Back in November, after I lost a good portion of weight and had to start shopping for new jeans and a new belt to hold them up. Figuring it was time for a new belt buckle I started the hunt. I tend to be pretty picky about what I buy and really like attention to detail and high quality items. This meant spending a week looking for a belt buckle at nearly every website I could think of, all the while having an idea in the back of my head for what I wanted. It finally dawned on me that I should check Etsy.com to see what was available, this is how I found out about Fosterweld.

They have a simple motto,

AMERICAN STEEL + AMERICAN LEATHER + OLD SCHOOL WORK ETHIC

FIRST CLASS handmade STEEL belt buckles. Made 100% in my shop using hand tools, hard work, PREMIUM enamel and the finest leather we could find.

After looking through the buckles they offered I was impressed and immediately liked their style, I was going to order a buckle from them, but which one. At $25-45 for hand made buckles, they are a serious bargain. They offer one that says Love in an old English font, and that got me thinking. I’ve been craving a buckle that says Hate for sometime, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to drop them a message through Etsy to inquire if they could do a one-off buckle for me. At 9:41pm I sent the message. To my amazement, Chris wrote me back at 8:33 the very next morning! Even better, he told me that I could choose just about any font I wanted and the price was spot on for a one-off buckle.

Thinking I’d go 100% in the opposite direction of their originally designed Love buckle in the bold, hard font, I chose a feminine, whimsical font to offset the power of the word itself. The information was sent to Chris that day and a few days later he told me it was shipped.

After a minor screw-up with the Post Office the buckle arrived about a week and a half after placing the order. This company is different, in a good way. The box comes with their logo stamped on one side and a huge Made in American sticker with the American Flag on the other. Opening the box up, presentation is perfect, the buckle is underneath a card describing the company, how each item is hand made and minor variations are a fact of nature. The buckle is proudly displayed on what appears to be straw for packing material. I was seriously impressed, hence an entire paragraph about the packaging.

Behold, the one-off, final product produced by Fosterweld,

I’ve been wearing the buckle since December daily and have gotten mixed reactions on it, which is what anyone wearing it could expect. The quality is top-notch though and I will be placing an order again for another stock design buckle, as I need one that’s a bit more professional, and Fosterweld is my first choice.

Chris did mention to me that they often do small run buckles for companies, bike clubs, bands and other organizations so hit them up with your next project. Buy their products from their Etsy Store or directly from Fosterweld.com.

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