-
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
new ELC roughwear 27752!
- Thread starter Damien
- Start date
At the moment I am breaking in the Cable and enjoying the GW '39 Werber and can't justify another A2. The RW is appealing but I have owned several originals from this contract, plus an older ELC RW and two older GWs from this contract so I'm also cautious about splashing out at this time. All these RWs had issues either in terms of the fit or the leather. I need to recoup some of the unexpected costs incurred getting home from Rome as I don't think insurance will cover much. I will look at the jacket in July and make up my mind then. The price may even drop if sales are sluggish!
Yes Alan Rome was a fantastic place to visit and it afforded a great opportunity to get plenty of wear out of my Werber.
Yes Alan Rome was a fantastic place to visit and it afforded a great opportunity to get plenty of wear out of my Werber.
269sqnhudson
Active Member
I think the price can be criticised without seeing it. I worry about Eastman's price policies. I worry that they look at Goodwear and think 'if he gets 650 why can't we?' They release a great looking Cable at an unprecedented 475 and a few weeks later BANG, there's your 650. What next month? A 1500 quid Bronco? The RW looks good but not THAT good and I don't think just because Goodwear do it it's ok. 650 is getting into stupid Gucci handbag territory.
Now you mention a Bronco would be a jacket they could make. It's a popular brand and could do well for them. It would be nice to see ELC expanding their range of original maker A2s as well as just re-launching existing contracts. As far as I know John Chapman offers to widest range of original maker A2s and he is a one man operation yet ELC where several people make the jackets has a limited number of A2s. The last completely new A2 they made was the 1933 Werber and that was before Good Wear appeared as a maker. In the last few years John Chapman has produced excellent repros of lmost A2 contracts. Nevertheless ELC could produce a 1937 H.L.B. Corp A2 or a Cooper for example.
269sqnhudson said:
I doubt very much it has anything to do with GW prices, maybe the clue is in the source of this new hide (Italy) and the poor GBP in the markets otherwise the newly launched Cable would have been dearer too. It does seem 'trendy' to bash Eastman and rave about GW's ad finitum; as I have already said and Andrew too, let's reserve opinions until we actually see an example and not get too judgemental!
John Lever
Moderator
From Gary -
Hello John,
Yes, I've seen the Japanese hide, but this is from a completely different source and one that we've developed ourselves.
The price is more than what people are used to seeing our A-2s for, but this is a reflection of the cost of producing it. If you compare our prices for this product against others (such as GW), we are actually no more expensive - with all the costs of running a factory I would say there is no doubt our margins are still much less
Hopefully our customers will do the price comparisons, and after seeing the product will conclude it is very good value.
Glad you like the cuttings John. As I said, this leather is very consistent i.e. what you see on the website and in those cuttings is what you will get; the broken grain texture is prevalent on on every skin to a good degree. Hopefully you can see from that sample how organic that leather is - it's not pickled with loads of chemicals trying to artificially achieve a vintage look and handle - it really is traditional old school leather that is 100% veg-tanned.
Hello John,
Yes, I've seen the Japanese hide, but this is from a completely different source and one that we've developed ourselves.
The price is more than what people are used to seeing our A-2s for, but this is a reflection of the cost of producing it. If you compare our prices for this product against others (such as GW), we are actually no more expensive - with all the costs of running a factory I would say there is no doubt our margins are still much less
Hopefully our customers will do the price comparisons, and after seeing the product will conclude it is very good value.Glad you like the cuttings John. As I said, this leather is very consistent i.e. what you see on the website and in those cuttings is what you will get; the broken grain texture is prevalent on on every skin to a good degree. Hopefully you can see from that sample how organic that leather is - it's not pickled with loads of chemicals trying to artificially achieve a vintage look and handle - it really is traditional old school leather that is 100% veg-tanned.
269sqnhudson
Active Member
havocpaul said:
Oh don't get me wrong I LOVE Eastman jackets, I've had quite a few and so far no Goodwears. I'm just disappointed that they have to relaunch at such a high price.
Andrew, that's a goood point you touched on about the Bronco ( I walked into that one) and new jacket styles at higher prices would be reasonable but they should keep a level head and keep the existing range affordable.
unclegrumpy
Well-Known Member
What I think is most interesting when one starts to look at the rising cost of an accurate reproduction is there is a price point where a larger scale producer could jump in and blow up the market with something comparable, but at a third the price.269sqnhudson said:
The large scale producer's main problems have always been the lack of attention to detail, maintaining decent build quality and spending the extra money for better quality materials, but these are all things that could be overcome with a higher ending price point.
A-2's were not originally custom made in one man or tiny boutique shops, but rather in mid to large sized apparel Companies factories. Wartime contracts were massed produced using increasingly less skilled labor and poorer quality materials, so there is a further possibility of increased accuracy with the higher production levels.
Demand is the other side of the coin, and if someone lurking out there senses the market is greater than a very few insane nut cases, then something could happen.
Over the last 25 years, attention to detail and accuracy have greatly improved in the lower end of the reproduction market. If someone started focusing on putting the better quality materials into the product in the first place, things could get very interesting.... especially so for those demanding increasingly premium prices.
Who knows, maybe one day when you buy the wife that nice fake Gucci handbag from a back alley shop, you will be able to grab yourself a nice "fake" RW as well.
269sqnhudson
Active Member
269sqnhudson said:
Oh what have I done?!
I've only gone and changed my Cable order for a new Roughwear! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Boozy lunch and a quick phone call. I'm full of self loathing :twisted:
Should be here a week Monday
John Lever
Moderator
I was told three weeks
269sqnhudson
Active Member
John Lever said:
It's what Rob guessed off the top of his head. I'm sure yours will arrive first. He said they had a 'few' orders being made up and they're all being cut after the weekend and made up Wednesday - Friday.
I ordered a 46 btw, a size up from my Star. I had a 1401 a couple of years back and it was a lot tighter than the Star. Hope I've got it right.
269sqnhudson
Active Member
Just spoke to them again to double check about the cut of the new 27752.
Rob says it's slightly trimmer than previous Roughwears. He concurred with my assumption that I should size up from my 44 Star.
Also, and this is funny, he said they were getting worried as they hadn't had much interest.....then they sold 4 this afternoon. He thought it was people getting overexcited on a Friday!
Rob says it's slightly trimmer than previous Roughwears. He concurred with my assumption that I should size up from my 44 Star.
Also, and this is funny, he said they were getting worried as they hadn't had much interest.....then they sold 4 this afternoon. He thought it was people getting overexcited on a Friday!
deeb7 said:Roughwear said:
With Aero making it already, I don't think it would even be on their to do list.
As far as I know John Chapman offers to widest range of original maker A2s and he is a one man operation ...
Nah, it's RMNZ/The Few .... I counted.
David, you may need to check your figures. I have counted 16 original maker A2s from Good Wear, 9 currently from the Few (not counting A2s without an original contract label) and for RMNZ, 4 A2s on their website.
