Grades of Quality of Panama Hats

First, let’s explore the numeric “hat grades.” A seller might say his hats are Grade 8. Or Grade 15/16. Or 30. Numeric hat grades are most often used to describe Panama hats woven in Cuenca (kwain-ka), Ecuador. They sound good, don’t they? Factual. Authoritative. Reassuring. Useless.

During the past 16 years, I have done business with the three largest hat exporters in Cuenca (Ortega, Dorfzaun, Serrano). They all use hat grade numbers that sound like they are all using the same system. But guess what? Each exporter has a different formula for deciding what grade a hat is. A Grade 10 from one company may be a Grade 14 from another and a Grade 12 from the third. They are all located within a couple of blocks of one another, and no two can agree on what grade a specific hat is.

If the exporters in Ecuador can’t agree on what grade a hat is, what do you think happens when the hats reach U.S. or European hat manufacturers and retailers? Right. The discrepancies and confusion are compounded.

The only context in which those grade numbers have any meaning is when you’re comparing numbers from the same seller. The same seller’s Grade 12 will be better than his Grade 8. His Grade 4 will be better than his Grade 2.

Montecristi Panama hat “grades” are often described as Fino, Fino Fino, Super Fino. In theory, those terms mean fine, very fine, super fine. In practice, they mean nothing. The problem is that those terms are totally subjective, a matter of personal opinion. What one boastful seller calls a Super Fino a more modest, or more honest, seller might call a Sub Fino. There are no written guidelines, such as: A Fino quality hat has 20 rows of weave per inch, a Fino Fino has 25 rows of weave per inch, and a Super Fino has 30. No rules.

Think of it this way: anyone can write Super Fino in a couple of seconds. There are only 18 Master Weavers who could actually weave one, and it would take months to do it. It is much easier to write a high quality hat than to weave one. And cheaper. Comparing descriptions, or comparing words, is not at all the same as comparing the actual hats. The only truly reliable way to compare the quality of two hats is to examine them side by side.

I’ve seen a lot of listings on eBay for “Montecristi” Panama hats. Some of them are selling for under $20. Naturally, they are all “high quality” and “Super Finos,” even some “Ultrafinos.” Forget it. These hats contradict the first law of business—make a profit.

I have been buying my hats personally in Montecristi for more than 16 years. During that period, I have probably purchased more Montecristi hats than anyone else in the world. And I can tell you this—even an average quality Montecristi hat cannot be purchased for under $20. Not even if you are buying direct, in Montecristi. So if you can’t buy an average quality Montecristi for that price, you certainly can’t buy a “high quality” or “Super Fino” Montecristi for that price. These hats are probably decent hats, probably worth the prices charged. So if you want a low priced straw hat, go for it. But they are not very likely to be finely woven, cloth-like masterpieces created by one of the few remaining Master Weavers, then beautifully hand-blocked.

As a general rule, fine hats are not bargain priced. In fact, fine anything is rarely bargain priced.

Sometimes dealers make up their own grades, such as Artisan Quality, Connoisseur Quality, Collector Quality, or Museum Quality. I actually made up a similar system some years ago, coining the term “Museum Quality.” One of my clients liked it well enough to start using it himself. Interestingly, I decided against using that kind of “grade” system. Because what does any of that mean, really?

When I coined “Museum Quality,” I meant for that term to be used to describe a hat that was of such incredibly fine quality as to be worthy of putting in a museum, literally, as an example of the very highest level of the art of hat weaving. There are fewer than twenty hats woven each year that would be what I would call Museum Quality. So when I use the term “Museum Quality” I mean something different than someone else who might use the same term to mean hats priced higher than $750. It’s not a matter of Right or Wrong. It’s a matter of communication.

So whether sellers are describing their hats as Super Finos or “Museum Quality” or Platinum Quality or Grade 30 or whatever, none of it means a thing. Not really. Unless we all use the same terms to mean the same things, the terms have no meaning at all. Which is a better hat—one seller’s Super Fino, another seller’s Museum Quality, or a third seller’s Platinum Quality? How could you possibly know without actually seeing the hats and comparing them side by side? You can’t. You simply cannot compare hats by comparing the “hat grade” words or numbers used to describe them.

Call me dumb, but I don’t get it. Why not just count the rows of weave per unit of measurement and leave it at that? That would be easy enough to understand, and easy enough to repeat and verify yourself. If hat A has 12 rows of weave per inch, and hat B has 24 rows of weave per inch, then you know that hat B is more finely woven than hat A, even without being able to see either hat.

To determine the Montecristi Cuenta of a Panama hat, count the number of rows of weave in one inch horizontally (or 2.5 cm).

For the hat in the photo to the left, the horizontal count would be just a little under 23.

Then count the number of rows of weave in one inch vertically.

The second photo shows the vertical measure of the same hat in the same area of weave. The vertical count would be 27.

It is not unusual for the vertical and horizontal counts to be different. Actually, it’s unusual for them to be the same. Usually, the vertical count is a larger number.

If there are any inventors out there, the ideal scanner would be about the size of the handheld scanners I’ve seen used at the checkout register in some stores. The scanner would have a one inch by one inch reading window that would be placed against the surface of the hat. The user would push a button or pull a “trigger” and the scanner would scan the rows of weave both horizontally and vertically. The LED readout would report that the hat is 23-27-621.

Call me when you have my scanner ready.

In the meantime, I only do an actual count on the very fine, very expensive hats.

Determining the fineness may be the most important part of grading a hat. But there are still other important factors to be considered before making a final decision.

While fineness of weave is certainly the most important factor when grading a Panama hat, you must also consider the quality of the weave. Is the hat well woven or poorly woven? Ah, but now we’re back to opinion. Fineness of weave is just math; you can count the rows. But quality of weave is very subjective. It’s easy to tell excellent from awful, but how does one decide if the quality of the weaving is excellent or just very good?

Almost every hat will have at least some red and/or gray straw. How many “points” would you deduct for that? Especially when you consider that many people prefer the subtle patterns that are often created by the slightly different color straw.

When I’m grading a hat, either to decide whether or not to buy it or what price to give it, I look at the whole hat for an overall impression of “desirability.” If most people would prefer one hat over another, then the preferred hat should get a higher grade than the less desirable hat.

When I am buying hats in Montecristi, I will examine a couple of hundred hats in a day. First, I give the hat a quick look for an overall impression. If the weave is obviously below my minimum fineness standard, or if the weave is horrendous, or if I spot a stain or an area of straw scarred by the apaleador, then I put that hat into the No pile.

Remember: ALL HATS HAVE SOME FLAWS, IMPERFECTIONS, AND IRREGULARITIES. If I bought only absolutely perfect hats, then I would never buy any hats.

Hats that are not rejected immediately are examined more closely. First, for fineness of weave. I have looked at so many Montecristi hats for so many years, that I can very quickly estimate the fineness of weave. I do not have to actually count the weave of each hat to determine its approximate fineness.