Alden Shell Cordovan Belts

Everyone knows that the belt is supposed to match the shoes.  In the past, Alden has produced shell cordovan belts to help achieve this.  They came in two widths, 35mm or 30mm, and with either a gold or nickel buckle.  Currently Alden is not producing any cordovan belts, perhaps because they are using all of their allocation of scarce shell to make shoes.

Alden Shell Cordovan Belts

35mm Nickel Buckel

Cigar Top, #8 Bottom

Note that the belts are made of 3 separate strips of leather sewn together.  This is because the part of the horse used to make shell cordovan is not wide to make a belt out of a single piece of leather.  Many argue that "shell cordovan" belts that are not made this way are not actually shell cordovan, rather they are another part of the horse that has undergone the same tanning process.  The reason why shell cordovan can only be produced from the rump of a horse is because the skin fibers are tightest in this section, producing a very dense leather.