Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

What kind of Montecristi do you like and what would it be worth ?

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
I'll have to check mine out tonight, but at this point I can answer those two questions thusly: Beat up, and not much.lol
Ooops! You said what do I like, not what do I have. Actually, I like what I have.
 

duggap

Banned
Messages
938
Location
Chattanooga, TN
I had mine blocked in the "Bogey" style. I bought it from Panama Bob and Art Fawcett did the finishing. My brim is exactly 3 inches wide. Now that I have been wearing it a few weeks I kind of feel like I would have preferred the brim a tad smaller, maybe 1/2 or 1/4. As to what the hat is worth, it has about 500 weaves per square inch. It was around $300 for the hat. I do love Montecristi hats though. :D
 

Bud-n-Texas

Practically Family
Messages
975
Location
Central Texas (H.O.T.)
I have several Cuenca's from Panama Bob and enjoy every one of them. I would like a Montecristi but have yet to find the pocket change for a really nice one. A fine weave in a c-crown with at least a 2 3/4" brim would be nice.
 

duggap

Banned
Messages
938
Location
Chattanooga, TN
I agree with you Bud, a nice C crown would be nice. I don't think I will get one as good as I got before. I have started saving my money for another Art Fawcett original. As to getting a really nice one, there can be a down side as the finer the weave the less the hat breathes and the hotter it would be. Also, the finer they weave the thinner is the brim and more subject to drooping. So it kinda of becomes a trade off.[huh]
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
monticristicuenecapanamas.jpg


Both of my hats are low weaves and I enjoy them very much. They are like wearing nothing, air seeps right through them (I think they're something like 130's). They're stylish, functional and cool in the heat.

I think the brim on the left is 2 1/4 and the right is 2 3/4. I'll have to bust out the measuring tape to make sure.

I like C crowns on most hats, although I don't own many.
 
Messages
10,940
Location
My mother's basement
I'm fairly confident that it's a real McCoy, but I don't know for sure as I'm no expert on such matters and it was purchased (cheap, I might add) from a person who knows even less than I do and the cartouche is illegible. But it's a beaut and it fits like it was made for me.

IMGP0594.jpg


And it well may be an antique, which makes it all the better, as far as I'm concerned.
 

SHARPETOYS

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,425
Location
Titusville, Florida
Panamabob of course Montecristi

I would like one with 800 to 1000 wpsi blocked by Art Fawcett on his Vintage Bogey block... Like this one here...I love this Montecristi...

roger.JPG
 

warbird

One Too Many
Messages
1,171
Location
Northern Virginia
SHARPETOYS said:
I would like one with 800 to 1000 wpsi blocked by Art Fawcett on his Vintage Bogey block... Like this one here...I love this Montecristi...

roger.JPG

Yeah that is a great look. Mine is the Havana, which I like. But, I like the taller crown of the Bogey. Very nice hat.
 

Fletch

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,865
Location
Iowa - The Land That Stuff Forgot
I would like a Montecristi sandwich. They go for about $8.95 around here.
2404001075_monte-cristo-sandwiches-recipe.jpg


Oh, that's right...a Montecristo is the sandwich. This is hats.

I'd like a moderately priced one I won't be too leery to actually wear. Tallish crown (not too much taper please). 2 1/2"-2 3/4" brim. Sorta like tonyb's, except with a band in any color other than the ubiquitous friggn black.

Or maybe an optimo.

Can I have the hat and a sammich?
 

