#leathercraftman

[sketchthesoul]

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I made myself a black belt...#tonykoehl #leatherwork #leatherbelt #dyi #leathercraftman (at Covina, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqkt7kNlvGb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1t0f4i7mmg1tk

[chaerimk]

New color, one of a kind! #leathercraftman #handmade #usamade #oneofakind

[chaerimk]

Summer color ready!! #cherryred #leathercraftman #leathercraft #handcrafted #handmade #usamade #altelier

[chaerimk]

Testing out new bag handle style. #leathercraft #madeinusa #handcrafted #leathercraftman

[chaerimk]

Not a fan of gold but i think it is good to have options. #handmade #leathercraftman

[bhndme--blog]

. . . #handcraft #leathercraft #leathergoods #handmade #leathercraftman #leatherwallet #cardholder #vegtan #leatheraddict #leather #craftmanship #ootdindo #indonesialeathergoods #leathertannery #bespokewallet #simplewallet #localbrand #handcut #handstitching #handburnishing #edgeburnishing #derijicilik

[jmyersco]

The Leather Trail: Part 1

I always felt one of the biggest value add to a leather company, is the quality and consistency of their leather source. Nothing sets our our hearts pounding, and the mind racing more than holding a gorgeous piece of leather, and immediately dreaming of what we can make with it.

In the past, we were limited to stockist & agents, each with their own merits, while some of the few tanneries we worked directly had their fair share of challenges as well.

Thus began our little adventure to source for tanneries which would tick all the right boxes on our hunt for leather.

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Our first stop brought us to Italy, the home of fine leather goods.

To say that the Italians live and breathe leather is not an exaggeration. We visited entire towns where practically everyone ( including their parents, friends, cousins, school mates ) worked in the leather industry. During noon, everyone would just head home ( which is next to their workplace ) for lunch with the family, and then back to work again after.

In one such town, we finally arrived at what some would consider the holy grail... Cordovan Leather tannery.

According to Roberto, our friendly contact at the Conceria, only 2 tanneries in Italy produces Cordovan, theirs being one of them. Taking us inside, he patiently walked us through each process, explaining the difference between Italian / Japanese / American Cordovan, and the steps that goes in its creation.

Having been in operation for almost a hundred years, it certainly felt like a step back in time. The building was antique, the drums looked well seasoned, and the tanning we saw were all done with traditional methods that have been tried and tested with time. It was a really small outfit of perhaps 10 staff, and the limited quantity produced a month really highlights why this particular leather commands such a premium.

The end result though were....absolutely gorgeous.

Each piece was an excellent balance between stiffness and suppleness, it wasn’t overly hard that you will have trouble working with, yet flexible enough to bend and fold without leaving permanent creases. The finishing though, was the highlight, and felt so much more natural than most of the cordovans we worked with before ( those are beautiful in their own right, but can feel plasticky when not used correctly ).

What really impressed me was that they carefully only cut the part which is Cordovan ( the horse’s butt check ), and trim away parts which are not, making sure they do not charge their clients more than necessary.

The colour selection is modest, but they wanted to stick with what they are really good at, rather than experimenting and producing substandard pieces.

We knew we had found a winner for Cordovan, especially since we had been to our fair share of trade shows, and have not seen Cordovan with as natural a feel as this.

We proudly now use this leather for our Cordovan projects, and by using leather this good.... We will only get better.

*If you are interested in using this Cordovan for your own leather projects, just drop us an email at [email protected]. We will be more than happy to retail some to you. You can drop by our workshop to see a sample & view the colour swatch*