The wizard works his magic once again...

[Kennyz]

Happy Birthday, and congratulations - what a gorgeous jacket!

Ken

 

[coolhandluke]

Thank you gentlemen for the kind words and the birthday wishes. It's been a rough last week and a half, but Dave's jacket and all of your kind words have been very uplifting.

 

[coolhandluke]

Here are a few additional photos as promised...

 

[JonnyCrow]

Just received this gorgeous Monarch AN-J-3A from Dave today, on my 41st birthday. The jacket is patterned from John Z. Colt's size 40 Monarch and marks my first custom order. The new seal goatskin that Dave used is incredibly soft and easy wearing straight out of the box. The grain, color, and thickness are all very reminiscent of a 1958 contract LW Foster that I previously owned.

I'll let the following photos speak for themselves. I'll take a few more detailed photos of the zipper, label, stencil, etc as soon as I have the opportunity to do so.

Thank you @Maverickson. The jacket is an absolute work of art and looks as if it could have come out of a time capsule from 1943.

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Beautiful jacket

 

[Mark Hutchins]

Just received this gorgeous Monarch AN-J-3A from Dave today, on my 41st birthday. The jacket is patterned from John Z. Colt's size 40 Monarch and marks my first custom order. The new seal goatskin that Dave used is incredibly soft and easy wearing straight out of the box. The grain, color, and thickness are all very reminiscent of a 1958 contract LW Foster that I previously owned.

I'll let the following photos speak for themselves. I'll take a few more detailed photos of the zipper, label, stencil, etc as soon as I have the opportunity to do so.

Thank you @Maverickson. The jacket is an absolute work of art and looks as if it could have come out of a time capsule from 1943.

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Why are the knits reddish? Specs call for knits to be the same color as the jacket!

 

[mulceber]

Eh, jackets occasionally deviated from that particular spec:

Honestly, deviation from specifications was perfectly normal, especially when it came to things like color. IIRC, the specs for the M-422A call for them to have brown lining, and yet tons of them had salmon-colored lining.

I'd also point out that it looks like Lucas' photos are very saturated, so the knits likely aren't QUITE that purple in person.

 

[coolhandluke]

Eh, jackets occasionally deviated from that particular spec:
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Honestly, deviation from specifications was perfectly normal, especially when it came to things like color. IIRC, the specs for the M-422A call for them to have brown lining, and yet tons of them had salmon-colored lining.

I'd also point out that it looks like Lucas' photos are very saturated, so the knits likely aren't QUITE that purple in person.

Correct Jan. They're typical cell phone photos that aren't 100% accurate on the color representation. The photo (in the chair) shown below is more representative of the actual color of the knits, hide, and mutton.

Based on the second photo, it does appear that Dave may have changed the supplier of his knits, but he hasn't verified that. I honestly do prefer the darker purple/ burgundy knits on the original jacket, but I'm not sure if Dave has a source for those any longer. That being said, the knits that are on it are a dead match to the thread color and compliment the stitching very nicely.

 

[Grant]

That's friggin amazing. Dave slayed it on that Monarch!

 

[Silver Surfer]

My 1951 star g-1 has reddish (like an aero) original knit elements. My thought about the reddish knits is that there were batches that were purple-brown, and they reacted to sun light to turn red. Either that or that is the original color. There are color pix floating around the web that show some g-1s with the red knits.

 

[blackrat2]

Superb jacket
Happy Birthday, wear it in good health

 

[Nickb123]

There are images of an original AN-J-3 in horsehide w/rust knits! Saw it some time ago but never archived the link.

 

[Nickb123]

Not quite rust, but they existed.

 

[coolhandluke]

There are images of an original AN-J-3 in horsehide w/rust knits! Saw it some time ago but never archived the link.

One of the reasons that I chose Dave's Monarch AN-J-3A was due to the burgundy/ purple knits and stitching. He's probably handled more Monarch jackets than anyone still living, so I'll trust his word that the knit color is historically accurate. Like you and Jan have both noted, there's plenty of variance from the specifications that were set forth.

If someone proves that the knit color is historically inaccurate and incorrect, I'm sure Dave has a set of boring brown knits that we can throw on there instead.

 

[B-Man2]

My monies on Dave in the accuracy department. The man has researched almost every jacket that he makes through the National Archives and has copies of original specs of USN jackets out the wazoo. So I’d wear the jacket with confidence .

 

[mulceber]

Not quite rust, but they existed.

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@Nickb123 check post #26 in this thread.

 

[Nickb123]

@Nickb123 check post #26 in this thread.

I remember another one, with bright red rust knits! I’ll try and locate it. Almost red. Redder than that photograph, though it could have been the lighting. Knocked my socks off when I saw it.

 

[mulceber]

Ah, understood! I'd be interested in seeing it if you find it.

 

[Nickb123]

Ah, understood! I'd be interested in seeing it if you find it.

Found it!

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/willis-geiger-an-j-3a-in-horsehide-and-red-knits.17906/

 

[mulceber]

Another one:

 

[coolhandluke]

Found it!

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/willis-geiger-an-j-3a-in-horsehide-and-red-knits.17906/

Dave actually offers that exact jacket in HH...