Aero Half Belt score

[pilot error]

Stole this on ebay and I'm trying not to be anxious while I'm waiting for it. As been well discussed the fit/sizing on these can be a crap shoot. These pics are the seller's, I'll post better later. Ok, a blue label probably 90's apprentice made before the label was relegated to so called "budget jackets". Steerhide with wool lining, is there a way to tell if it's Connolly or Horween?

Thanks guys

 

[handymike]

Connolly was typically black, or once in awhile dark brown. This is smoother than Connolly as well.

 

[Edward]

Blue label jackets are by no means substandard; they're typically something like front of one design back of another type variations or using up ends of a particular leather or otherwise' non-standard'. Before the Robin Hood 'apprentice made' label which arrived in, from memory, late 2012 / 2013, apprentice made jackets were also sold under the blue label - my 2012 HWM is a blue label apprentice made jacket. At the time I bought mine Aero sold a good half a dozen in black and brown. All a mid-weight steer (Ken and co trained up the staff on lighter hides first before moving on to the hefty stuff), about the same thickness as FQHH, but much softer. Reminiscent of vintage Lewis, Goldtop, Rivetts and such I've handled, very smooth, stays uniformly black. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a similar hide, though obvs it's an older jacket.

The model, I believe, is the 50s Halfbelt, which is, fit-wise, somewhere between the HWN and the 30s Halfbelt.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Looks very nice! Definetly a 50's Half-belt, I like the lining in that one as well.

As Edward indicated, the blue-label is not much to worry about. Leather looks good but could use a good conditioning, I would think this is Horween CX Steerhide which is a wonderful leather.

 

[pilot error]

Here it is. I was lucky! The fit is spot on, with just a t shirt . This skin is hard to photograph. Different lighting, different color. I'd call it Caramel. there's no red as in the back photo, the selfie is the closest. I hesitate to treat it for fear of losing the patina. What do you guys think?

 

[TREEMAN]

You Scored !!

 

[Carlos840]

Here it is. I was lucky! The fit is spot on, with just a t shirt . This skin is hard to photograph. Different lighting, different color. I'd call it Caramel. there's no red as in the back photo, the selfie is the closest. I hesitate to treat it for fear of losing the patina. What do you guys think? View attachment 374151 View attachment 374151 View attachment 374152 View attachment 374153

I would clean and condition.
You don't know if the previous owner was one of these guys with acidic sweat that is going to eat the back of the collar and make it crumble away.
IMO there are two things people call "patina" on leather, dirt buildup, which i have no interrest in keeping on the jacket long term, and the top coat rubbing off and showing lighter colour variations, that i am interrested in and that won't be affected by a clean and condition.

The minimum to me would be to clean the entire jacket with a damp cloth, paying special attention to the inside of the wrists and back of the collar. Once dry you'll know if it needs a coat of your favourite conditionner. I have a soft spot for Pecards and Lexol, a lot of people here use Bick 4 and like it.

Edit: really nice fit, you did well!

 

[Edward]

Yip. From experience, a good coat of Pecards will darken the jacket very slightly (not permanently), but it won't re-dye it, you'll still have the non-uniform look to it. I agree with Carlos that a good clean is a positive, dirt and 'patina' are two different things entirely. The former can cause damage, the latter is aesthetic.

 

[pilot error]

Good ol' Pecard's!

 

[Monitor]

I'm finding this old cowhide to actually be much nicer than anything they use now. I still like Horween CXL but handling just a few of these unspecified cow jackets, made me question things.
It's simply a very high quality, healthy, actually full, uncorrected grain leather that hasn't been excessively stuffed with waxes and whatever; Simply the kind of hide that's meant to be used for making clothes - Something I'm less and less inclined CXL is.

You can see how well Pecard works on it and I bet the jacket will actually benefit from it, while I've no idea what kinda effect would it have on the CXL. Plus I'd be willing to bet huge money that this leather won't ever end up with that flaky rot we often see on CXL.

In short, this is a great looking jacket and it might just end up being a bit more special than most Aero's we see floating around right now.

Here's one that I had.

 

[pilot error]

Thanks Monitor, I love it!