Jason
Active Member
Some time ago, I mused over the differences between an actual issue 88 Saddlery, and a later 'dumbed down' Cooper orange tagged A2.
Here's a quick photo essay with comments. Its interesting to compare that given the same lineage, the two products are quite different.
First of all: the contenders. Saddlery on the left, Cooper on the right.
Immediately visible is the more blousy cut of the Cooper. The leather dye shade is more on the 'seal brown' side of the colour chart too. But what the photos can't convey is the leather weight and 'hand'. From my point of view, the Cooper has a thinner / lighter weight leather, and is softer & more pliable - but not by much.
Lets look at the epaulettes now. This picture probably best depicts the actual colours of the leather too BTW. But also note that the Saddlery has a nice taper, the Cooper is quite straight cut.
Lining & labels next.
The Cooper lining is thinner, less robust, but slightly more comfortable when worn against the skin (I don't often wear long sleeved shirts) and in my opinion has a more pleasing colour. The Saddlery has a slightly rougher texture to its lining, but it definitely feels more robust. As for the labels - not much needs be said.
On to hardware. Lets take a peek at zips... the Saddlery has an Ideal zipper:
Cooper gives you a plain YKK:
And what about throat latches? Saddlery have a nice wide & purposeful latch:
Cooper provides something that, I think, is more just for show. Thinner guage metal & plastic coated. Functional, but only just.
The knits show some marked differences too. Saddlery knits on the left are thicker and have more elastic to them, have more of a grey/purple tint, and as the photo shows, appears to pill a bit more. I'm guessing the Saddlery product uses a little more synthetic contents in their knits. Cooper's knits on the other hand have streched a bit and are loose, and are more brown in colour.
Closeups of the leather, Saddlery:
Cooper:
To me, its pretty easy to see why the Saddlery products (and very similar, if not identical) very early Cooper A2s of the time are far superior and desirable to later 'dumbed down' versions of the Cooper A2.
Here's a quick photo essay with comments. Its interesting to compare that given the same lineage, the two products are quite different.
First of all: the contenders. Saddlery on the left, Cooper on the right.
Immediately visible is the more blousy cut of the Cooper. The leather dye shade is more on the 'seal brown' side of the colour chart too. But what the photos can't convey is the leather weight and 'hand'. From my point of view, the Cooper has a thinner / lighter weight leather, and is softer & more pliable - but not by much.
Lets look at the epaulettes now. This picture probably best depicts the actual colours of the leather too BTW. But also note that the Saddlery has a nice taper, the Cooper is quite straight cut.
Lining & labels next.
The Cooper lining is thinner, less robust, but slightly more comfortable when worn against the skin (I don't often wear long sleeved shirts) and in my opinion has a more pleasing colour. The Saddlery has a slightly rougher texture to its lining, but it definitely feels more robust. As for the labels - not much needs be said.
On to hardware. Lets take a peek at zips... the Saddlery has an Ideal zipper:
Cooper gives you a plain YKK:
And what about throat latches? Saddlery have a nice wide & purposeful latch:
Cooper provides something that, I think, is more just for show. Thinner guage metal & plastic coated. Functional, but only just.
The knits show some marked differences too. Saddlery knits on the left are thicker and have more elastic to them, have more of a grey/purple tint, and as the photo shows, appears to pill a bit more. I'm guessing the Saddlery product uses a little more synthetic contents in their knits. Cooper's knits on the other hand have streched a bit and are loose, and are more brown in colour.
Closeups of the leather, Saddlery:
Cooper:
To me, its pretty easy to see why the Saddlery products (and very similar, if not identical) very early Cooper A2s of the time are far superior and desirable to later 'dumbed down' versions of the Cooper A2.
