Club Obi Wan

Has anyone heard of Watson's Hat company? I was searching ebay and came across one of his beaver hats. It was mighty fine. I looked him up here and found nothing!!!
Has anyone bought a hat from him? I am contemplating getting one of his hats.

Here is the hat that was on sale.
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... Jt60_3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... sg60_3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... DQ60_3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee4 ... dk60_3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeah, the brim is curled, and the bash is... off, but it seems that he can make a pretty darn good Indy hat.

Look closer. The hat looks fuzzy and the ribbon is a petersham not a grosgrain.

Steve does much better work that what you see there in those photos.

It looks like the brim has been trimmed quite roughly, too.

piker you could be right but from those photos I can't make that call.

I don't see it either.

Could be my laptop or my 58 year-old eyes, but it looks like a bad scissor job to me. Enlarge that 3rd shot and look at the brim edge.

The pounce job does not look all that great.

Picker wrote:Could be my laptop or my 58 year-old eyes, but it looks like a bad scissor job to me. Enlarge that 3rd shot and look at the brim edge.

You could be right but I have learn certain things you can't judge in just one photo. It appears to be a bad cut or it could be the way the brim isn't sitting smooth from handling. A different angle would help.

There are some pictures on their website. sadly the pictures are small.
have a look at the ToD type of fedora. really a strange looking hat when you look at the front. or is it just
me?

silly me, i forgot the link: http://www.watsonshatshop.com/mens-hats ... -hats.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of those hats on the website aren't too shabby. But the one linked in the OP is a little uninspiring.

Never heard of them before. For the price they're asking I wish there were some other pics of the hats in detail. Not trying to bash the company, but I think I've seen better attention to detail from say Adventurebuilt or Penmans, etc. JMO

I've talked with the owner/hatter via email awhile back and inquired on his hats. He claims that his "Indy" felt is the exact same felt used by Steve; however, I guess I just don't see it. I had another hatter contact him to find out where he gets his felts from and it turned out the hatter contacting has the same source as this fellow claims which, the contacting hatter really doesn't think, is the same felt. Does that make sense?

They're nice hats but if you do pick one up, I'd pick one up like you saw on Ebay. This way you can possibly get it cheap enough to still afford the investment of getting it reblocked by a hatter and still have enough wiggle room to break even or sell it for a profit later down the road should you decide to upgrade. The price for one of his new hats, I believe, is around the same price as one of John's and then it's comparing Apples to Oranges for quality/craftsmanship/service etc. with John being, hands down, MY choice.

I'd have to actually see some pictures of someone who actually owns one of these hats before commenting more on them, but they seem like a good hat to pick up if you want the Indy look, in pure beaver, for around the same price as an Akubra.

If buying one off Ebay, I don't think you can go wrong if you get it cheap enough. If you're ordering new, that's your gamble and I at least KNOW what to expect from John and know where he's coming from on his felt supply, experience, etc.

Best wishes in your decision (if you haven't made it already).

Well, he's located in Arizona, so he could very well be sourcing his felt from Winchester Hat Co. which is where Steve gets his felts. Most Western hat makers use Winchester for their felt acquisition, so why not for his Indy fedora?

It's all in how the hat is MADE that tells the tail.

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson,

Thanks for confirming it's Winchester. That was indeed the place that he's sourcing his felts from, or at least that's what he told my hatter/friend. Yet I didn't want to mention the name as I didn't know "for sure" that that was the same place Steve gets his felts from so didn't want to spread false info around.

As for your comments on how the hat is made - couldn't agree with you more! And there's always that price aspect too - I see the pure beaver of Watson's is $425 while you can get one of John's for the same price (or thereabouts) and have the added knowledge of knowing that John studied under Steve, has the connections with Steve, etc. etc. So, again, it all comes down to preference. For ME, seeing that both hats (John's and Watson's) are near the same price for the same felt type, having the John-Steve connection/history behind one of John's hats is the icing on the cake.

Steve has publically posted many times he gets his felt from Winchester, so it's no secret.

Regards! Michaelson