Equus Leather - English Handstitched Bridle Leather Belts - Official Affiliate and Review Thread

[Equus Leather]

Got it. Could one request a darker piece of oak?

Yes, certainly, we're always open to requests and we'll always try to help. It’s a slightly difficult one to execute at our end though so it can cause delays. The colour range is fairly random, so we might only have medium or light for a while and so the belt can potentially take ages depending on what leather we have and we get. As long as that’s fine it’s not at all a problem and we’re happy to try to use just what you want for the belt though

 

[am55]

Finally received my belts! Just in time for a 4 day business trip, going to be tough picking which to pack...

First impression is, I shouldn't have chosen such a small height (1"/25mm). It works for my thinner calf belts, but the thickness of the bridle leather calls for more height - which you can see on most of Charlie's photos is what the more experienced customer will pick. It isn't just the leather, but the buckles themselves which are thicker than anything I own, matching the leather (as I could expect from Charlie's work). On the upside, the shorter height means a more flexible belt (vertically speaking, for those of us frontally challenged by too epicurean a life) and they feel indestructible anyway. Some of my trousers have quite small loops which may not have survived the extra 30% I'd now pick. Also, the thin height and thick belt reminds me a bit of actual bridles from faraway memories of horse riding...

The second impression I got from the thread and photos that is corrected is the idea that the Bakers oak bark tanned leather is less formal than the Sedwick and inappropriate for work occasions. In fact, it is quite smooth and just happens to have a museum calf like depth to it. If I had known, I might have picked a steel buckle again instead of brass. But it will do for chinos. In fact I'm a bit sad I forgot to add Bakers samples...

Third, the stitches are thick! This is of course part of the point. But again, from the photos I didn't quite realise how thick. Neither the ecru lin cable nor the heavy off-white lin cable look different to me, at least in colour or thickness.

Finally, I was very tempted not to let Charlie apply the recommended matching colour to the sides, I preferred something with less contrast. But I thought, he probably knows what he is doing, and it was worth it because the deeper, marbled red of the edges on the London Tan are very nice in real life.

So fat:

That the back of neat stitching is never as neat is one of these facts of life I know but don't get because I haven't thought about the mechanics of it yet. And this is another example of the same:

Back of the Shackleton (are the salt stains part of the tanning process? why would it go from dark to light in such a neat line?):

Shiny brass:

West End London Tan again:

I hope to find the time to do some shots of the details with a micro lens.

For comparison's sake, this is a Markowski belt, about a decade old, that cost me around $40-50 new and is representative of what I've seen at Meermin etc.:

Side by side with the Shackleton:

 

[Equus Leather]

Finally received my belts! Just in time for a 4 day business trip, going to be tough picking which to pack...

First impression is, I shouldn't have chosen such a small height (1"/25mm). It works for my thinner calf belts, but the thickness of the bridle leather calls for more height - which you can see on most of Charlie's photos is what the more experienced customer will pick. It isn't just the leather, but the buckles themselves which are thicker than anything I own, matching the leather (as I could expect from Charlie's work). On the upside, the shorter height means a more flexible belt (vertically speaking, for those of us frontally challenged by too epicurean a life) and they feel indestructible anyway. Some of my trousers have quite small loops which may not have survived the extra 30% I'd now pick. Also, the thin height and thick belt reminds me a bit of actual bridles from faraway memories of horse riding...

The second impression I got from the thread and photos that is corrected is the idea that the Bakers oak bark tanned leather is less formal than the Sedwick and inappropriate for work occasions. In fact, it is quite smooth and just happens to have a museum calf like depth to it. If I had known, I might have picked a steel buckle again instead of brass. But it will do for chinos. In fact I'm a bit sad I forgot to add Bakers samples...

Third, the stitches are thick! This is of course part of the point. But again, from the photos I didn't quite realise how thick. Neither the ecru lin cable nor the heavy off-white lin cable look different to me, at least in colour or thickness.

Finally, I was very tempted not to let Charlie apply the recommended matching colour to the sides, I preferred something with less contrast. But I thought, he probably knows what he is doing, and it was worth it because the deeper, marbled red of the edges on the London Tan are very nice in real life.

So fat:

<snip>

That the back of neat stitching is never as neat is one of these facts of life I know but don't get because I haven't thought about the mechanics of it yet. And this is another example of the same:

<snip>

Back of the Shackleton (are the salt stains part of the tanning process? why would it go from dark to light in such a neat line?):

<snip>

Shiny brass:

<snip>

West End London Tan again:

<snip>

I hope to find the time to do some shots of the details with a micro lens.

For comparison's sake, this is a Markowski belt, about a decade old, that cost me around $40-50 new and is representative of what I've seen at Meermin etc.:

<snip>

Side by side with the Shackleton:

<snip>

Im glad they got there and are well received!

Stitching on the reverse of somthing thats hand stitched is very often a little less tidy than the front. The mechanics are that there is a line of stitch marks, not holes penetrating through the leather but marks to guide the awl the craftsperson stitching it uses to make the whole. The front of the stitch is therefore more or less perfectly regular, the back is much more demanding to make neat as the stitch mark on the front doesn't determine the vertical or horizontal way the awl goes through the leather, simply the slant, so its down to skill that the awl pops put of the back of the belt in a regular manner - particularly hard on thick or hard leathers like the Bakers because the distance the awl has to go through the leather and the force applied is higher. After the keeper section the back of the stitching on the BLT belt is really rather good.

