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Made in China - Monarch A-2 repros

thor

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
NYC, NY
Well Gentleman, my "Made-in-China A-2" has arrived. It was securely packaged and nicely packed in a cardboard box, taped up for added safety, and enclosed inside a plastic bag. No signature was required (and no other hidden customs/duty fees encountered); package was left on my doorstep (like most domestic packages dropped off by UPS/FedEx/US Mail).

OK, now on to the good stuff:

Jacket was a gorgeous caramel russet brown (which was advertised as Havana brown on the eBay listing from their website). This reddish-russet brown happens to be my favorite color for A-2's so I was quite pleased. I immediately tried the jacket on and it fit PERFECT! I normally wear a size 44 Long suit and always order my Aero A-2's with an extra inch or so in the sleeve to accomodate my long arms so I was concerned about the sleeves being a bit too short. But I am totally satisfied with the spot-on fit. Sleeves measured out at 27 inches total from shoulder seam to end of cuff so some may find the sleeves a bit too long. In the chest, shoulders and waist, the jacket fit exactly as I like and actually fits better then many of my custom ordered A-2 jackets from the past!

Next to fit, the most important thing about a leather jacket is the leather. This Made-in-China A-2 has very thick yet flexible horsehide. My only complaint in that it is a very smooth hide, almost no graining or jerky spots. The color is even all over. Lucky for me it was raining cats and dogs the day I received the jacket so I threw it on and played outside in the rain for about 10 or 15 minutes. Well, the rain and some flexing molded the jacket to my body perfectly, almost like shrink-wrap! The creases in the arms where I flexed my arms were immediately evident and in that short break-in period the jacket took on a custom molded look (like I spent about 2 weeks in it).

On to the details: the workmanship was surprisingly good. The seams and stitching are all straight and exact. The zipper (while being a Talon clone, marked on the front Talon but on the reverse YKK) was reasonably robust. I have no doubt it will stand up to years of use. The lining is a thicker then original cotton drill cloth/twill fabric that is not a tobacco brown or a reddish brown found in most originals, but closer to a dark mustard brown (slightly darker then Aero).

I had ordered a Monarch A-2 with regular collar but they shipped me a stand-collar Roughwear (still in the caramel Havana brown russet which I wanted). I e-mailed them and they said the Monarch was out of stock til Jan. They would replace it if I wanted to, but I am not a stickler for some spot-on vintage clone A-2 (counting stitches, measuring pockets, looking for stampings on the backs of button snaps). I just wanted a heavy-duty russet horsehide A-2 with the general look and fit of an A-2. That is exactly what I received so I am quite happy with this purchase.

One concern: under the epaulets (the backing strip that doubles the thickness of the epaulette) and on the strip of leather for the zipper pull where you can see the rough-out, unfinished side of the leather, the finish has a reddish brown hue. Maybe they use human blood to drum dye their Havana brown Horsehide in China? :)
Not sure if a reddish undertone will eventually come through in the wear spots as the finish is worn/weathered down. Many times on the high-end correctly dyed/finished horsehide jackets, you see a golden brown color drummed up. I will monitor this and report back.

I will post pictures as soon as the weather breaks. We got rain and now snow flurries here in the U.S. Northeast.

So my humble opinion: the jacket is definitely worth the $360 and the 3 week wait. A perfect bang-around A-2 on par with The Cockpit, U.S. Authentic and Gibson & Barnes (Flightsuits), maybe a tad bit better. Time will tell. Great for someone who wants to sew patches on or paint an authentic looking A-2 but wouldn't dare do it to their prized Goodwear/Aero/Eastman! LOL!

Thanks for tuning in to my summary.
 
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captaincaveman1

A-List Customer
Messages
361
Location
--------------------------------
Great. Glad to hear. Competition is always good for the consumer. Made in China stigma aside, sounds like you got yourself a nice jacket.

BTW, I don't care where something is made so long as the quality is worth it. Most of the amenities of modern life are made there... like your $$$ plasma TV, PC, smartphone, Blu-ray, surround sound, GPS, etc...
 

thor

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
NYC, NY
Well said, Captaincaveman1.

