Looking for Montecristi panama hat advice.

[Cat In The Hat]

I'm looking to buy a Montecristi panama hat and would like any info and advice from your personal experiences. Where did you buy from and were you pleased with your experience? I'm looking to spend about $400 tops.

Any advice or thoughts?

 

[cookie]

PanamaBob on this forum.

 

[scotrace]

Please try the search feature. The exact information you are looking for is here in many of the threads.

 

[HungaryTom]

Biased opinion of a repeat Panama Hatworks of Montecristi customer

Dear Cat in the Hat,

Seller:
Appellation control of Montecristi is not existent. Both established Ecuadorian and European hat companies seem to label and sell non-Montecristi hats as a Montecristi. - PanamaBob operates directly in Montecristi and in the weaver villages (Pile, Pampas etc.) where the 'Montecristi' hats are woven.


Hat body:
With Montecristi the nicely woven hat body is the most important thing. Just like with fine arts: one should spend the money for the painting and not the frame or the fame of the gallery. My hat bodies purchased form Bob are very fine.

Block:
The other important thing: Bob co-operates with a multitude of hatters: Homero Ortega factory and local hatters in Ecuador and US Master Hatters: Art Fawcett, Gus Miller and Gary White. This means there are hundreds of blocks at each master hatter. So you can get your hat hand-blocked in any style. The two hats you see on the photo were blocked by Art Fawcett and Gary White respectively..

Delivery time:
The Montecristi hats must be ordered and woven, the finer the weave the longer the wait. Also: competitors often snap away nice hat bodies. Weavers are dirt poor and the market seems to be quite chaotic in Ecuador. You must be patient and trust Bob - he will deliver. The hat on the left took 10 months - the first specimen was 'out-contracted' by Brent Black so the works had to begin again. The other hat on the right took just a month - it was in PanamaBobs hands so I had just to wait for the ready hat body to be blocked and sent to Hungary.


Price/Value:
I bought two very fine Montecristi hats from Robert Weber aka PanamaBob he sold them still in the hundred dollars range. PanamaBob gives very good price value ratio.

400 USD will bring you a high quality (finely woven high weavecount) Montecristi hat. The wait is really worth.

Warning: Be aware - the Montecristi are highly addictive!

I am biased - with my two PanamaBob Montecristi I can not be neutral:

 

[duggap]

Most of us have found Panama Bob to be the man to go to for a Panama. He also gives you the option of who blocks and finishes the hat for you. His prices are reasonble and the service is slow, but then the hat must be made, then shipped form Equator and then sent off to be finished, unless you get one finished in Equator. But this way you know you are dealing with someone who is honest.

 

[Cat In The Hat]

Thanks, all, for your input. I think I'll be going with Panama Bob.