The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[Aureliano]

Interesting. I thought that recent Borsalino had glued liners and different crests. I'm not questioning your opinion by any means. I'm no expert on this matter. Wheter it is a vintage or a modern one I don't really care. Of course it is more appealing to say that you own a very old hat. For me what really matters is how I feel wearing the hat. Of course the quality is important and this particular one feels superb. By far the best of my Borsalino. I'm not biased against modern Borsalinos at all. I own a couple and they are quite nice. Any second opinion out there about the age of my hat? do you guys agree with Dreispitz?

 

[Dreispitz]

Interesting. I thought that recent Borsalino had glued liners and different crests. I'm not questioning your opinion by any means. I'm no expert on this matter. Wheter it is a vintage or a modern one I don't really care. Of course it is more appealing to say that you own a very old hat. For me what really matters is how I feel wearing the hat. Of course the quality is important and this particular one feels superb. By far the best of my Borsalino. I'm not biased against modern Borsalinos at all. I own a couple and they are quite nice. Any second opinion out there about the age of my hat? do you guys agree with Dreispitz?

I just went up to the ccpboard and fetched a 2007 or so blue Borsalino.

As you describe:

Soft and thick leather. Compare the quality of the gold printing on the sweatband and lining. No embossing, what so ever, as in older styles. The litle bow! Mine has a glued in lining. As I sayed, yours can well be a decade older.

The felt is fluffy, rather than dense. Holds a shape when not exposed to even light forces. Well, does look nice, though lol





What do you think?

P.S. I have not handeled this hat for about a year, or so. It is very apparent on the first touch, what it is, that makes the difference to a vintage one.

 

[ScottF]

Borso Stingy

If anyone has any thoughts on the age of the brown Borso I posted earlier today, I'd love to hear them. Meanwhile, since we have the modern Borso evaluators present, thoughts on this one? Thanks

ebay Borso stingy

 

[Aureliano]

I just went up to the ccpboard and fetched a 2007 or so blue Borsalino.

As you describe:

Soft and thick leather. Compare the quality of the gold printing on the sweatband and lining. No embossing, what so ever, as in older styles. The litle bow! Mine has a glued in lining. As I sayed, yours can well be a decade older.

The felt is fluffy, rather than dense. Holds a shape when not exposed to even light forces. Well, does look nice, though lol

[What do you think?

P.S. I have not handeled this hat for about a year, or so. It is very apparent on the first touch, what it is, that makes the difference to a vintage one.

The width of the leathers does look similar though mine has the "grand prix-paris 1900" under Borsalino. Don't know if that could indicate a date/time period[huh] . Mine does not have the gold logo in the bow either, somebody told me when the company started stamping it on bows but can't remember now. Besides the sweat and liner, what makes me wonder about the age is the quality of the felt. It feels dense (wonder if this is the right word) very similar to my Stetson Whippet but fuzzier... I shaped it with steam and it took the rebash pretty well. It had a center dent that didn't look good.

 

[Dreispitz]

No idea on age - I bought this from a guy in France. Something about that Montmartre sweat stamp that I couldn't resist. The felt is the nicest of any Borsalino I've owned. It's also my favorite hat that I rarely wear:

Spontaneously, I´d say 30ies to 40ies. In some aspects similar to the Bulgarian ones in previous posts. Anything to see under the sweatband?

 

[ScottF]

Spontaneously, I´d say 30ies to 40ies. In some aspects similar to the Bulgarian ones in previous posts. Anything to see under the sweatband?

Thanks. There's a 1" red oval tag on the felt that says: "Qualita Exportazione". Also, the typical long rectangular tag with typewritten: 4A215 35040 C, 6 below right, and below: "Amarena Driaban" in caps

 

[rlk]

Looks rather recent to me. I´d say, sometime nineties. The sweatband is not as broad, as the pre 1986 ones.

The hats that have the Made in Italy over the Antica Casa
rather than the english translation Original House are made after the factory move. Look under the sweatbandfor the white sticker which has a date.

 

[Aureliano]

The hats that have the Made in Italy over the Antica Casa
rather than the english translation Original House are made after the factory move. Look under the sweatbandfor the white sticker which has a date.

As I said on my original post, there aren't any stickers under the liner or the the sweat. [huh]

 

[rlk]

They hide it up under the edge of the liner near the sweat base on the side opposite the Borsalino logo. Here's a 1994 Como.

 

[Aureliano]

Trust me me man. I looked all over. The other Borsalino I own have one just like yours (or the older looking ones) but this one doesn't have any. As I mention to Dreispitz, there is a small rectangular discoloration under the liner with sings of light stitching. I assume the tag used to be there at some point.[huh]

PS:
How do you read the date on that kind of tag anyway? is it the 110504 number supposed to be read as 11/05/2004?

 

[Dreispitz]

They hide it up under the edge of the liner near the sweat base on the side opposite the Borsalino logo.

These critters! Play hide and seek, ehy! :icon_smil :whip:

 

[Aureliano]

Bump.

