EASTMAN UP-GRADED MONARCH A2

[aswatland]

Eastman have now issued their Monarch A2 in their Warhorse Italian horse hide. As expected the price has been up-graded too to £650!

http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/eastmanleather/products/product-4311340.stm

 

[Edward]

Jinkies, that's steep! I'm sure it's justifiable (can't be cheap to produce these), but it does look like I'll soom be priced out of the A2 repro market!

 

[rumblefish]

I saw that yesterday, really something else!

I notice a lot of empty spots and things missing on their site. It seems all their original maker jackets are going to "war horse"? There is no original maker now made in goatskin. Also the Buzz Ricksons and the 352nd Monarch page are empty.

What they have now looks better than ever though.

 

[Edward]

The Buzz Rickson stuff is on a separate site now, I think. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as well stocked... I hope this doesn't mean they're gonig to jack up the prices of the ELC nylon jackets, fingers crossed I'll be looking b15 this Winter, but I doubt I could justify much more than the current price.

 

[aswatland]

I understand Eastman can't source authentic-looking goatskin which was one reason why their Cable A2 is no longer made in goat.

The new Italian HH certainly has character but looks thicker on the Monarch than that used on all the originals I have seen. The collar is a closer match to originals compared wiith the previous version. The pocket flap is now the correct size if not a little too rounded. Many originals that I have seen have curved flaps, but often with a slight point in the centre. The original Talon zip is a nice touch, but brown painted brass Talons were used on originals from this contract. There is an innovation for ELC on this jacket. The pocket nipple snaps have for the first time on an Eastman A2 the indentation found on originals.

I will check out the Monarch at Duxford early in September.

 

[number6]

Eastman A2

Jinkies, that's steep! I'm sure it's justifiable (can't be cheap to produce these), but it does look like I'll soom be priced out of the A2 repro market!

I visited the ELC stand at the Duxford Flying Legends Airshow in July, the products were great as ever , but I too felt like I could no longer afford
to buy into them . I hope my finances improve to allow me to get another
jacket in the future, I love their gear!

 

[aswatland]

I visited the ELC stand at the Duxford Flying Legends Airshow in July, the products were great as ever , but I too felt like I could no longer afford
to buy into them . I hope my finances improve to allow me to get another
jacket in the future, I love their gear!

The up-graded Eastman original maker A2s cost much the same as a Good Wear A2 now. They are nice but not quite as close to the original jackets as Good Wears. The Warhorse broken grain horse hide is somewhat thick. The advantage of Eastman jackets is you don't have to wait over three months for a jacket to arrive, but GW jackets are custom made and are the best you can buy at present (with the exception of originals). I think it's competition from GW which is forcing Eastman to up-grade their A2s. You can still pick up a decent Eastman A2 on Ebay for around £250.

 

[Edward]

Andrew, did you get the impression it's only the leathers that are going up in price, or all the ELC products? Such a rise will certainly take them into the same ballpark as John's jackets, which are as you say that bit better. Not to say the ELCs are bad, pf course - just John took things to a whole new level. I'd love a couple of John's jackets, maybe I'll get lucky and the dollar will crash against the pound then (which could lead to a situation where the GoodWear jackets were cheaper than an ELC!).

I wonder too whether this will have a knock-on on the price of used ELC jackets? GBP250 seems an average price at present on eBay; I wonder if the jackets costing more new will mean they can command higher used prices?