The BORSALINO BROTHERHOOD

[alanfgag]

Nutria Feather Weight... a gift from a friend.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

This little gem arrived a couple days ago. Great condition with thin dense felt that cheerfully takes a dry crease. 5 1/2 inch open crown and 2 1/2 inch raw edge brim.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

This little gem arrived a couple days ago. Great condition with thin dense felt that cheerfully takes a dry crease. 5 1/2 inch open crown and 2 1/2 inch raw edge brim.

Molto bello Brent! It is also my size, but too far

 

[steur]

Nutria Feather Weight... a gift from a friend.

Fabulous, Alan. We all need friends like that!

 

[steur]

This little gem arrived a couple days ago. Great condition with thin dense felt that cheerfully takes a dry crease. 5 1/2 inch open crown and 2 1/2 inch raw edge brim.

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Gorgeous hat, Brent. A real gem. Dattero is a great colour and it really shows well in the sunshine.

 

[steur]

Took a chance on a lot of hats from Etsy that Brent pointed out to me. Listed as size 54, but the seller gave some measurements that pointed towards size 56 or even 57, so I took the plunge.

The good news is they are indeed all size 56 en 57. The bad news is they aren't really my style (mostly). One or two of them can stay and the rest I'll find a new master for.
The other good new is I found some new colours that we haven't seen before and I can give you a new theory on the meaning of one of the numbers on the labels.
Borsalino Alba Lightweight. Short brimmed fedora in grey. Size 57 with the raw edge brim at 4,2cm and the crown at 10cm. Lightweight indeed with only 89 grams, but them it is a very stingy brim. Made for Guiseppe Marino, Napoli, who chose a great liner.

 

[steur]

The second one of this batch.
Borsalino Tannino lightweight hat. Brown porkpie in a size 57, with the raw edge brim at 4,2cm and the crown at 10cm. Same weight as the Alba above with 89 grams. Not a style I go for, even if others wear it with great panache.
Tannino is also a colour not seen before and Borsalino keeps surprising with its unsurpassed range of colours. Now here's a theory concerning the numbers on the label. We know the number on the upper right refers to the model and felt (in this case A5329). We don't know exactly how, but that much we know. This one and the Alba are the same model and felt. Different colour and shaped differently, but basically the same. They were also made for the same retailer and what we see is that the numbers on the upper right side of the label are consecutive numbers (numbers 75387 and 75388). This leads me to the theory that these numbers refer to the retailer and specific hat as part of an order.

 

[steur]

Let's do one more. Not from this batch (the others need a little more steaming and brushing to be presentable).
Echter Borsalino fedora in Bismuto colour. Export Qualität Gran Lusso, size 55, with the bound brim at 5,2cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Made for the German Market. Early seventies. Weighs only 99 grams.

 

[steur]

Part of the Borsalino hat haul from Greece.
Borsalino Misto Grafite fedora. Size 57 with the overwelt brim at 5cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Misto Grafite is another new colour, just like the Alba and the Tannino we've seen before. Lightweight means 94 grams in this case. And I saw I made mistake in the numbers theory for the Borsalino labels; mixed up left and right (doh!). The number on the upper left (left!) is for the model and felt and the number on the upper right (right!) is for the order number (or that's the theory at least).
Anyway: without further ado, here's the misto grafite. Didn't post it before because the ribbon was a mess and had to be replaced. I won't win any prizes, but the replacement one looks at least halfway decent I think.

 

[steur]

While I love my misto felts the previous one is not going to stay; there's something about the proportions that makes it not the hat for me.
This one certainly is. It's the one that made me go for the Greek hat lot in the first place.
Borsalino Empaspo 401/2 in grey. The colour part of the label is missing, but I think it's either bismuto or rodio. Size 56 with the felted brim at 6cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. The "feltrato" edge was done superbly thin and delicate; lovely work. Made for Guiseppe Marino of Napoli, with his own wonderful liner design. Weighs only 89 grams.
The motto on the liner translates roughly into : where there's better, lesser loses meaning.

 

[steur]

To make up for the missing hat of the Greek hat haul (the Mogano coloured hat could not be saved) here's a special treat. This one came in from Croatia and arrived within just a few days. The UK postal services should take some lessons there; been waiting for a month now for a hat from England and no movement noticeable yet.
Anyway, I digress.
Borsalino qualitá Augusta Eiarsan fedora in Senapa (mustard) colour. Both model and colour are new and haven't been seen before, which is why I went for this hat in the first place. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 9,5cm at the center dent. This one is interesting for another reason as well: it has the separate size sticker and we can confirm Steve's @mayserwegener conclusion that these date to the early forties. His example was datestamped and this one isn't. So, how can we confirm this then? Well, the retailers are Fratelli Vuckovic from Cattaro. Cattaro was and is known as Kotor near Dubrovnik in Montenegro and it was only known as Cattaro during a brief period in WWII, namely from 1941-1943 when it was part of the Kingdom of Italy. How cool is that?
The hat is in plendid condition. Another feature not seen before is the stamping on the inside of the felt just above the Borsalino logo on the sweatband. Also a lightweight hat with just 92 grams.

 

[Blare]

Part of the Borsalino hat haul from Greece.
Borsalino Misto Grafite fedora. Size 57 with the overwelt brim at 5cm and the crown at 10,5cm at the center dent. Misto Grafite is another new colour, just like the Alba and the Tannino we've seen before. Lightweight means 94 grams in this case. And I saw I made mistake in the numbers theory for the Borsalino labels; mixed up left and right (doh!). The number on the upper left (left!) is for the model and felt and the number on the upper right (right!) is for the order number (or that's the theory at least).
Anyway: without further ado, here's the misto grafite. Didn't post it before because the ribbon was a mess and had to be replaced. I won't win any prizes, but the replacement one looks at least halfway decent I think.

