I have received a few cheaper versions of this belt and it was obvious as soon as I opened this one up. The belt looks like real leather and is sewn on the sides. The gripping portion of the buckle is the full width of the belt, not just part of it, and keeps the end fairly tight. Another belt I bought keeps coming off and I'm buying leather clasps to fix it. This is clearly a cheap Chinese imitation. This should last a lot longer.