Diamond Clothing Buco J100 review.

[Carlos840]

Great looking jacket, fit looks good.
In the fit pics with the jacket zipped up the breast pockets don't seem to line up ? The left looks higher. Has that not been a problem before with Dave's jackets ?

I have just checked them, and they are pretty much aligned when checked with a ruler. It must be a weird illusion in the picture.

I don't want to give the impression i dislike this jacket, it really is great, it fits me like a second skin and has the best leather i have seen!
The range of motion i have in it is amazing, it really is comfortable, even more so than my jackets with bi swing backs.

 

[ProteinNerd]

That is a hell of a fit!

Dave's outdone himself there.

As for the imperfections, I had to look REALLY close to the pics and re-read what they were supposed to be before I could see them. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion on what is acceptable or not but having returned a jacket to Dave myself for misaligned pockets, these wouldn't have bothered me at all....if I even noticed them!

I'm guessing the originals probably would have had these sorts of issues anyway so just think of it as even more authentic than a "perfect" jacket.

 

[Bunyip]

That leather looks unreal. I would be interested to see how it looks in a couple of months.....I can't imagine a better fit than that either. Dave does great jackets. I can't really notice the the bits your concerned about, I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't highlighted. I know what it's like agonising over every little detail, but I think in a week or two, you probably won't notice and based on the leather and fit, you might well find its your go to jacket. If I had something that fit that good, with that quality of leather and workmanship, I would be wearing it all over town. Enjoy it mate, nothing but net on that one.

 

[Superfluous]

Shinki rocks!!!!! Congrats on the new jacket Carlos.

With the numerous options currently available for high end leather jackets, our quality standards have risen to unprecedented levels. Imperfections that were previously unnoticed or tolerated without comment are now noted and analyzed. IMHO, the varying precision of current offerings provides even more options for consumers. There are near laser precise jackets available for those who loathe imperfections and/or prefer maximum precision. Conversely, there are imprecise and/or uneven constructed jackets for those who prefer that look (however one might describe that look -- more vintage?). And then there are the majority of jackets that fall somewhere in between.

Ironically, some of the straightest stitching can be found on mass produced jackets, whereas bench made jackets frequently have more imperfections. A very few bench made producers are able to consistently manufacturer jackets that parallel the precision of mass produced jackets.

Of course, much of the variation in precision and/or quality is not the product of an intention or desire to emulate vintage construction, but rather, the varying skills of the individual craftsmen and women. For example, the same Aero jacket can have noteworthy differences in finish/precision depending on who at Aero made the jacket. This variation is not intentional. Not all craftsmen and women are created equal. Diamond Dave has been very candid about his level of experience.

A couple of years ago, I hurriedly purchased a RRL leather jacket without first carefully examining it. I later discovered that the stitching was wildly irregular -- not merely uneven, but profoundly crooked throughout. In response to my inquiry, RRL stated that the crooked stitching was intentional and done to emulate the crooked stitching on the original vintage piece. While I understand RRL's goal, I did not like the profoundly crooked stitching and I returned the jacket. I personally prefer precise workmanship, even if deviates from original imperfections.

 

[Carlos840]

Guys, i really don't want to sound like i am not happy with this jacket!
It's just that i have now seen and owned a few quality leather jackets and i just like to look at things in detail...
The things i mentioned are indeed pretty meaningless, i was just giving an objective description of what i spotted.
I didn't even contact Dave to complain about them, i don't think there is a need for it.

I don't like the jacket less because of them, they are part of the package.
I have actually been wearing it pretty much non stop for the past two days and i love it!

 

[navetsea]

beautiful leather, wow,
great fit around the hip and waist is just perfect.
with this rate of how the leather showing character hopefully all the minor imperfections won't matter.

 

[nick123]

I love the way the jacket "flares" out on the bottom. Really cool feature.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Proof that a longer looking cafe racer looks the business.

 

[dan_t]

That's a stunning hide & a stunning jacket.
I think you should be well pleased, particularly with the fit.

I wouldn't worry at all about any 'imperfections' as you have highlighted as the pro's most definitely outweigh any (perceived) con's.
As for the shiny hide, this will most likely disappear quite quickly with normal wear.

On a more general note though, I agree that any manufacturer asking prices north of (insert you own $$ limit here), let's say $1,000, should really get it right more often than not. If you are learning the trade and have limited resources, that's fine. Just price accordingly to reflect this.
The great thing about your story is that Dave appears to have been very willing to work with you to get it right. The final product is what we should be concerned with & from what I can see, it is certainly a great outcome!

 

[Blackadder]

Very beautiful jacket and excellent fit

 

[Justhandguns]

That's a stunning hide & a stunning jacket.
I think you should be well pleased, particularly with the fit.

I wouldn't worry at all about any 'imperfections' as you have highlighted as the pro's most definitely outweigh any (perceived) con's.
As for the shiny hide, this will most likely disappear quite quickly with normal wear.

On a more general note though, I agree that any manufacturer asking prices north of (insert you own $$ limit here), let's say $1,000, should really get it right more often than not. If you are learning the trade and have limited resources, that's fine. Just price accordingly to reflect this.
The great thing about your story is that Dave appears to have been very willing to work with you to get it right. The final product is what we should be concerned with & from what I can see, it is certainly a great outcome!

Absolutely agree. Like Superfluous said, if you want a perfectly stitched jacket, you may want to go for the high end, mass produced jackets such as Armani, Belstaff or Gucci, I imagine that it is easier for them to have the perfect sewings as most of the use much thinner hides to begin with, then there is also the tailoring issue, Dave offers certain customisations which requires many adjustments in leather cuttings.

