Briefcase Appreciation thread

[rach2jlc]

While Valletta makes an excellent product,the type of leather used will simply not wear as well as bridle leather used in briefcases made in England. Italian leather tends to be glazed and show scratches in a bad way. When bridle leather scratches it actually adds character to the bag. And natural leather develops a beautiful patina with use where as coated leathers only scratch and do not patina wonderfully.

It's a completely different aesthetic; it's hard to compare the two. Valextra's grained calfskin is nice because it's soft and lightweight and available in dozens of colors.

 

[clee1982]

By the way what happened to Pierpont I knew he dropped from affiliate a while back (got a briefcase from him right before that actually), looks like his website is gone and IG hasn’t been active since 2018

 

[Reloc8]

Do any members still appreciate the wonderful bridle leather traditional briefcases made in England. I still think they are best briefcases made for classic style and longevity

I love them and truly admire the craftsmanship even though fir me personally they are not right for my look.

I work in an extremely formal environment, which some might think would suit one of these well. However I find this style of case runs my look too close for comfort to a "costume". Just my own personal perspective of course.

 

[clee1982]

By the way what happened to Pierpont I knew he dropped from affiliate a while back (got a briefcase from him right before that actually), looks like his website is gone and IG hasn’t been active since 2018

no one?

 

[Equus Leather]

no one?

I think he shut up shop quite quickly. Didn't really know him, leatherwork is a tough business though

 

[Concordia]

Not the primary focus of this thread, but I found an excellent stop-gap here: https://vaschy.com/collections/mess...m-messenger-bag-shoulder-bag-fits-15-6-laptop

$50, and seemingly quite functional.

 

[Equus Leather]

Little bit or briefcase Appreciation for you all - I posted this in our affiliate thread but seemed appropriate here too. English Oak Bark Tanned Bridle leather, solid brass lock, traditional solid copper hand peened rivets, each piece made in England. We're just getting ready to stitch it. This is part of the front panel of one of our briefcases - you can see them here for some more photos

Charlie

 

[Vizard]

Do any members still appreciate the wonderful bridle leather traditional briefcases made in England. I still think they are best briefcases made for classic style and longevity

I bought a Tusting Pimlico in tan a few weeks ago.

It's nice but I am going to have to put up with, errr, the patinated look. The leather is basically a sponge, which absorbs any liquid that it touches. Obviously if that is clean water all is fine, but anything else marks it.

 

[SimonC]

I bought a Tusting Pimlico in tan a few weeks ago.

It's nice but I am going to have to put up with, errr, the patinated look. The leather is basically a sponge, which absorbs any liquid that it touches. Obviously if that is clean water all is fine, but anything else marks it.

Give it a decade’s hard use and one mark becomes indistinguishable from the next. Or just get black bridle leather, though I’ve always seen that as missing the point somewhat...

 

[sclemmons]

I got a Frank Clegg double gusset in chocolate shrunken leather. It is a well made, natural finish, it develops character and it doesn't show water spots. I won't do a second tan leather case after having the first.

 

[Jr Mouse]

I think he shut up shop quite quickly. Didn't really know him, leatherwork is a tough business though

Yeah I tried emailing him a while back and didn’t hear anything. I’m guessing you are right about his business shutting down. Sad too as he did good work. I really like the wallet I bought from him.

 

[Leander walker]

The Eques briefcases are gorgeous. Looks as nice as Ettinger or Swaine Adeney

 

[Woofa]

Thrifted this levenger case the other day for $5. came with a nice developing patina already.

 

[Viral]

Any recommendations for a lightweight-yet-stylish briefcase? Usually have a 14" laptop w/ charger.

Prefer leather but nylon would also do...........Google searching led me all over and seemed to be dominated by Tumi.

Any info is appreciated!

 

[Equus Leather]

The Eques briefcases are gorgeous. Looks as nice as Ettinger or Swaine Adeney

Thank you, Im glad you like them. The comparison is interesting. In a lot of ways the case that's photographed in this thread is inspired by SAB, but SAB from 40 or 50 years ago. I grew up with stuff of theirs of that era and have a huge amount of respect for it - part of what inspired my interest in leatherwork in the first place. As a result the style is very reminiscent of an SAB or other English case, but our aim was to take the quality and details to the level we felt they should be, so for eg the leather is all JFJ Baker bridle butt (Sedgwick as an alternative), the fittings are all individually hand picked and polished, all the components are made in England and for a case with Brass fittings the fittings and rivets are all solid brass or copper so they last forever without wearing down to steel on the rivets (palladium over brass as an alternative). The point of cases like this is to be largely unlined for longevity and lightness, which ours is, but where the leather has to be thinned down, like the gusset, the address label, areas like that, we fully lined and stitch so there aren't any ugly bits of split leather to touch. We also hand stitch everything, so literally the whole case is hand stitched, not just the handle, burnish rather than paint the edges, etc etc. The result is somthing that's rarther more expensive than a modern SAB, but somthing we're comfortable that all off the ingredients have been selected to last a whole life time or more, and that the price increment is justified to get the quality we wanted to produce

Charlie