Diamond Dave/Diamond Clothing Co. Cable A-2 42-10008-P

[Juanito]

Today, I picked up my Diamond Dave/Diamond Clothing Co. Cable A-2 in size 46. I'll post a few photos as a teaser and then write a full review tomorrow as time allows. These are the photos Diamond Dave sent me. I'll post my own shortly.

Here were my requirements:
1) Cannot be goatskin (the pebbly finish is just not my thing), but I didn't care whether it was steerhide or horsehide--I gave up caring about that a while ago. I can't tell the difference, can you?
2) Must be true to the Cable pattern--no "customization" or tailoring, or artificial aging. The jacket needed to be "off the peg."

I had an original Cable, size 42, about 20 years ago and it fit me like it was tailored for me. I was looking for that, although I have admittedly put on about 20 pounds since then and I wanted to err on the larger end as I tend to wear a sweatshirt under my jackets.

We talked a couple of times about what I was looking for, sent him my measurements, and less than 2 weeks later I had the jacket--UNBELIEVABLE SERVICE!

 

[foster]

Enjoy! Looks like a lovely jacket.

 

[DG567]

Looks great! You won't be disappointed, trust me.

 

[Marv]

what a fantastic looking jacket and will all that superb creasing its got to be steer hide, looking forward to reading your review and further pics.

 

[Roughwear]

I agree with Paul. A truly fantastic jacket. Although this contract was made predominantly from goatskin, I have seen one made from either horsehide or cowhide.

 

[Nickb123]

That's truly beautiful.

 

[bseal]

Sharp!

 

[Silver Surfer]

i have an original 10008-p made of hh or ch. until i owned it, i did not know that they were made of anything other than goat.

 

[Roughwear]

That's the one I was thinking of Vic.

 

[Juanito]

The review...please ask any questions about anyting I may have overlooked or glossed over.

Workmanship is first rate. Thread count similar other premium jackets, thread appears to be cotton and of the correct weight. Seams are dead straight, spacing is even on every seam, and it is as good as any reproduction jacket I have seen, and far better than original A-2s.

The cut is as expected. I had an original Cable in the mid-1990’s a size 42, so I can only speculate on a jacket two sizes larger, but I would guess but it fits similarly in that it is comfortable and a little wider in the chest with roomier arm holes than an Aero, Perry, or Bronco of a similar size.

Knits are accurate and the cloth parts of the jacket are exactly as one would see on an original Cable jacket; very plain and understated in color or contrast.

The zipper is a Waldes. I don’t know anything about them, but it is brass, has a cotton tape and works well and has a vintage appearance. The photo by Diamond Dave would lead one to believe it is shiny—it is not and is about the same color, perhaps a little lighter than a brass Scoville.

The snaps are Rau ring snaps, exactly like the originals. Collar clip has a raised section. I do not remember if my original had the same clip with the raised center section.

The leather: The leather is chrome tanned, aniline finished, steerhide in a color DD lists as russet. The overall weight/thickness of the leather varies in different areas but overall it seems to be just a hair heavier than my originals or my Goodwear horsehide jackets—PERFECT. Personally, I like a little more heft.

We discussed leather at length and Dave sent photos of my three choices; the russet used here, a similar chrome tanned, aniline finished mid-brown, and a veg tanned, semi-aniline finished horsehide in seal brown (the darkest). It is reported in several places that this contract of Cable was mostly, if not all goatskin, but I can definitively state that my original Cable 10008-P was not goatskin, but rather a very smooth hide and not particularly dense. Horse or steer, I don’t know. Further, I realize that jacket was over 50 years old by the time I got it in 1995 or so, but of all the A-2s I have owned, the Cable was the only one that had what I assume was an aniline finish and wore off like you would see on an older Eastman jacket. The finish on my original Cable was literally about 90% gone and the exposed bare leather was a very light color, almost white. Additionally, where the finish was still present (inside the pockets, under the collar, etc. it was very light in color, almost like caramel and nearly identical to the light russet my Goodwear Monarch is made from.

Where am I going with all of this? One of my primary disatifactions with modern day replicas is with the finish of the leather when compared to my originals. Now, I am no expert but I have owned about 25 originals looked at dozens more over the past 30 years and except for the Cable, all have had a finish that I would assume is semi-aniline in that it is nearly impermeable when new (jusging by the inside of pockets under collars, the sleeves under the liner, etc.) and more similar to my Goodwear dull russet, semi-aniline, LW Dubow jacket, or even an Avirex than my Eastman, veg tanned horsehide jacket for example, which was a sponge when wet and where the finish basically fell off.

In any case, I am not sure what to say about the leather. Now I no way do I want that to imply this negatively. The color is rich and beautiful; and as one poster observed, the texture and creasing are magnificent. DD makes the “combat clone” finish, and I would guess this is the type of leather he uses for that. It appears if will “wear in” quite quickly. The actual finish on the jacket is very, very thin, to the point where it has been worked at all (collar, windflap, and pocket edges), the finish has is only about 50% left after tucking and sewing. The finish across the jacket almost appears like antique finish paint, where it has a cracked appearance when new when it dries. There are several places where the creasing clearly shows the leather underneath. I have tried to show some photos of this by the camera or lighting does not illustrate this well. I would guess that after a few weeks or a month of wearing, the jacket will have a well broken look it took that it took my LW Dubow 10 years to develop.











From a fashionista perspective, the leather is simply stunning. Judging it against an original as a accurate reproduction, the finish comes up short IMHO when comparing leather finish to an original (at least the ones I have handled, except for the Cable) or something like the Goodwear dull russt semi-aniline or the pigment finished leather. That said, I was trying to replicate the original Cable I had and I think this leather will wear just as it did. In other words, I got exactly what I was looking for, for this particular jacket, for this particular use.

I am extremely pleased will all aspects of this. Dave was more than pleasurable to work with, the fit is good, the turn time of a little more than a week and a half was just about half of what was expected (3 weeks), and the workmanship is beyond first rate and as good as anything out there—and I am literally looking at it right now next to a Goodwear 1401 Werber in Shinki Horse, a Goodwear USL in the dull russet semi-aniline, the Goodwear Monarch in light russet aniline HH, and Eastman Roughwear in "War Horse", and four originals; a Roughwear, Perry, Knopf and a Pougheepsie.

It looks like I got what I was looking for as a new “go to” jacket to replace my heavily worn, 20 year old, LW Dubow jacket. I’ll be ordering an ACME (Aero) after we discuss leather options (either the dark seal semi-aniline horsehide or perhaps Dave can get some of JC’s dull russet horsehide). I’d recommend Dave and the jackets to anyone based on quality and service alone, and rate then as a #1 choice, particularly if you are going for the “broken-in” look quickly.

 

[Anonymous]

That particular leather takes Horsemans' "one step" very well to loosen up the leather. I wipe them down a couple of times with a damp sponge then switch to bick 4 . After a couple of coats of bick 4 I buff it very good with a good clean shoe brush, I use yak hair brushes made by Redecker in Germany. You can buy a used horsehair one and clean it like brand new with spray nine.

The friction from the brushing heats the leather and hastens the break in period greatly. It also leaves a very nice satin sheen on the surface.

I have done this to several high end jackets (800 to 1250 GBP cost) and it works better than any other process I have ever seen, read about, or tried. Unlike some of the other methods this will never hurt or distort the leather in any way.