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Brand Scorecard:
★★★★☆
Leather: 4.5
Hardware: 4
Design: 4
Engineering: 4
Craftmanship: 4.5
TOTAL: 4.21
Brand Website: beckettsimonon.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BRIEF HISTORY
Before founding Beckett Simonon in 2011, the team ran a leather goods brand sold in retail stores. This experience highlighted a broken retail system where products were priced at 8 to 10 times the manufacturing cost, creating an unaffordable market even for the designers. Additionally, the traditional retail model resulted in waste and negatively impacted producers and the planet, with high profit margins often compromising factory workers' dignity and safety.
In response, Beckett Simonon was founded to offer high-quality products at reasonable prices through an innovative approach. By managing all aspects of production, crafting products to order, and selling exclusively online, they eliminated unnecessary costs and waste. This model benefits producers, artisans, the planet, and customers, ensuring well-made products that can be worn and repaired year after year. The journey has been enriched by the support of customers who enjoy Beckett Simonon shoes as much as the team enjoys crafting the
FIVE PILLARS OF A GOOD LEATHERCRAFT
CRITERIA | 5 (Very Strong) | 4 (Strong) | 3 (Mixed) | 2 (Limited) | 1 (Not Present) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Leather | A perfect balance of art and fashion of leather tanning. Rare and artisanal hides from exceptional tanneries | Good leathers for the application in hand. Coming from environmentally conscious tanneries | Average corrected leathers that do NOT require high-quality raw hides. Less info on the source of the leather | Low-quality leather choice with significantly less information about the sourcing practice. | Inferior sketchy leather derivates or non-leather materials. |
Hardware | Top of the line Stainless Steel or Brass Hardware with Highest Caliber Coatings | Common alloy or brass hardware with high-quality plating and thin protection that will last a good while. | Alloy hardware with acceptable coating. Lifetime may be impacted due to the coating of the hardware. | Serious flaws in the making and coating of the low-grade alloy hardware that is harmful to humans and the planet. | Non-metal, plastic, and non-durable hardware that is harmful to humans and the planet. |
Design | A professional design language that is unique and consistent with the brand | A creative take on a classical design concept | Minimal changes to common styles | Almost copy of common/famous designs. Dysfunctional elements. | Problematic design elements affect the functionality, durability, and aesthetics of the product. |
Engineering | Highly organized, sophisticated shape and form engineering with high-quality materials inside the craft. | Clean and quality inner support materials and structure | Acceptable cleanliness of inner work with medium-quality support materials | Messy inside with low-grade support elements | Complete lack of inner structure and craftsmanship. |
Craftsmanship | Expert craftsmanship with flawless, hand or machine stitching, demonstrating advanced skills. No visible errors; edge paint is avoided using superior techniques. | Perfect machine stitching with excellent edge finishing. Immaculate inside and out, with no visible flaws, showing a commitment to quality. | Good overall stitching and alignment with minor flaws. Acceptable edge finishing, with fairly clean interior and exterior. | Noticeable misalignment and sloppy workmanship. Multiple errors affect visual appeal, with untidy interior work. | Poor craftsmanship with missed stitches, visible errors, and uncleaned residues. Major issues that may affect durability. |
Overall Score | An incredible value for money that I have no problem recommending to anyone | Very good example of great quality for a great price without any risk to try | A considerable offer with a relatively high price. Make your choice at your own discretion | Consider it well within your own criterion as the quality/price is not a decision point I can recommend here | Stay away! |
READING MY ASSESSMENT SCORES
SCORE | NAME | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
5 | Strong Yes | ⭐ This grade is given to brands that present great value for the price they charge you for their product. I have no problem confidently recommending you check their products. These are the brands I reach out to ask if they can give me an affiliate link so your purchases using my link can support my content efforts. |
4 | Yes | 👍 This indicates that the brand meets all my expectations from the perspective of price and information they have about their products. I would happily buy their products at this level of quality/value score. This is the only other category of brands I request an affiliate link to support this channel to improve my Leathertainment content. |
3 | Mixed | ➖ There are areas that I found less than desirable for the quality/price performance I appreciate personally. Some high-end luxury brands may fall under this category given I am looking for tangible value in the products, ignoring the intangible brand prestige they may offer as a value to their customers. I am not a customer of these brands and I wouldn’t recommend them to my audience if they do NOT value brand logos. |
2 | No | 👎 This indicates that the product and the brand failed my expectations in significant ways and I won’t recommend them to anyone. |
1 | Strong No | ❌ This is the lowest assessment and indicates fundamental issues in the product and/or the brand. I would say look somewhere else. |
LEATHERVERSE MATRIX
The Leatherverse Brand Matrix visually compares leather brands based on sophistication and pricing, helping consumers understand their market positioning.
