Hi
some of you might have seen my previous bags and belts comparisons on RG. I was still on the hunt for the best rep Hermes belt.
I have ordered belts on AE, Ioffer, UB and other sellers. The quality differences were quite remarkable but I am quite sure about one point.
Never buy Hermes belts on AE or Ioffer. The prices are much better but the qualit is LOW. Although it seems to be attractiv from the price and for some of you the quality might be sufficient and will do for the price but not to me.
As I am picky and anal with watches so am I on rep bags and belts.
I was in long discussions with various sellers and all claim to have the best quality. The result what I was receiving was proofing them wrong.
You can´t get a decent 1:1 rep Hermes belt for under 200USD. I am not saying that the price is fair, so the gen isn´t but this is the boarder line in terms of prices. Sellers do gain money on that and maybe the production price is a friction but so is the gen.
The discusions were always the same:
'how much for a 32mm Hermes belt authentic quality?'
'220USD with buckle'
'what? I saw them on AE and ioffer for 90USD'
'go buy there and be happy with the quality'
' you are an impolite chinese guy trying to rip me off...' and so on.
Be ready for it: you can´t change the game
And I was following the AE thread on here, check the latest Hermes belts pics and you will see what I mean
This time I was giving it a try and order from Ben of finerlabels. As you guys might know, I was always very cautious about his prices and these were higher than most of the other sellers. It always stopped me from pushing the BUY button. I got in contact with him and we exchanged a few words on wechat. Same procedure as described above at least I was trying to get the best price.
Let´s face the outcome
The buckle is spot on. Nothing to say nothing except that the spike for attaching the strap looks a bit different but thats a good point, it hinders the strap of coming off. I have a 42mm Hermes Constance buckle (i showed this in a nother review) which has the same spike as the gen but the strap is getting loose once I open the belt and the buckle falls down.
Bens buckle is a high quality metal piece with the same texture at the back, indistinguishable from the gen
The gen is gold polished the rep is silver brushed in the pics
The strap is the best 32mm strap i ever bougth as rep. Usually the back black side (Togo calf leather) is on the cheap belts anything else but not leather. Most of the times its plastic or something else. I have a few of them and i recently saw a post on RWI where somepne praised the quality of AE Hermes belts for 70 bucks. One could say 70 bucks is way too much for a belt and the quality must be high because you could buy real leather belts for less money, yeah its the same discussions as for rep watches. If you are happy to buy and wear a gen timex go for it.
But the 70 bucks rep belts are rubbish thats fact. It´s not leather, the buckle is not of the same quality, it does its job for showing of to ppl that have no clue and again its the same as for watches, the 130 cheapo sub will do it for some guys here whitout judging it.
The inner black leather (should be Togo calfl eather) is very soft and easy to scratch so is the gen. The other side (Charmonix calf leather) is a tiny bit softer than my gen (because this is Sombrero calf leather), in the pictures the blue one is gen, the brown is the rep.
I decided not to go for the very present white stichting because i was trying to eliminate one very pronoucend detail but the stitching on the inside is very very good i have to admit.
I was wearing until I got the belt from Ben a 150USD rep Hermes 32mm with silver polished buckle but the belt was off maybe not very visible but if someone is familiar with Hermes belts he could see that the black side is a epsom copy that is to rough.
Keep in mind Hermes delivers only with 3 holes, the Hermes leather stamping is only on one side and not really visible if its stamped on epsom, sombrero or charmonix leather.
Most of the Hermes Belts are epsom copies but plastic epsom and its quite obvious and visible.
This belt is spot on and for me worth the money as the gen costs in this combination strap/buckle 600 EUR. I will not buy a gen Hermes belt again.
Regarding the transaction with Ben: You have to be lucky and chat with him directly not to one of his staff. He is a stand up guy totally different than I expected because I was in conversations with his staff quite a few times. He delivered quickly and without any hazzle. I have to say I should have tried this way before. But on the other hand I wouldn´t have gained so much experience with the quality differences. t least it could you save some bad experiences if you are looking for the best Hermes rep belts.
