I'm interested in purchasing a suit of 16th century armor but do not know which makers are of quality. My intention is to have a functional piece and not one for decoration. Also, I'm not lacking of coin.

I look forward to your responses. ( I am new to this site. Apologies if this is posted in the wrong section)

Have you checked the links section of the website? There are numerous armorers listed there.

I saw the various links but i wanted to hear some opinions on purchases made.

... probably the best man for the 16th cent. stuff in Germany is Markus Siefert:

http://plattner-siefert.de/

I had purchased my plate armor from Illusion Armoring. They were phenomenal to work with and everything was of great quality. As a wonderful option (one that I capitalized on) you can even get the work done in stainless steel which might not be historically accurate, but the lessened maintenance is SOOO worth it; and it still takes quite a beating. I've done a lot of sparring in mine. On the other hand, if you want something really lightweight, they'll do work in aluminum, too . . . just don't expect it to take anywhere near the beating of either steel types.

However, looking at their page I noticed they haven't updated in quite a while (over a year, now). They could just be that backlogged, or -God forbid- something else could have happened. I know from dealing with them that they're always incredibly busy. When I had my suit made they had like 10-12 months of work on the table, but I got my armor within the projected timeframe.

They might be worth sending an email to, first, to see what's going on if you find things on their page that you're interested in.

You might also look at Armstreet. They make beautiful armor, and do it to your body specs. Maybe not 100% historically accurate, but also worth a look at. :) ....McM

There are some good threads:

https://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=30670&view=previous

Also Armour archive can have good information.

http://www.armourarchive.org/

Joe A....That last statement you made is just plain, good, all-around advice--and 100% true. Whether it be for armor, a custom sword, a custom car, a house.....yep! ;) :D .......McM