I bought this Borsalino from a friend who was selling some of the clothes of his dead great and grandparents. I need help dating it.
The hat is my first fuzzy one, not too much but definitely fuzzier than any other I own. The felt is dense yet not stiff at all. The liner, according to my friend, is not satin but silk. I'm not positive about this detail (got to ask wife when she comes back) but it feels way different from any other liner in the rest of my Borsalinos. It is also sewn, not glued. I couldn't find any tag under it but there is a spot showing a small rectangular discoloration where, I assume, it might have been placed at some point. No size tag either, but it fits me only slightly tight. I'm a 7 1/8. A bit of steam and the hat jack will do the job, I think.
The leather sweat band is in great shape (softest leather I've ever felt in a sweat band!), except for the part under the little white bow which seems to be split (I'm thinking I might be able to stitch it back.) The brim is a little over 2 1/2 inches and has some interesting stitching along the outside edge.
I find it interesting it has stamped what it is made of. The name of it is "continental"
Here are the shots, after I spent a lot of time brushing off a mountain of dust. Hope you can help.

 

[Mario]

Long hair Borso

I just got this from the 'Bay: Long hair Borsalino with a color that's rather hard to describe, due to the amazing irridescent effect of the incredibly fluffy felt...

The hat is a 6 7/8 size. The brim is pretty stingy with 1 7/8" while the crown is comparatively tall with 4 3/4" in its creased state (5 1/2" open crown). The felt is really something special. It's a long hair finish, so it is wonderfully soft to the touch. The color is...well, rather hard to tell. It changes from a medium gray to some sort of taupe, depending on the lighting situation and the direction the light comes from.

The hat seems to be rather new, even though I wouldn't dare to try and date it. The sweat is black and the snow-white liner is completely free of any stains. It looke like it was rarely worn, if ever.

 

[billysmom]

I just got this from the 'Bay: Long hair Borsalino with a color that's rather hard to describe, due to the amazing irridescent effect of the incredibly fluffy felt...

The hat is a 6 7/8 size. The brim is pretty stingy with 1 7/8" while the crown is comparatively tall with 4 3/4" in its creased state (5 1/2" open crown). The felt is really something special. It's a long hair finish, so it is wonderfully soft to the touch. The color is...well, rather hard to tell. It changes from a medium gray to some sort of taupe, depending on the lighting situation and the direction the light comes from.

The hat seems to be rather new, even though I wouldn't dare to try and date it. The sweat is black and the snow-white liner is complety free of any stains. It looke like it was rarely worn, if ever.

Just beautiful, Mario. That color's amazing and I'll bet it feels silky to the touch.

From what I've read here the "Original House" stamp would put it pre-takeover, so before 1986.

Sue

 

[Mario]

Well...just an hour ago, I was sitting in the park and caught myself actually stroking the felt...

 

[jonbuilder]

The hats that have the Made in Italy over the Antica Casa
rather than the english translation Original House are made after the factory move. Look under the sweatbandfor the white sticker which has a date.

How do you identify weather a Borsalino was made for the US of European market? As mentioned in early posts the Original House rule does not apply to non-US market hats

 

[ScottF]

How do you identify weather a Borsalino was made for the US of European market? As mentioned in early posts the Original House rule does not apply to non-US market hats

The brown one I posted above was sold in France and has a tag indicated it was made for export.

I know, it's gotten lost in all the quoted photos of the '70s one being discussed yesterday, but I'm hoping someone will take a look at it and give me some feedback. Thanks.

 

[mayserwegener]

I just got this from the 'Bay: Long hair Borsalino with a color that's rather hard to describe, due to the amazing irridescent effect of the incredibly fluffy felt...

The hat is a 6 7/8 size. The brim is pretty stingy with 1 7/8" while the crown is comparatively tall with 4 3/4" in its creased state (5 1/2" open crown). The felt is really something special. It's a long hair finish, so it is wonderfully soft to the touch. The color is...well, rather hard to tell. It changes from a medium gray to some sort of taupe, depending on the lighting situation and the direction the light comes from.

The hat seems to be rather new, even though I wouldn't dare to try and date it. The sweat is black and the snow-white liner is completely free of any stains. It looke like it was rarely worn, if ever.

Super nice felt finish and look.

It should have the label that RLK showed a couple of posts back.

In above RLK sample 94XXXXXXX the production year is 1994.

 

[Mario]

Super nice felt finish and look.

It should have the label that RLK showed a couple of posts back.

In above RLK sample 94XXXXXXX the production year is 1994.

In that case the hat was manufactured in 1969 (just like me! ), which correlates to another, handwritten label I just now found hidden behind the liner. The first few digits are hardly legible, but it reads something like xx/xx/69, so I take this to be the date of manufacture.

BTW: I really wouldn't mind finding one like this with a wider (say, 2 3/4") brim...

 

[rlk]

Thanks. There's a 1" red oval tag on the felt that says: "Qualita Exportazione". Also, the typical long rectangular tag with typewritten: 4A215 35040 C, 6 below right, and below: "Amarena Driaban" in caps

Many similarities to the 1930's-early 1940's. Most of the Bulgarian Zlateff hats have the number beginning 38---. I might speculate that yours is just a bit earlier in production date. So, if you buy my theory of the pre-War origin putting those hats probably 1940-41 production, than yours might be the end of the 1930's. Just a educated(maybe) guess.