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Is the world ready for the $2000 baseball cap?

By Larry Knowles

September 4, 2006

San Diego--If you thought $20 was a lot to pay for a baseball cap, think about $2000.

A San Diego company is offering what is believed to be the world’s most expensive baseball cap. At $1999, the Zerino “Elita,” a black cotton and leather ball cap with a 22 karat gold top button, is nearly twenty times as expensive as the high-end caps sold by competing cap makers.

Zerino International, an eight year-old privately-held headwear company, released the Elita in late 2004 with the aim of creating an ultra high-end ball cap market. Other headwear manufacturers, however, have yet to follow suit.

Potochnik points out that Zerino stands alone in the segment, adding that the closest competitor is New Era, the company that supplies caps to Major League Baseball. The most expensive cap offered by New Era retails for approximately $120.

“Men wear caps more than any other kind of headwear in the world, yet until now, there was no high-quality segment,” Potochnik says.

The Elita is no ordinary ball cap. It boasts an all-silk interior, a serial number plate by the rear tag, a removable 22 karat gold top button, and a 22 karat gold “Z” moniker on the front panel.

It also arrives in a mahogany display case that allows owners to show off their Elita the way a person might show off cigars in a humidor. “Now you can display something that ninety-three percent of all men wear,” Potochnik says.

Potochnik says that the Elita is marketed toward those with “discriminating tastes and high discretionary income,” and primarily suited for formal and semi-formal events.

Those who don’t have $2000 to spend on a ball cap may want to consider Zerino’s more affordable caps. For $189, one can purchase the “Silken,” an all-silk ball cap that comes in a black carry pouch.

With premium price comes premium quality. Potochnik says that Zerino keeps a close eye on quality control and performs a seven-point inspection on each cap that includes hand-washing each cap twice before it reaches the customer.

The Zerino web site adds that “any cap that fails to meet our exacting standards is promptly destroyed.”

For more information, visit www.zerino.com. (Note: Rob Potochnik writes about aviation for Vyuz.com.)

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