Guest post: 1786 reindeer skin vintage de Villiers - by Harry from Bucklehurst Leather

Thank you, Harry, for this guest post about his de Villiers vintage 1786 reindeer skin super rare binder. Thanks to Monika for sharing the Instagram post in the Facebook group as well. 

We also have some other posts about the de Villiers brand:
https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2014/06/de-villiers-slimline-organiser.html 
https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2014/07/guest-post-de-villiers-on-its-travels.html
https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2018/10/silent-sunday_28.html
https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2018/06/silent-sunday_10.html
https://philofaxy.blogspot.com/2014/07/reboot-your-filofax.html

I have recently acquired a rather interesting organiser and Anita suggested I might like to share some details. I am not a collector, but a leather worker, however when I saw this one for sale I could not resist it, even though it was expensive!

What drew me to it was the Russian hatch grain leather covering, as this came from the wreck of a ship called the Metta Catharina, that sunk in a fierce storm off Plymouth Sound (UK) in 1786.The actual recipe for tanning Russian hatch grain leather seems to have been lost with the Russian Revolution, however the discovery of this ship off Plymouth Sound in 1973 rekindled interest in this leather, as the ships hold had rolls of the leather, and much of it was still perfectly usable, despite having been under the sea for over 200 years.

Russian hatch was treated using birch oil which is a great preservative, and that combined with the leather being in tight rolls helped to keep it from rotting away. The Duchy of Cornwall gave permission for the leather to be raised from the wreck and sold, and over the years it has been used for a wide variety of special projects. It is now extremely rare, and London shoemaker George Cleverly still has a small supply as they offer wallets, watch straps and key rings made from the last of this leather.

As well as the organiser, I have about 20 postage stamp pieces of this original leather, and it's fascinating looking at the hand rollered hatching on the different samples, that are all similar but different, as the leather is believed to have been made by various village communities across Russia.

My binder is stamped inside "de Villiers" and "Made in England", and I understand de Villiers used to have a small shop in Villiers Street alongside Charing Cross station in London. I have been told this model was a top item when sold with a retail price of $895. I have not been able to corroborate this, and I hope that some of the members here may be able to add more detail.

This organiser measures approximately 235mm x 200mm when closed. It has six black Krause 3 cm rings, 10 card pockets and two full length pockets and a flap on the inner left hand, and a flap and an expanding pocket with pen holder on the right hand side. The rings are compatible with Filofax A5 ring configuration and inserts, and I am using it for my leather belt making records.

I have a watch strap that I've made from this leather and I posted a film on YouTube, my channel name is Harry Rogers. I do also sell lovely vegetable tanned leather belts and my website is Bucklehurst Leather. There have been attempts to recreate this lovely leather, and after considerable research and experimentation the F J and J Baker Tannery in Devon have managed to make a very good version, that I use to make compact wallets.

I do hope that sharing some of these details is of interest to some of you, and I would naturally be delighted if anyone can add any information about this binder and de Villiers.