USN 37J1 leather jacket with Security Aviation Togs tag (Mysterious maker)

[willyto]

I stumbled upon this USN 37J1 leather jacket tonight while suffering from a bit of insomnia. We had recently an A-1 made by Marck over at Norshor with John's label and now this one pops up. I've been going like crazy trying to see differences in the craftmanship, label, label stitching, buttons, buttons backing,etc... I'm still confused

BROWN-A-1-STYLE-HORSEHIDE-JACKET-GOOD-WEAR-SIZE-44

Now, here comes the interesting part:

Ebay jacket labels:

Security Aviation Togs A-2 labels from GW:

Security Aviation Togs A-2 from Buzz Rickson

Fortunately it is way too large in the body and the sleeves but it does look good.

Anyone has any idea of who made this jacket? The stitching on the labels and the label makes me think it could be Good Wear as the seller says but I've never seen a jacket like this one made by John so far and the Front Quarter Horsehide label isn't the one he uses.

 

[nick123]

My first thought was NorShor, only because I had no idea John did a SAT A-1. Wasn't there someone here who made his own A-1 a while back? Some deja vu has been plaguing me all day with that.

 

[Dr H]

No, it's highly likely that it's a Good Wear as John sold a test jacket for the 37J1 on his site last year.

 

[willyto]

That's good to know. I was just curious to see who really made it because sometimes sellers can be mislead by previous owners.

I found it on the sale page but it isn't the same jacket though:

http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/sale_37j1_0001.html

 

[Dr H]

No, it's a different jacket - the test jackets are often in whatever hide is at hand, whereas this looks closer to production.

 

[AdeeC]

As far as I know Good Wear and Buzz Rickson(Toyo Enteprises) are the only makers who use the SAT label. Could be Norshor as Mark Fisher has collaborated with Good Wear. Those buttons(corozo?) look like a type I have seen used by Norshor. If Toyo there could be a small Japanese label hidden somewhere in the pockets but the SAT label is different. The SAT label is the same as Good Wear's. I believe we can confidently exclude any other maker. Either Good Wear or Norshor. IF I had to take a punt I would say Norshor due to the deviation from exacting military aesthetics.

 

[Dr H]

Soon to be my jacket (deal done) - it's a Good Wear.