At first I had afew reservations about leather goods manufactured in China...until I realized that the shoes I was weraing on my feet (Danner boots, which USED to be made in the U.S.A.) and a favorite pair of winter gloves both had "Made in China" labels. Not sure if the horsehide itself was sourced from China or if it was imported and the jacket just cut and sewn in China. All I can say is that the quality is there, meticulous detailing and at an affordable price.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
As I type this I'm sitting in an office in Beijing. I'd love to know if I could go and try one of these on locally, though I don't know that I'd buy out here... there is a fairly steep 'luxury tax' applied to some goods in China as far as I can gather, and I know some things that are manufactured here (such as iPods for one) can actually cost more in China than back home as a result. I'll be interested to see pictures of your jacket; as you say, not everyone is looking for an exact replica of a specific contract; in any case, it seems to me a good thing if there is another supplier of a good quality, entry-level A2 that looks much better than the modern equivalent.
 

zwelgbast

New in Town
Messages
18
Location
The Netherlands
I'm sure anxious to see some photo's...

By the way, I'm new on TFL: although I visited the site many times, up till now I did not register and post.

Rgds,


Mathew
 

majormajor

One Too Many
Messages
1,713
Location
UK
How can an A-2 be an A-2 if it's not made in USA? That would have to be something like a Chinese redhead. No offense meant :)

Well, Gary Eastman & Co, down in Devon, England do a pretty good job :D. Us english folks have to wait ages to get them, 'cause half the stock is shipped to the US! :) Here's a quick pic of my latest A2, an Eastman Monarch 23378 in "Warhorse" hide.

Perfect fit, perfect detail. Hide to die for (and, NO, I don't work for Eastmans!) :D Well worth waiting for........

dscf1193k.jpg


PS. I'll take a better pic tomorrow in the daylight.
 
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thor

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
NYC, NY
Hey Matthew,

Well, I am no expert but I have owned alot of HH jackets (from Aero, LW, Eastman, etc). This jacket feels and looks like thick, quality HH, IMHO. I could be wrong of course (it could be Chinese Panda for all I know, LOL!). The website stated it was HH and it looks and handles exactly like a smooth HH Aero A-2 I owned previously. Definitely not goatskin. I have to put a little faith that it is as stated, horsehide.

Guys, have a little patience; I am going to post some pics as soon as I catch the daylight. Indoor photos just don't do leather jackets justice, they always create too much variation in trying to represent the actual color of the leather.

Thanks for all the interest!
 
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442RCT

One of the Regulars
Messages
261
Location
California, USA
Well said, Captaincaveman1.

At first I had afew reservations about leather goods manufactured in China...until I realized that the shoes I was weraing on my feet (Danner boots, which USED to be made in the U.S.A.) and a favorite pair of winter gloves both had "Made in China" labels. Not sure if the horsehide itself was sourced from China or if it was imported and the jacket just cut and sewn in China. All I can say is that the quality is there, meticulous detailing and at an affordable price.

Ralph Lauren A-2 jackets are made in China, and they charge a whole lotta dough for them.:eeek:
 

Atterbury Dodd

One Too Many
Messages
1,061
Location
The South
Well, Gary Eastman & Co, down in Devon, England do a pretty good job :D. Us english folks have to wait ages to get them, 'cause half the stock is shipped to the US! :) Here's a quick pic of my latest A2, an Eastman Monarch 23378 in "Warhorse" hide.

Perfect fit, perfect detail. Hide to die for (and, NO, I don't work for Eastmans!) :D Well worth waiting for........

dscf1193k.jpg


PS. I'll take a better pic tomorrow in the daylight.

That's different. You English did make some private purchase A-2's used by our forces. Granted they were not official A-2's, but they were worn into combat by Americans. ;) Besides.... there are English redheads. I've met a few!
 
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majormajor

One Too Many
Messages
1,713
Location
UK
Here's a better pic of my new Eastman. Monarch Contract 23378
Veg tanned Horse Hide, stitched with correct colour thread. Correct studs. Original NOS Talon zipper. And a perfect fit :D

newfrontf.jpg


Here's a close-up of the hide:

newdetail.jpg
 
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thor

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,009
Location
NYC, NY
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150107553006469&set=a.10150107552371469.316404.556901468http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150107550776469&set=a.59306036468.95392.556901468

Here are a couple of quick pics; sorry for the lame FB link; my PC skills are obviously VERY limited :)

I work as a ferryboat captain and took these pics today (freezing cold/windy day!). The color in the pics is almost exactly true to the caramel-russet shade the jacket is. Working on a boat I am usually in the pilothouse but I do crawl around in the engineroom afew times each day (NOT the place to wear a thousand dollar A-2 masterpiece); I wanted to break in the jacket the old-fashioned way: by simply wearing it everyday, everywhere, in all kinds of weather. So at work or play, I wanted a jacket to use and abuse (hence my choice for a heavyweight, form-fitting yet relatively affordable and accurate A-2).

Yes, some details aren't spot-on but I don't care. It is a work jacket, not a tuxedo :)
 
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