seems to be quite on the ball, and I am grateful that I can participate here.

 

[kasakka]



Hi Kasakka,

Full grain bridle leather belts like our need to have their edges sealed and polished so the raw leather isn't visible and doesn't wear. We feel that an edge dye that is a bit darker than the leather its applied to is a nice visual effect and helps to bring out the highlights of the leather. Given the majority of our leathers are browns black edge stain is the obvious choice. Its interesting to compare the look of the green non Equus belt linked to a few post up with ours that right at the top. To me ours with black edges looks much nicer than the one with brown thats made using the same leather. It is personal preference though I guess.

For completeness, the lighter colours like London Tan get lighter edge dyes that are a shade or so darker than the leather for the reason above.

Charlie

Thanks for the reply! I feel it works better on the London Tan because it's not such a drastic difference and a complementary color. Personal preference indeed, I think for the browns a dark brown or reddish brown instead of black would be better.