But of course, I think Dave will have to keep on improving. People will expecting something which is better than Schott/Vanson and alike, we are talking about a grand here. (And don't underestimate the 'Force' of social media! Words are spreading, and once the comments are online, they will be there forever!

 

[Carlos840]

Absolutely agree. Like Superfluous said, if you want a perfectly stitched jacket, you may want to go for the high end, mass produced jackets such as Armani, Belstaff or Gucci, I imagine that it is easier for them to have the perfect sewings as most of the use much thinner hides to begin with, then there is also the tailoring issue, Dave offers certain customisations which requires many adjustments in leather cuttings.

But of course, I think Dave will have to keep on improving. People will expecting something which is better than Schott/Vanson and alike, we are talking about a grand here. (And don't underestimate the 'Force' of social media! Words are spreading, and once the comments are online, they will be there forever!

I don't think that it's ok to say that only mass produced high end things should be perfect.
The fact that something is made by hand by an artisan doesn't mean it should be less well made and show less attention to detail.
My Schott 644 is stitch perfect and has perfectly even and straight zippers, so is my Lewis Leathers. My Alexander is almost as good, but a tiny bit less refined.
The ELMC is pretty much perfect, i can only find a single bad stitch on it and it is not really worth mentioning.
The DD J100 is very good, probably as good as the ELMC for the general stitching, but the small things are not as good.
It is the makers choice to decide how perfect their jacket should be.


I am not dissing Dave's work, god knows i couldn't do better, all i am doing is objectively describing the jacket i have.
It's very very nice, but not perfect.
If you don't care about perfection, then it doesn't matter to you. If you do care about perfection, now you know what to expect.
Either way i still love my jacket.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Yeah, not sure why Armani or Belstaff were mentioned, if you want perfect stitching you can find it at a range of products, from Gibson and Barnes to Goodwear.

 

[Sloan1874]

People will expecting something which is better than Schott/Vanson and alike, we are talking about a grand here.

This the key. I know Carlos likes the jacket, and the leather is really nice and the fit's fine, but if any other maker was sending stuff with faults/imperfections and charging full-whack for it, they'd be getting pelters.
Personally, even if it's made by hand, if I pay a grand for a jacket, I want everything correct and looking 'just so'. Isn't it the skill and craftsmanship to do this that justifies the high price? Shinki alone is not enough.

 

[Justhandguns]

Yeah, not sure why Armani or Belstaff were mentioned, if you want perfect stitching you can find it at a range of products, from Gibson and Barnes to Goodwear.

Seb, it's because their QCs are immaculate. Not that any of us here are obsessed with those brands though. And thanks to Carlos840, talking about price and product perfection ratio, I think Lewis Leathers are the best. But as always, some of the fellow members think that they are 'sissy' fashion jackets, unfortunately, I must add (Starting to sound like Master Yoda, I am.....).

 

[Monitor]

I'm on Carlos on this.

And I don't think it has anything to do with the unprecedented levels of expectations, really, and the fact that there's so much justification and convincing going on in this thread is a very clear indication something's not right.
You don't have to be a perfectionist, know anything about vintage leather jackets, or have OCD, the deal is simple - if you buy three leather jackets that all have even pockets and zippers, and the fourth one is having an issues Carlos described with his J100, I'd say you're entitled to question it. Whether you should be bothered by it or not simply doesn't really matter because, having a comparison to draw from, these are imperfections and something that the jacket could do without - if for no other reason than just because there are people who notice and are bothered by this sort of thing. And that's perfectly normal.

I've said it before, but imagine having two of these Buco J100's hanging in a store, and you inspect them and discovered that one had crooked zipper and a smaller pocket flap while the other one is perfect; which one would you spend a grand on? Maybe you'll take one with the issues to the counter and ask for a discount? Or you'd just pick up whatever jacket without noticing the difference, it doesn't really matter but the point is, if both jackets had no issues whatsoever, we wouldn't be having this conversation nor would we have this many people convincing someone that they should ignore what they perceives as faults because pros outweigh the cons - something I personally agree with when it comes to this jacket but that is beside the point.

I'm talking in general now, this has nothing to do with DD or this J-100, which I think is wonderful.

EDIT: And another thing, I believe one of the main reasons we go to these manufacturers, paying the kind of money they're asking, is because we don't want to compromise. And yet, seems to me there's awful lot of talk about compromising in this thread...

 

[Seb Lucas]

Monitor, that's an exceptionally insightful way of putting it.

 

[navetsea]

the thing with leather is, you have to do it right the first time, with fabrics, if you do crooked stitches, you can do it again, or if that's too time consuming, you can throw away that part with minimal cost in material compared to leather.
with sewing even when somebody is very experienced, sometime things happen needle suddenly broken, fabrics getting pulled etc. I imagine on a hide with this wild texture, stitching it straight already requires extra skill, probably he intended to fold thing perfectly but since the grain is going into slightly different direction, then when he put it under sewing machine the folding line moved a little following its natural grain even when it was already arranged & secured with double sided tape, and since it can only be done once... you got a slightly uneven line.

 

[nick123]

It is really funny. We pay so much money for these jackets and the department store jackets have less imperfections. But as said, the pros outweigh the cons big time. However, I'd put these types of imperfections near the bottom of the importance list. What makes these high end jackets worth the price is the leather, materials and simply design. Even zippers are kind of secondary if you ask me. But the starting point has to be a YKK at least. Lol

That's a fantastic jacket. I've never been strong on cafe racers, but that thing exudes elegance.

 

[Carlos840]

Monitor, that's an exceptionally insightful way of putting it.

Agreed, couldn't have said it better!