Legend
Vertical Axis: Ranges from simple artisan crafts to exclusive, master-crafted items.
Horizontal Axis: Covers pricing from low (no brand premium) to high (perceived luxury), with 2x multipliers for basic products and up to 15x for heavily marketed luxury items.
Diagonal Line: Represents the balance between price and performance. Brands on the line offer good value, those below suggest poor value, and those above offer exceptional value.
AUDIENCE & CUSTOMER'S PERSPECTIVE
Based on these criteria, how would you rate Beckett Simonon as a brand?
How would you rate Beckett Simonon as a brand?
5
4
3
2
PRODUCTS REVIEWED
Beckett Simonon: Luxury Shoes on a Budget
Beckett Simonon's Dean Oxford Shoes
Watch the videos here:
Today, we're diving into a shoe brand that's new to me. Upon opening the box, I was instantly intrigued by the wealth of detailed information about the brand and the product. However, as you know, I don't take these claims at face value. Flowery marketing often falls short when put to the test. So, let's see if this brand, Beckett Simonon's Dean Oxford Shoes, lives up to its promises from a quality standpoint.
DISCLAIMER: The mentioned brand sent this product for FREE. However, we are NOT PAID to do this review. All statements and expressions made about the products are Tanner Leatherstein’s independent review. The brand did not get to see the final video until it was published live. They also agreed to our terms and conditions that we will post our honest review about the brand and/or product and that we might disagree with the information provided in their shop or website.
Tanner Leatherstein’s reviews are not meant to be conclusive or definitive. The purpose of this video is for informational and educational purposes only. We recommend that as a consumer, you exercise your due diligence and research on the products before adopting the opinion of Tanner Leatherstein.
First Impressions
When I received the box, I expected just another submission for The Chopping Block. However, upon opening it, I felt something different. Inside was a pair of beautifully crafted shoes and a booklet filled with detailed information about the brand, the materials used, the craftsmen involved, and their ethical business practices. Was this just clever marketing, or a genuine commitment to quality? Intrigued, I visited their website and became even more excited. But before I get carried away, we need to put these shoes through our rigorous tests to separate marketing fluff from reality.
The Chopping Block Tests
Upper Leather Test
I applied acetone to the upper leather, and nothing came off. This indicates an aniline finish, revealing a beautiful calfskin with a natural grain, as the company claimed. The leather comes from Italy's renowned Gruppo Mastrotto Tannery, which is LWG gold-certified. This is top-notch leather.
Inner Lining Test
Applying acetone to the inner lining also yielded no reaction, confirming it as undyed crust leather. This cowhide inner lining is an excellent choice for natural temperature control, moisture absorption, and odor management.
The leather here was claimed to be full-grain Vachetta leather. Whenever I hear "Vachetta," I always check for vegetable tan content. However, I noticed green residues, indicating the presence of chrome in this leather. This suggests that it is indeed vegetable-tanned leather, but it has undergone a combination tanning process, starting with chrome and followed by heavy vegetable re-tannage. This makes it an excellent choice for its intended use. However, given this process, I wouldn't call it Vachetta. It's a combination-tanned leather—beautiful and high-quality—but the labeling is the only issue I would point out.
Sole Leather Test
The sole leather here is also full vegetable-tanned cowhide. It's a beautiful piece; I can smell the distinctive sour scent of the vegetable tannins. This is exceptionally high-caliber sole leather, perfectly matching the quality of all the other leather selections we've seen here.
Conclusion
These are some of the best shoes we've ever had on The Chopping Block, priced at just $219. Every detail provided by the company was confirmed by our inspection. I've seen inferior shoes sold for $600 or more. If brand prestige isn't a concern for you, you can save $400 to enjoy something else.
You don't need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to get superior quality. If this inspection doesn't prove that, I don't know what will.
So, if you're looking for high-quality, affordable shoes, this brand might just be your new go-to.
Scorecard
TANNER APPROVED!
★★★★☆ - 4.21
Criteria | Score | Results |
|---|---|---|
Leather | 4.5 | Good leathers for the application in hand. Coming from environmentally conscious tanneries |
Hardware | 4 | Common alloy or brass hardware with high-quality plating and thin protection that will last a good while. |
Design | 4 | A creative take on a classical design concept |
Engineering | 4 | Clean and quality inner support materials and structure |
Craftsmanship | 4.5 | Fair Value for quality with a brand premium: 5 to 6 x multiplier pricing. |
OVERALL SCORE | 4.21 | Very good example of great quality for a great price without any risk to try |
PRICE / COST MULTIPLIER | 5x | Fair Value for quality with a brand premium. |
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