I like the replacement ribbon

 

[Blare]

While I love my misto felts the previous one is not going to stay; there's something about the proportions that makes it not the hat for me.
This one certainly is. It's the one that made me go for the Greek hat lot in the first place.
Borsalino Empaspo 401/2 in grey. The colour part of the label is missing, but I think it's either bismuto or rodio. Size 56 with the felted brim at 6cm and the crown at 10cm at the center dent. The "feltrato" edge was done superbly thin and delicate; lovely work. Made for Guiseppe Marino of Napoli, with his own wonderful liner design. Weighs only 89 grams.
The motto on the liner translates roughly into : where there's better, lesser loses meaning.

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Really really nice Stefan. I don’t see that many felted edge Borsis

 

[Blare]

To make up for the missing hat of the Greek hat haul (the Mogano coloured hat could not be saved) here's a special treat. This one came in from Croatia and arrived within just a few days. The UK postal services should take some lessons there; been waiting for a month now for a hat from England and no movement noticeable yet.
Anyway, I digress.
Borsalino qualitá Augusta Eiarsan fedora in Senapa (mustard) colour. Both model and colour are new and haven't been seen before, which is why I went for this hat in the first place. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 9,5cm at the center dent. This one is interesting for another reason as well: it has the separate size sticker and we can confirm Steve's @mayserwegener conclusion that these date to the early forties. His example was datestamped and this one isn't. So, how can we confirm this then? Well, the retailers are Fratelli Vuckovic from Cattaro. Cattaro was and is known as Kotor near Dubrovnik in Montenegro and it was only known as Cattaro during a brief period in WWII, namely from 1941-1943 when it was part of the Kingdom of Italy. How cool is that?
The hat is in plendid condition. Another feature not seen before is the stamping on the inside of the felt just above the Borsalino logo on the sweatband. Also a lightweight hat with just 92 grams.

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Fantastic history lesson along with that one. Really sharp hat.

 

[mayserwegener]

To make up for the missing hat of the Greek hat haul (the Mogano coloured hat could not be saved) here's a special treat. This one came in from Croatia and arrived within just a few days. The UK postal services should take some lessons there; been waiting for a month now for a hat from England and no movement noticeable yet.
Anyway, I digress.
Borsalino qualitá Augusta Eiarsan fedora in Senapa (mustard) colour. Both model and colour are new and haven't been seen before, which is why I went for this hat in the first place. Size 56 with the raw edge brim at 6cm and the crown at 9,5cm at the center dent. This one is interesting for another reason as well: it has the separate size sticker and we can confirm Steve's @mayserwegener conclusion that these date to the early forties. His example was datestamped and this one isn't. So, how can we confirm this then? Well, the retailers are Fratelli Vuckovic from Cattaro. Cattaro was and is known as Kotor near Dubrovnik in Montenegro and it was only known as Cattaro during a brief period in WWII, namely from 1941-1943 when it was part of the Kingdom of Italy. How cool is that?
The hat is in plendid condition. Another feature not seen before is the stamping on the inside of the felt just above the Borsalino logo on the sweatband. Also a lightweight hat with just 92 grams.

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Stefan, Great find and background info! I think there is enough evidence (date stamps) that Echter Borsalino with the separate size stamp are late 1930s early 1940s. This one also has a similar sweatband type as some of the Echter Borsalino with the separate size stamp. What is interesting is the sweatband seam is stitched. What does that look like? Is it possible it was restored / modified (stamp on felt) by Borsalino?

 

[steur]

I like the replacement ribbon

Really really nice Stefan. I don’t see that many felted edge Borsis

Fantastic history lesson along with that one. Really sharp hat.

Thanks, Joe. Felted edges are certainly uncommon for Borsalino. They did do them, but I've got only four in my collection. It's more common on American made hats.

Stefan, Great find and background info! I think there is enough evidence (date stamps) that Echter Borsalino with the separate size stamp are late 1930s early 1940s. This one also has a similar sweatband type as some of the Echter Borsalino with the separate size stamp. What is interesting is the sweatband seam is stitched. What does that look like? Is it possible it was restored / modified (stamp on felt) by Borsalino?

Thanks, Steve. The sweatband stitching looks to be original; I don't see any signs the hat was modified in some way. The hat looks basically unworn. The stitching on Borsalinos seems to vary. I've seen several later hats without the stitching and the ones that are stitched show both straight and zigzag patterns.

 

[mayserwegener]

Thanks, Joe. Felted edges are certainly uncommon for Borsalino. They did do them, but I've got only four in my collection. It's more common on American made hats.



Thanks, Steve. The sweatband stitching looks to be original; I don't see any signs the hat was modified in some way. The hat looks basically unworn. The stitching on Borsalinos seems to vary. I've seen several later hats without the stitching and the ones that are stitched show both straight and zigzag patterns.

Stefan, Is this the case with the sweatband seam? I believe all my Echter Borsalino are glued (but small sample size). What is after Tipo / Type?

 

[steur]

Stefan, Is this the case with the sweatband seam? I believe all my Echter Borsalino are glued (but small sample size). What is after Tipo / Type?

This seam is a zigzag pattern. The text seems to be: "typo 4-L.168-"

 

[mayserwegener]

This seam is a zigzag pattern. The text seems to be: "typo 4-L.168-"

Stefan, Very interesting. The mysteries of Borsalino. Thanks!

 

[Blare]

Thanks, Joe. Felted edges are certainly uncommon for Borsalino. They did do them, but I've got only four in my collection. It's more common on American made hats.

I believe I have just one…. The GB Borsalino fu Lazzaro and C (revival)