J.T.Marcus

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,354
Location
Mineola, Texas
I have a dark brown Montecristi FELT. That's right. Their web site lists the price at $600. Mine came from a local thrift store for $15! The brim was too wide for my taste, so I cut it down to 2 5/8. (I imagine if you bought a new one, the company would do this for you.) It is now my favorite hat. I'd post some pics, but everybody knows what a brown Indy looks like.
 

carter

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,921
Location
Corsicana, TX
Tony B, NICE HAT! Any idea of it's age? Looks much better than ones that are bleached to white or nearly white. Personal preference.
 

johnnycanuck

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,008
Location
Alberta
Just got my second PanamaBob hat in the mail today. My first one, I have been wearing for the last few weeks is a Montecristi 500+WPSI Optimo blocked and finished in Ecuador. My second hat I got today is a Montecristi 300+WPSI Cuencano blocked and finished in Ecuador. I also have a Biltmore panama from last year, but compared to the PanamaBob‘s hats, it is really not worth taking about.

Now I got warned that the Ecuador finished hats were not going to be very good and if I wanted a really sharp looking lid I needed to get the USA finishing. Just thought I would point that out right now.

The Optimo is a great looking hat. The block is pretty nice. I like the sweat band, I find it comfortable. The thread count is very fine, at last finer then I was expecting. A very light hat. I hardly recognize I have it on when wearing it. The negatives are the ribbon does not sit on the hat quite right - I was warned about that (Ecuador finish). The brim needed manhandling to sit right, I am a 7 3/8 long oval, I got a 7 ¬?, so elongating out, the brim went wonky, slightly expected. The one thing that go me the most was how floppy the hat is. A slight gust of wind and the brim is flat on my face. This would bother me if it wasn‚Äôt for the fact I am sending it off to Art to be relocked this winter. If not, I would risk it and use some hat stiffener myself.

The Cuencano is not nearly as fine of a hat as the Optimo but is up there. The block looks fine. The ribbon sits on it correctly. I don’t think I will send it anywhere for any work. The sweat band is the same so I like it. It weighs about the same as a Tilley hat. The brim did not need any adjustments and is stiffer (can stand up to a breeze) and just feels like a more substantial hat. Keep in mind I have only been wearing it for a day.

Hope that helps with a bit of the comparison you were looking for.

Johnny
 
Messages
10,940
Location
My mother's basement
bncarter said:
Tony B, NICE HAT! Any idea of it's age? Looks much better than ones that are bleached to white or nearly white. Personal preference.

Thanks, bn. I don't know with any certainty how old it is, but I can say that the cartouche (that stamp on the interior of the crown) is illegible, which might well be attributable to age. And it has a nice, warm patina that I doubt it had when it was last in Ecuador. And the sweatband is a quality leather and has the original owner's name (not just his initials) embossed in gold on it. So, I dunno, perhaps a real expert here could set me straight on that patina business.
 

Panamabob

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,012
Location
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Tony B, NICE HAT! Any idea of it's age? Looks much better than ones that are bleached to white or nearly white. Personal preference.

The Cuenca hats are white when taken out of the bleaching process, but they will age darker.

The Montecristis are the off-white tanny-beigy color when they come out of the sulphur box, but they darken in a number of years to a nice golden brown.
 

DOUGLAS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,777
Location
NYC
HUMMMM

I think I would like a Montecristi in a Homburg style with a center dent and
a 2-1/4"ish brim, preferably a vintage one under $300.00. Very much like this one:)


DSCN5405.jpg
 

carouselvic

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,985
Location
Kansas
MONTECRISTI off of ebay #110137933714

I bought this off ebay a few days back. It is stamped MADE IN ECUADOR GENUINE MONTECRISTI on the insde crown. The sweat is marked Genuine Panama WOVEN ECUADOR. It was sold at a store called FRATZ @440 Broadway Camden N.J. The hat was worn very little if at all by looking at the sweat band. The weave is very very tight. The patina of the hat is much darker than the ebay photos show. The hat had shrunk one size and made the purarees pucker so I removed it, ironed it out. I then wet the sweat band and fibers of the hat and used my Hallett strecher on it over night. It turned out great. I have asked Panamabob to help me learn more about the hat. I cann't post pictures now but maybe soon.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
109,306
Messages
3,078,475
Members
54,244
Latest member
seeldoger47
Top