We use a totally different technique for somthing like a wallet for eg, where there is no obvious front or back and both sides of the stitching have to be perfect. What we have to do there is stitch mark both the back and the front of the wallet in two separate pieces, one in right hand stitch marks and one in left, and then ensure they are perfectly lined up as we assemble the product into its final form and then we can make a perfect mirror image stitch mark front and back. We've also developed a different method again for the reverse of Calf Lined and Raised that produces a similar effect.

Its interesting to note the back of machine stitching is more or less never as nice as the front either. It should be regular, but a machine stitched belt thats trying to imitate saddle stitch with an angled front stitch will have a flat back stitch.

This is one of our older videos, but it shows quite a lot of single sided stitch marking and how the stitching is physically done



Theres probably far more info that you ever wanted on the mechanics of stitching

The differing colour for the reverse of the Shackleton is down to differing penetration of the grease used to make it Harness leather I suspect. The finishing on the back of the Bakers leather can be somewhat inconsistent, and its visible as we have all of our Bakers leathers made without dye on the backs of the leather to protect trousers.

Hope that helps!

Charlie

 

[ThinkDerm]

Charlie, ETA on my L&R belt? possible for Q3 2018? Hope you are feeling better.

 

[Equus Leather]

Charlie, ETA on my L&R belt? possible for Q3 2018? Hope you are feeling better.

Thank you, getting better now slowly I think.

Yes, that’s totally possible. The balls in your court for the timining of this one one really, we left it that you wanted to leave it a few months when we spoke last, happy to get it done ASAP once the next few belts are done if you want it sooner

 

[ThinkDerm]

Let's do it to have received by September!

 

[Equus Leather]

Let's do it to have received by September!

Sure thing - you'll need to let me know about sizing though. Drop me a PM

 

[am55]

Thanks for replying Charlie, and I hope you are recovering well.

Yes, that explanation makes sense - I didn't realise you had to punch through the leather with the needle and of course it would then be hard to figure out where it comes out.

I think the Shackleton is the first belt I wear on a long flight without feeling it - very comfortable stuff. Both the buckle and the belt have a unique sheen in low light conditions which bring warmth to an outfit quite nicely. I initially regretted the yellow brass, but it has grown on me quite quickly.

My only regret is I am a good 10 years away from these belts looking their best, at least! They are so robust I think that is how long a decent patina will take.

 

[Equus Leather]

Thanks for replying Charlie, and I hope you are recovering well.

Yes, that explanation makes sense - I didn't realise you had to punch through the leather with the needle and of course it would then be hard to figure out where it comes out.

I think the Shackleton is the first belt I wear on a long flight without feeling it - very comfortable stuff. Both the buckle and the belt have a unique sheen in low light conditions which bring warmth to an outfit quite nicely. I initially regretted the yellow brass, but it has grown on me quite quickly.

My only regret is I am a good 10 years away from these belts looking their best, at least! They are so robust I think that is how long a decent patina will take.

Yes, I think thats a fair estimate 5-10 years should see a belt that looks well used and travelled in my experience if the Bakers belts. They really do get better with age if you enjoy the lived in look.

<pedant>
Strictly we dont use needles to make the hole, we mark it with the pricking iron, and then when you're stitching you use a diamond (shaped not coated) awl to make the hole all the way through the leather, and then the needles (there are two) have a correctly shaped hole to pass through. The awl does the real work. At 4:47 in the video below (its one of our watch straps being stitched), you can see the awl, needle, needle sequence better

</pedant>

 

[patrick_b]

Just received this link and found it as fascinating as all of Charlie's well made videos. Never knew I needed an alligator Lloyd Coat wallet until now.

 

[Equus Leather]

Just received this link and found it as fascinating as all of Charlie's well made videos. Never knew I needed an alligator Lloyd Coat wallet until now.

Well we aim to tempt

Thank you for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the film. We’re actually just starting to plan the next one, to be shot in September

 

[am55]

They are good movies indeed! Very helpful and worth a thousand words.

There are many steps - with the wallets and strap - where you apply glue to the two surfaces. How long does this glue keep together? Does it even matter once the stitches are in?

 

[Equus Leather]

They are good movies indeed! Very helpful and worth a thousand words.

There are many steps - with the wallets and strap - where you apply glue to the two surfaces. How long does this glue keep together? Does it even matter once the stitches are in?

Yes - everything double sided, like wallets, watch strap, calf L&Rs are glued together initially. From the point of view of construction, the glue is never structural, it only holds things together for long enough to be stitiched, and thats what gives the products the strength, both structurally but also at the edges where the most wear happens. For wallets, or anything else with big double sided panels you wouldnt want them to delaminate in the middle either, it wouldn't result in anything falling to pieces, but it wouldnt be attractive. Its never happened to my knowledge, I use our wallets everyday, and Ive never heard of a failure from anywhere in the world. We use the same glue as all the Paris firms so Im confident in the performance and its not something to worry about.

With somthing like a watch strap the glue could fail as soon as the stitching is done and there would be no effect.

My top tip for things like wallets is if they are lined/have double sided components look for all of those components to be fully edge stitched without any gaps or areas that arent stitched. Without that you will eventually always get delamination at the edges. Stitching is really time consuming and there are areas of wallets where the order of work becomes really complex if you are going to stitch everything, so some brands leave little areas unstitched. Really poor workmanship and a guaranteed failure a few years down the line

Charlie

 

[Equus Leather]

Hi Guys,

Ive been able to get a couple more of the 40mm Bog Oak buckles - theyre on the website now, get them while you can!

 

[Equus Leather]

A few pages back there where some really nice Black/Slate Grey lin cable photos in Bridle with a Damascus buckle. Heres a quite different take on the same theme, Black Baranil, Slate Grey Lin Cable, solid Sterling Silver Mayfair. Its a very subtle combo, I like it a lot