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Everybody who is anybody in Aspen wears a Hayes handmade belt
buckle.
Some of our first buckles were made for Gary Cooper and Stein
Erickson among others in the dawn of Aspen as a ski town after the 1949
FIS races.
Over the years, our Aspen leaves have became a sign of secret
fraternity among members of the local community, the international
skiing community, and everyone whose heart sings with the mountains or
who has a special attachment to Aspen.
From National leaders of State and business, celebrities, renowned
ski racers, local mountain men and women. With our Aspen leaf, you declare that you
belong.
Our business has by turns survived and thrived, and is today imbedded
in the history of Aspen itself. Our jewelry has gone to World Cup ski
racers, Winterskol Queens, Fire Department heroes, Roche Cup winners,
and thousands of local and international personalities.
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Why are our Aspen Leaves
special?
Established in 1949, Hayes Co. created the first Aspen Leaf jewelry
line and belt buckles, and they are still made by the same family of
craftsmen today, spanning 60 years of Aspen History.

Jess Bates with her brother on an Aspen street 1965
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Why are Hayes items so expensive?
Why do they last so long?
Both of these answers relate to our high standards of craftsmanship
and commitment to quality. Our belt buckles and other items are not cast
metal, they are hand wrought and work-hardened; a process which makes
them exceptionally durable (but time consuming to create).
Gold and silver have the wonderful property of being malleable; the
ability to deform under compressive stress. As the metal is compressed,
it undergoes changes in it's molecular shape (see explanation to the
right) which make it more durable and resistant to wear.
We start our belt buckles from 1.5mm rolled sheet and wire which is
already tempered and tensioned from the rolling process under huge
presses at the metal refinery. This gives us a very dense metal to begin
with.

The buckle shapes are cut and filed by hand

Then the plates are hammered into a beautiful curve. This further
compresses and tensions the metal.

The Aspen leaves are each created individually and hand engraved with
steel chisels and a pneumatic hammer which leaves a hardened, compressed
groove on the surface, resistant to wear.

All our Aspen Leaf jewelry is unconditionally lifetime guaranteed.
Our belt buckles have survived house fires, motorcycle crashes, and
multiple generations of daily wear. They are treasures and heirlooms,
and over time will bear all the marks of your life.
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Durability; how it works: Gold and silver in a raw, un-worked state (such as cast
or plated metal) has a
rounded molecular structure. Consequently, the contact points with other
molecules is slight, and individual molecules are easily picked off by
abrasion and lost (wear).

Un-worked metal is also somewhat porous; there are gaps between the
uncompressed molecules. This makes the metal brittle and prone to
breaking. It lacks tensile strength.
When malleable metal is compressed (hammered, rolled, etc) the
molecules flatten and elongate, and several things happen:

- The most important change is that the molecules now have much
greater surface contact with one another, and they are not so
easily scraped off by abrasion.
- The larger surface tension makes the metal more resistant to
bending, so it is less easily dented.
- The metal becomes more dense as gaps between the
molecules are squeezed out.
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We achieve a flawless surface by painstakingly cross filing of the
convex shape. and pre-buffing for 40 minutes by hand.

The buckle is assembled with high-temperature welding (1200 degrees F) which
results in an indestructible, permanent bond.

Finally, the buckle is boiled in acid to clean it and hand-buffed for
another 30 minutes to achieve a deep polish. But the truth is; our Aspen
Leaves become MORE beautiful with daily use and abuse. They are the most
durable belt buckles that you will find.
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