For those that are happy with belts that look somewhat like a Hermes belt for cheap money...this is nothing for you.
thx for reading
E
some of you might have seen my previous bags and belts comparisons on RG. I was still on the hunt for the best rep Hermes belt.
I have ordered belts on AE, Ioffer, UB and other sellers. The quality differences were quite remarkable but I am quite sure about one point.
Never buy Hermes belts on AE or Ioffer. The prices are much better but the qualit is LOW. Although it seems to be attractiv from the price and for some of you the quality might be sufficient and will do for the price but not to me.
As I am picky and anal with watches so am I on rep bags and belts.
I was in long discussions with various sellers and all claim to have the best quality. The result what I was receiving was proofing them wrong.
You can´t get a decent 1:1 rep Hermes belt for under 200USD. I am not saying that the price is fair, so the gen isn´t but this is the boarder line in terms of prices. Sellers do gain money on that and maybe the production price is a friction but so is the gen.
The discusions were always the same:
'how much for a 32mm Hermes belt authentic quality?'
'220USD with buckle'
'what? I saw them on AE and ioffer for 90USD'
'go buy there and be happy with the quality'
' you are an impolite chinese guy trying to rip me off...' and so on.
Be ready for it: you can´t change the game
And I was following the AE thread on here, check the latest Hermes belts pics and you will see what I meanThis time I was giving it a try and order from Ben of finerlabels. As you guys might know, I was always very cautious about his prices and these were higher than most of the other sellers. It always stopped me from pushing the BUY button. I got in contact with him and we exchanged a few words on wechat. Same procedure as described above at least I was trying to get the best price.
Let´s face the outcome
The buckle is spot on. Nothing to say nothing except that the spike for attaching the strap looks a bit different but thats a good point, it hinders the strap of coming off. I have a 42mm Hermes Constance buckle (i showed this in a nother review) which has the same spike as the gen but the strap is getting loose once I open the belt and the buckle falls down.
Bens buckle is a high quality metal piece with the same texture at the back, indistinguishable from the gen
The gen is gold polished the rep is silver brushed in the pics
The strap is the best 32mm strap i ever bougth as rep. Usually the back black side (Togo calf leather) is on the cheap belts anything else but not leather. Most of the times its plastic or something else. I have a few of them and i recently saw a post on RWI where somepne praised the quality of AE Hermes belts for 70 bucks. One could say 70 bucks is way too much for a belt and the quality must be high because you could buy real leather belts for less money, yeah its the same discussions as for rep watches. If you are happy to buy and wear a gen timex go for it.
But the 70 bucks rep belts are rubbish thats fact. It´s not leather, the buckle is not of the same quality, it does its job for showing of to ppl that have no clue and again its the same as for watches, the 130 cheapo sub will do it for some guys here whitout judging it.
The inner black leather (should be Togo calfl eather) is very soft and easy to scratch so is the gen. The other side (Charmonix calf leather) is a tiny bit softer than my gen (because this is Sombrero calf leather), in the pictures the blue one is gen, the brown is the rep.
I decided not to go for the very present white stichting because i was trying to eliminate one very pronoucend detail but the stitching on the inside is very very good i have to admit.
I was wearing until I got the belt from Ben a 150USD rep Hermes 32mm with silver polished buckle but the belt was off maybe not very visible but if someone is familiar with Hermes belts he could see that the black side is a epsom copy that is to rough.
Keep in mind Hermes delivers only with 3 holes, the Hermes leather stamping is only on one side and not really visible if its stamped on epsom, sombrero or charmonix leather.
Most of the Hermes Belts are epsom copies but plastic epsom and its quite obvious and visible.
This belt is spot on and for me worth the money as the gen costs in this combination strap/buckle 600 EUR. I will not buy a gen Hermes belt again.
Regarding the transaction with Ben: You have to be lucky and chat with him directly not to one of his staff. He is a stand up guy totally different than I expected because I was in conversations with his staff quite a few times. He delivered quickly and without any hazzle. I have to say I should have tried this way before. But on the other hand I wouldn´t have gained so much experience with the quality differences. t least it could you save some bad experiences if you are looking for the best Hermes rep belts.
For those that are happy with belts that look somewhat like a Hermes belt for cheap money...this is nothing for you.
thx for reading
E
