Competitor Comparisons

The pictures below show our Montecristi of Cuenca hats side-by-side next to hats from other internet retailers.

We purchased these and other Panama Hats from several different internet retailers. These two competitor's hats were representative of the hats we bought in terms of quality, workmanship and price.

All of the hats we bought are in the style of the Montecristi hats, and all were called Montecristi Panama Hats. Our experts believe they were all made in Cuenca.

Competitor #1

This is a $325 hat

Competitor #2

This is a $450 hat

Montecristi of Cuenca

This is our $225 hat

The Sunlight Test

If you are unfamiliar with the Sunlight Test, it is simple. Hold a Panama Hat up to the light, and you can easily see how tight the weave is. The tigher the weave, the more opaque the hat.

We have attempted to duplicate that test in our photo studio. We have attached each hat to a stand using a piece of fabric and a clamp (you can see the fabric and a part of the clamp in each of these photos), and backlit each hat using photographic strobes. Each photo has exactly the same amount of light showing through.

You can easily see that our Montecristi of Cuenca Panama Hat has the tightest weave.

Competitor #1

Competitor #2

Montecristi of Cuenca

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