Looks like Diamond Dave is Closing up the Jacket Business

[ausreenactor]

It’s actually not clear he has. Just today on Facebook he posted a photo of a new (and very rare) original B-3 he just acquired, which certainly suggests plans for the future. Whether he’ll be able to implement them is anyone’s guess, but I think we’ll have a better idea of the future of Diamond Clothing Co. when the COVID dust settles.
View attachment 59721
View attachment 59722

Spied that one too.

Given the momentum of FiveStar would it be a time to launch again?

 

[foster]

Given the momentum of FiveStar would it be a time to launch again?

From the Diamond Clothing FB page, I don't see where he says he is making this. It looks like he is explaining a rare original.

But, it would be neat if this was offered...

Super rare 1939 contract jacket, made by soldiers at the San Antonio Air Depot. We have long known that they made a contract of D-1 jacket (I have made a couple), but this recently unearthed example is the first we have seen of this type in the wild.
Evidence File- S.A.A.D.
-- Redskin was used in this period, in 1939. It was the common default sheepskin finish from about 1938 to early 1942 in smaller amounts.
-- No.7 Talon zippers were used on jackets from 1932 to 1939. We don't see this format of zipper being used after 1939. Also, it has a smiley face slider pull tab. That was common from 1937-1939. Not after, not before.
-- The design of the B-3 in this version, Version III, was being made this way from about 1938-1941, so it's in the window of Version III regular production. If it had been made after 1941, it would have the Version IV design with more panels.
The splicing of the sheepskin was done at the tannery before the leather was even colored, That had nothing to do with SAAD. Tanneries would secure their hides well before they were colored (the redskin or dark brown paint is obviously done over the sewing to strengthen the hides, so the sewing was done first). I've seen plenty of that sewing done on sheepskin between 1939-1941. It wasn't just done afterward.
The sheepskin joints and tape covering are FLAT! They were one of the few makers, and earlier makers, that used a zig-zag machine to attach one sheepskin panel to another, and then used a two-needle to secure the horsehide tape. That left the seams very flat, in the same manner that Irvin jackets have flat seams. Other contractors chose to use fur machines (ridged joints), with only a small few using the zig-zag method.

 

[leper-colony]

From the Diamond Clothing FB page, I don't see where he says he is making this. It looks like he is explaining a rare original.

But, it would be neat if this was offered...

That would be my guess as well.

 

[mulceber]

Could well be. I tend to suspect that when a jacket manufacturer acquires an original, it's for the purposes of reproduction, but he very well could be just acquiring it for his own collection.

 

[foster]

Could well be. I tend to suspect that when a jacket manufacturer acquires an original, it's for the purposes of reproduction, but he very well could be just acquiring it for his own collection.

I'm not 100% sure he acquired it, I think he was just sharing the images for discussion. But maybe I misinterpreted it.

 

[ausreenactor]

From the Diamond Clothing FB page, I don't see where he says he is making this. It looks like he is explaining a rare original.

But, it would be neat if this was offered...

Didn't allude to the S.A.A.D getting made through DD... just pondered the hypothetical...

There were hints at a restart years ago in more beneficial conditions. FiveStar has created a whirlwind of interest and a lot of jackets....

 

[ButteMT61]

The last "production" I saw with DD was making Covid masks...that went away pretty fast so it looks as though the projects are now over.