Well, I returned that J. Crew engine-turned belt.

Shortly after writing that post, I picked up a classic sterling silver Tiffany belt buckle on eBay. Since it already had an engraving and a few scuffs, my winning bid was much, much less than the $225 retail price of a new buckle from Tiffany’s. Derek had mentioned to me that most people don’t realize that the engraving can often be removed by a jeweler, and that’s evident given that I purchased the buckle for about half of what a few blank Ralph Lauren buckles had gone for a few weeks earlier.

I may opt to keep the engraving, though: more on that later.

I found myself frequently revisiting an old post on A Trip Down South for background research: turns out the #1 Google result for “engine-turned belt buckle” is a menswear blogger. Awesome. The comments from that post pointed me to Beltmaster as a good source for belt straps with no holes; I ended up getting a cordovan one for $18 + $6 shipping.

It wasn’t until my fourth or fifth visit to Trip’s post that I realized he’d sourced a relatively affordable engine-turned buckle: Dann Clothing sells 1” Trafalgar engine-turned buckles for $55, with your choice of gold or silver-plate, and free monogramming thrown in.

The downside is that shipping is expensive; almost $20 to California! In total, a Trafalgar buckle from Dann Clothing and a belt strap from Beltmaster will run you just over $98 shipped to California; that’s more than Rugby’s engine-turned buckle belt.

That’s a lot. But I’d consider this for one reason: options. Dann Clothing offers two types of buckles at $55 (plus free monogramming), and Beltmaster offers 10 different belt strap leathers. If you don’t balk at spending $100 on a belt and want flexibility, this could be the way to go.