The Twitch
More than three years ago, Trevor Derrheim recognized a trend coming in the golf fashion world. It was the emergence of a younger, sleeker look in golf specific clothing. As a teaching professional Trevor often heard the frustration from tour players and junior golfers about the God-aweful, traditional garb they were being forced to wear due to the lack of options.
Fast forward to 2009 and you will now see nearly 40 Tour players wearing a 59 Belt and buckle, made and designed by Trevor Derrheim. “The timing was certainly good. We launched about a year before Anthony Kim gained notoriety with his blinged-out buckle, so people were beginning to see the belt as a viable fashion item.”
Rory McIlroy sporting some 59 style at the 2009 Shell Houston Open.
But a 59 belt is not just a thing to hold up your trousers, its a beautiful piece of art as well. It takes just under two hours for each belt to be milled from a single block of high quality, stainless steel and then hand polished. Upon completion, each buckle is fully adaptable to fit any number of colourful 59 belts. It is truly one of those great items that you will just stare at.
Unfortunately, a 59 buckle is not for everyone, but no great product is. With a price tag around $300 for a custom design, it has a select market. That’s why he came up with a product that I believe will be ridiculously successful.
It’s called the Switch, and it’s half the price, but its twice the fun. Also made from milled stainless steel, the Switch, and its sister, the Twitch, are adorned with interchangeable, magnetic,coloured numbers. This takes the one dimensional belt into the realm of super-swag. At $159, the Switch and Twitch are more affordable, as are the numbers, at just $15 per set. So far the sales have been very promising. Very cleaver, Trevor.
“59 most importantly, is about quality and functionality,” states Derrheim. “Most belts you find on the market today have a certain life expectancy due to the fact that almost every manufacturer of belts on the market today have their belt straps sewn to the buckle. Our buckles will virtually last forever, and with the ability to order high quality replacement belt straps from time to time an investment of a few hundred dollars can actually save our customers money in the long run.”
Mike Weir made sure Nickelback was well equipped. Here is the custom buckle he had made for the band.
With good use of inbound marketing techniques, and a tour penetration that most companies would pay millions for, 59 Belts is creating quite a buzz around the golf community. I’m looking forward to seeing what the 59 Team comes up with next, it could be epic.
To order a buckle of your own, or to check out all the cool stuff at 59 belts, go to www.59belts.com
December 30, 2009 at 10:00 am
Very nice but as a woman I think you should also push the buckle for women and list or show some of the ladies on the LPGA that are wearing this fabulous buckle. Nice job Scott!!!!!!