They did offer the Binda "Extra extra" model, or whatever it was called, which was woven nylon laminated between two strips of leather. Those were the cat's meow. Haven't seen a pair of those on ebay in years.

New ones aren't laminated that I can see.

I think it is a good guess someone is having the buckles replicated in China. Cheap and easy to do over there. Unlike in Italy.
But the low volume sales potential makes it a bit baffling to comtemplate.