Here is the quick version of what I did in photo form:To read about the absurd grifter hoax surrounding the history of these buckles, just follow the link in the comments!Happy to add more context and discussion of the buckle, and the "repair" upon request :)The finished and mounted buckle after a few weeks of wearThe original state of the buckle - I made a small incision in the leather on an old and cheap belt to try it onI continued, using Wright's Brass Polish, multiple soft tee shirts, and a tooth brush to polish the buckle as best I could. This took hours. At this point, I began to hear judgmental Redditors yelling at me for daring to disturb the \"natural patina\". What I found underneath the mild actual patina was a copious amount of jet black soot (or maybe ink? ) that had been rubbed on to feign authentic wear.Finally, having finished removing the buckle that came with the belt (I used a metal saw to carefully cut it in half, and slid it out of the strap), I slipped the wire loop on the back of the buckle around the loop on the strap. I widened a single hole on the belt, ever so slightly, using a very sharp blade. Working the metal tab on the buckle gently around and through the widened slit... my pants remained up! It was time to take a very low quality picture for the internet to laugh at :) via /r/DIY http://bit.ly/2Cm5i1V
