Restoring an old Swaine Adeney Brigg attache - Photos

You might remember a week or so ago there was a thread here where a gent found an old, hand-sewn SAB attache in a storage locker of a man who either died or stopped paying for said locker, or both. That case was then, a few days later, put on sale in B&S, and I promptly purchased it with the thoughts that A) it was worse than it looked in the seller's photos and B) that I could probably work a little bit of magic and hopefully restore it a bit. Now, I know that some people prefer to keep very old, very used things looking that way, and I do as well - to a point. Take for example the once vibrant and rich solid brass locks. This is what they looked like when I received the case: Very old, corroded, patinated. Sure, this can be left alone but to me it was more dirty and less "patina". I used a wonderful product called Simichrome, and I think the results are pretty good. Note that the before looks better than it really did, and the after looks worse than it really does. I am not 100% done with these, as I need to find a small enough brush to get into the very deep, small crevices and areas around the rivets better. Next, I decided to condition the leather a bit with Saphir Renovateur, with the hopes that it would A) work as a conditioner and B) cover up some of the pretty pronounced scuffing and marking on the case. Before. You can see the leather is begging for nourishment here. After using Saphir Renovateur only. (please don't mind the dirty rug - our dog loves to run straight there after walking through puddles ) As you can see at this point the case looks a bit better. It appears to be more rejuvenated and some of the scuffing has been reduced. However, I was still not satisfied with its appearance. I e-mailed a member of this forum (I will add his name if he wants me to) and asked for some advice. He told me that, despite that many people think, a bit of polish can help a case look better as long as you remove all excess polish prior to use. So I did just that using Kiwi Premium Paste, in the color brown. After one coat: At this point, the case is probably 90% of the way to where I want it. I need to polish the brass a bit more, and maybe hit it with one more coat of Saphir. For now, I am left to think if I want to keep or sell.

have you ever seen the episodes of antiques road show where they're all

"this piece would be worth fifty thousand dollars in its original condition, but since it has been re-finished and the brass pieces have been scrubbed of their patina, you might get $75 for it at the police auction."

How old are you? I think a nice worn in case could work well if you conceivably had been the one to wear it in.

Originally Posted by Douglas

Click to expand...

have you ever seen the episodes of antiques road show where they're all

"this piece would be worth fifty thousand dollars in its original condition, but since it has been re-finished and the brass pieces have been scrubbed of their patina, you might get $75 for it at the police auction."

Of course.

people on SF love to fix things up! now it looks like patine. keep it moo

I love it!

Originally Posted by Douglas

Click to expand...

have you ever seen the episodes of antiques road show where they're all

"this piece would be worth fifty thousand dollars in its original condition, but since it has been re-finished and the brass pieces have been scrubbed of their patina, you might get $75 for it at the police auction."

this was never worth fifty thousand dollars. c'mon douglas - that's a fail right there!

Congrats on the case Moo.
Were it me, I would have been more patient with procedures of restoration.
The brass work you have done looks wonderful. The case itself needed only one application of conditioner?
For one that age I would have applied conditioner at least 3 times over 1 week,
letting dry and buffing with a soft cotton cloth between applications.
I can't say that I agree at all with the use of polish. It will most certainly rub off onto your clothes.
This is inevitable since polish can never be as resilient to usage as dye would be.
If I were to re-dye this case I would use an airbrush to apply the dye, and only in stages.
That is the only way to do it without leaving streaks.
You can always remove that polish with acetone, but keep us updated on the progress.
By the way, what overall condition is the leather in? is it pliable or stiff, and if stiff, is it cardboard stiff or just thirsty stiff.?

Moo before you get in over your head bring the case to someone who restores saddles. There are things you need to know about the leather before you start slathering stuff all over it.

I remember the thread where that was first posted and I thought it looked great then.

Now it looks downright sexy. Great job, OP.

Nice work.
It looks good now. Kept the character but doesn't look ratty.

Moo, after seeing some of your sharp fits I would guess this sort of bag doesn't fit the bill for you unless you plan on toting it whilst wearing boots.

I would promptly send it out to a saddler for a full refurb (or ever SAB if cost effective).

Or, you can do as I instructed the OOP, roof it

Originally Posted by BrooklynWeGoHard

Click to expand...

people on SF love to fix things up! now it looks like patine. keep it moo

Thank you.

Originally Posted by LukeM

Click to expand...

I love it!

Originally Posted by Man Of Lint

Click to expand...

Congrats on the case Moo.
Were it me, I would have been more patient with procedures of restoration.
The brass work you have done looks wonderful. The case itself needed only one application of conditioner?
For one that age I would have applied conditioner at least 3 times over 1 week,
letting dry and buffing with a soft cotton cloth between applications.
I can't say that I agree at all with the use of polish. It will most certainly rub off onto your clothes.
This is inevitable since polish can never be as resilient to usage as dye would be.
If I were to re-dye this case I would use an airbrush to apply the dye, and only in stages.
That is the only way to do it without leaving streaks.
You can always remove that polish with acetone, but keep us updated on the progress.
By the way, what overall condition is the leather in? is it pliable or stiff, and if stiff, is it cardboard stiff or just thirsty stiff.?

The leather was still pliable... but of course, it is directly attached to some sort of fiber board or something like that, so it is hard to distinguish the leather the board in terms of feel. It FELT pretty dry.

Re: polish... we shall see. I think a lot of people just use a lot of polish and it inevitably comes off on clothing. After polishing one side, I turned the case over and rested it on a pair of lighter wool pants and there were no ill effects after I took it off.

I do not think I will be re-dying this case.

Originally Posted by Crane's

Click to expand...

Moo before you get in over your head bring the case to someone who restores saddles. There are things you need to know about the leather before you start slathering stuff all over it.

Tell me more of what you have in mind? I did a lot of reading before doing anything to it. I know there is leather food that can also be applied, but I chose Saphir Reno instead.

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

Click to expand...

I remember the thread where that was first posted and I thought it looked great then.

Now it looks downright sexy. Great job, OP.

Originally Posted by heaven7

Click to expand...

Nice work.
It looks good now. Kept the character but doesn't look ratty.

Thanks guys. Exactly what I am trying to achieve.

Originally Posted by NORE

Click to expand...

Moo, after seeing some of your sharp fits I would guess this sort of bag doesn't fit the bill for you unless you plan on toting it whilst wearing boots.

I would promptly send it out to a saddler for a full refurb (or ever SAB if cost effective).

Or, you can do as I instructed the OOP, roof it

Do you mean it won't look good in an office setting? I am 50/50 on selling it.

Not sure what roofing it means.

As for a refurbish at a professional site... I am pretty sure this is not necessary. There is no need for major, massive overhauling as the stitching, interior, handle, and brass are near perfect.

It's a pity what you have done to the case, slapping all kinds of stuff on it, when all it really needed was a moist cloth rub followed by some bridle feed.