Designer Belts & Belt Buckles

The world of belts, buckles and leather is a diverse, fascinating and at times complex one. We hope that the information in the pages below will provide you with answers to the majority of the questions that you may have. You may find that we have gone a little over the top with the detail but we would prefer to let you choose how much or how little you wish to dig into it. If there is anything else you would like to know please do not hesitate to ask and we will do our best to get back to you or add further information onto this page to help others in the future.

We produce the majority of our belts in the southern Spanish region of Andalucia with a small amount of our belts still being produced in the Modena area of Italy.

The way in which we produce our belts stays true to the traditional origins of beltmaking. Our factories are small in scale but full of experienced and dedicated craftsmen who are often the 3rd or 4th generation of their families to continue this specific craft.

Although it may seem that a belt is a simple strip of leather this is far from the case. Even the simplest of belts requires a multitude of processes to become a finished product, from the choice of hides to the thinning of the leather to the desired thickness, the shaving of the edges to create a gentle camber in the leather, the precision cutting and handstitching of the tongue and loops to the final painting and buffing of the edges to take away any blemishes.

As we move to more complex constructions involving separate upper and lower leathers so the processes increase. Attaining the desired belt thickness and flexibility becomes a mix of maths and good old fashioned feel, hand mixing paint colours to get the precise match for awkward leather tones is an art in its own right, hand bevelling edges and contours is a job for a steady hand on a fast spinning lathe, ascertaining the perfect thread colour from a choice of thousands a diligent and patient process.

The thing to remember is that the Elliot Rhodes collection comes from over 250 different types of leather. No two leathers are ever identical so each belt style has to be treated individually, taking into account each parameter from the very beginning and adapting accordingly along the way.

This may all seem like an old fashioned and archaic way to do things but this method of production has stood the test of time and ensures not only that the quality of your belt remains of the highest standard but also that it has been made with a truly human caring touch.

To see for yourself how this works take a look at our video montage – a quick trip through the making of an Elliot Rhodes belt – this lasts 2 minutes, last time we timed the making of a belt from start to finish it took a little over an hour!