What is the difference between a Cuenca panama hat and a Montecristi Panama hat?

Question

What is the difference between a Cuenca panama hat and a Montecristi Panama hat?

Answer 1

I live in Ecuador, and I am glad to see someone asking such a complex and specific question...

Cuenca and MonteCristi are both towns in Ecuador. Montecristi is on the coast, and Cuenca is near the south-central of the country, in the mountains.

Panama Hats from Montecristi are made of finer straw and take months to complete. They are smoked with sulfur to obtain their color, and can be reshaped. Panama Hats from Cuenca are made much more quickly, their shape is received from a machine press, and they are bleached. They cannot be reshaped.

Hats from Cuenca are not bad, but they are cheaper (cost) and do not last as long. The more expensive Panama Hats, the ones made famous throughout the world, that are made of finely woven straw, are most likely from MonteCristi.  

I have seen a Montecristi Panama Hat cost as much as $300 USD.