Would You Pay $25,000 For A Panama Hat?

[zack24]

OK, neither would I...but I am about to get a fairly nice one in maybe the $500 range. Does anyone have any recommendations of a good place to buy one?- (I'd rather deal as close to the maker as I can get and avoid 3 levels of middleman) (...and I know...I know- for that $25,000 you could buy 25 perfectly good Dunhills or maybe even make a down payment on tobacco cellar like the one Harris or Peck has......

http://www.brentblack.com/pages/best_02.html

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I don't care if it was hand woven thread by thread or straw by straw or whatever and took 3 months or took three years to make that one hat.... No hat is worth 25,000 big ones. I don't care how nice it looks.

 

[bluesmk]

What Tony said!

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes ::

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Hey Zack, I am a big hat guy and have several Panama Hats. As you probably know, real Panama hats are woven in Ecuador and the quality and size of the weave determines the price. The most I ever paid was around $500. The most expensive I have seen is $5k, but it sounds like they even go higher than that.. I would recommend this vendor in Arizona for Panama Hats or, frankly, any felt hat.
http://www.watsonshatshop.com/index.html

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I recall there was also a place in St Augustine Florida that I purchased one of mine at several years back. They had some nice one as I recall. I don't know if they have an online presence.

 

[daimyo]

I do believe in preserving the art of true craftspeople and I do believe that there is an inherent value in 100% uncompromising quality and craftsmanship. I think it's great that there are hand weavers taking three to five months to produce a single hat of this quality. I would not pay the price but I respect that they exist and I am happy that someone keeps them doing this. It sounds like most his hats sell for closer to 5k. Stetson sells hats that are much less labor intensive for 2k.

 

[zack24]

I like PBR hats(as long as you don't wear them backwards...
Peck, I think the best bet is to tell my wife we need a romantic weekend in St. Augustine (about 4 hours away) and accidentally stumble into the hat shop there (it looks like a good one...)

 

[phil67]

I like PBR hats(as long as you don't wear them backwards...

Amen to that. Must be getting old, but I’m really getting sick and tired of this wearing a ‘baseball’ hat backwards as it’s getting quite tiresome. Always hated it... always will. I’ll somewhat forgive the youngsters in their twenties (and younger), but when I see someone in their thirties, or worse yet, forties and older I feel like bitch slapping them in the face and telling them to grow up.
Other than that, good luck with your quest and keeping peace with the wife in doing so. More often than not accomplishing such feat for us males is a milestone and a quest unto itself. :wink:

 

[daimyo]

Zach, be sure to let us see the new hat if it ends up happening.

 

[sablebrush52]

A resounding no. But I enjoyed the straightforward mental illness of the ad. I'm also laughing because I was going to suggest Montecristi Hats in Santa Fé, as I've been a client and their stuff is really good, if not bargain priced. But $25,000 for a straw hat is proof of something very, very wrong in the buyer's brain.

 

[blueeyedogre]

I believe Tilley is now offering a panama and they are a great company to deal with. Best warranty bar none.

 

[phil67]

A resounding no. But I enjoyed the straightforward mental illness of the ad. I'm also laughing because I was going to suggest Montecristi Hats in Santa Fé, as I've been a client and their stuff is really good, if not bargain priced. But $25,000 for a straw hat is proof of something very, very wrong in the buyer's brain.

C’mon sable, the guy advertising these particular hats said that he was afraid that upon telling someone that one of his hats (that he was apparently wearing) was worth $100,000 that he was afraid that the person might actually offer that price and he would then be obliged to sell it because he didn’t want to give it up. Doesn’t that perfectly understandable and honest story convince you that these hats are indeed worth every penny? :roll:

 

[cobguy]

I've been to Cave Creek many times ... there's something in the water there. :?
Funny story from that town:
A mexican restaurant there called "El Encanto" has a nice outdoor courtyard complete with pond.

Once, after a hard day in the saddle, my friends and I stopped by for food and libations.

Some little boy was tormenting the geese out by the pond and we were watching as this escalated.

Finally, the largest female turned on him and began chasing and pecking at him.

We started laughing and that made the boy turn his head towards us.

Unfortunately for him, that last two backwards steps put him square in the pond.

This, of course, made us burst out uncontrollably.

The child's mother reproachfully told us that this was not funny ... but we were not convinced!

 

[weezell]

Wearing a Ball Cap backwards is nothing but a "spoiler" placed on an idiot to make him look STUPID FASTER... :rofl:

 

[lochinvar]

$25k for a hat? If I'm shelling that much out, what I get better have two barrels and say Westley Richards .500 Nitro Express. Hell, for $25,000 I think you could get your own Ecuadorian to live in your house and make your hats.

 

[igloo]

I wear my ball caps backwards sometimes just not to the side ,if any of you ever perform hard work you might understand why .As for a Panama style hat I think the Ibarra is a fine hat and can be had for around 300 and another 50 to shape it the way you want it .As for me I am just glad the high front foam truckers ball caps went out of style .And the world would be a better place if Michael Jordan would make a belt to go with his sneakers .

 

[daimyo]

Doesn’t that perfectly understandable and honest story convince you that these hats are indeed worth every penny?

Yes, please do not mistake my appreciation for hand weaving and craftsmanship for any endorsement of his prices or yarns. Only that if someone is hand weaving a hat for five months, they have my respect and if the product commands a premium price tag that others pay then good for them. I haven't the foggiest about Panama hats in terms of production or pricing so I have no idea how full of it he is. I assumed he was peddling at least a bit. Still, those that buy the highest end good are used to diminishing returns in action so perhaps he sells some.

 

[jarit]

And the world would be a better place if Michael Jordan would make a belt to go with his sneakers .

Tee-hee! This is true.
Can't help with panamas, I'm afraid. Great looking hats, though.
But I do have an idea for a head-joy of sorts. This is for all you rural Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts out there:
Take a green John Deere ball cap. Place backwards on noggin. Take another, identical John Deere ball cap. Place this one on the top the first one, but bill forwards....
...and voilá! You've just made yourself a johndeerestalker.

 

[jarit]

I got curious about panamas and their making and found this half an hour documentary of these hats. It also explains a bit about the sometimes high prices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp8bg451EQo

 

[zack24]

@jarit That's a great video! Saw that a few weeks ago....