I'd be mighty careful with the hood pierce, especially when the leather is still slippery and your position may change. (good lord, that sounded like a line from BLE 20/01!)

If you really needed the cut-out, your ring would've been catching on the edges of the cut-out every time you shifted back or forward, eh?

Depending on the saddle you choose, it might be black leather with silver rivets. (mine has silver) Black leather is always sexy, whatever rivets you end up with.

There are narrower Brooks saddles you could get back on. I'm thinking "Swift", but I'd have to go back to www.wallbike.com to check. Maybe it was "Swallow". (oh, jeez, another ad for Cleis Press...)

Edit: for the price difference, you might just be happier with a B17-Narrow rather than the other two I mentioned. Same dimensions. http://www.wallbike.com/B17.html