How Does Leather Age?

Leather is very well known for its resistance to wear and tear.

I'm often asked 'How well does xyz leather cope with daily use?'

Some leathers improve with use, gaining a patina and a character of their own from the oils in our own hands that the leather naturally absorbs without any treatment or special care or conditioning.

Leather needs some care and conditioning of course, I've seen and I've owned leather items myself that are over 35 years old that have had very little treatment or care in their life time, yet a quick wipe down and may be some leather conditioning treatment and they look as good as new again.

I bought this holdall bag in 1985 in Cyprus it has been cleaned and treated once in all that time. Yes it is showing its age and I have had to redo some stitching but it still has a lot of life left in it!

This is my A5 Custom Van der Spek that I received in July 2014, the interior leather is an untreated nappa leather, very prone to picking up oils from our hands and becoming much darker.

Here it is again in June 2017, slightly better lighting (less harsh).

And again this week in August 2020 under similar lighting to 2017

I think it is looking really good! You can see some marks where my finger nails have disturbed the nap of the leather, but otherwise it is fairing up very well.

I have a wallet from Gillio which has had a lot of handling in the last 5-6 years since I bought it.  It is made with the same Epoca leather that their organisers are made with.

And here it is in August 2020, with a story to tell for every mark and darker from all the handling it has had in about 5 years or more!

My Filofax Winchester from over 35 years ago is holding up well, nicely curled over at the edges and at the corners. It's had very little treatment with any care products in the time I've owned it. I repaired the popper button because the plastic cap split and disappeared, but apart from that it is fine.

So with the minimum of care your leather organiser will last a life time or longer.... like my tool case that I was given when I started work over 45 years ago, and it wasn't new when I was given it!

It's due for some maintenance soon in the form of a new zip, I've done it once before about 25 years ago! Time for a new zip.

What is your favourite leather?