Ettinger Leather

Using only the finest calf skins sourced from Alpine grazed cattle herds, this aniline leather is vegetable tanned to preserve the natural beauty of the skins and is finished in a very subtle way to give it an exceptionally silky touch and allow it to burnish naturally. The elegant, earthy shades have great depth of colour, enhanced by the natural skin variations. The buttery soft leather will burnish and therefore darken over time just through normal handling. The little scuffs and marks acquired through normal use can be smoothed over by brushing the leather all over, with the combined effect...

  This very fine calfskin has a smooth, waxy surface giving a lightly glazed impression. Typically made from the thicker parts of the finest full grain skins available, the leather has been vegetable-tanned before getting a classic aniline finish which gives this leather both a natural, smooth look (due to the vegetable tanning) and a more durable colour finish (due to the aniline process). Skin imperfections do show up more with this tanning process, which is why only a very small percentage of skins can be selected to make the finer grade leather which we use. This smooth calfskin leather...

This superb crocodile print leather is made with Italian cowhide, which is chrome tanned, then has an aniline glazed finish and finally is embossed with a crocodile skin pattern. This croc’ print is exquisitely done and once the leather is made into a product it becomes difficult to know it isn’t real crocodile. Truly, this is the most realistic croco print leather we have ever seen! CROCO LEATHER: CARE & WEAR The embossing of the croco print compresses the leather a lot, which means this is a very thin and delicate leather. It is best to treat it as well...

  The most traditionally English of all leathers, bridle hide is pit-tanned using oak bark and various other natural ingredients for many months before it is dried and then colour-finished by hand. The finishing process involves many man hours to apply the natural dyes on top of the leather, then many layers of waxes, tallow and oil to cover and protect the whole surface, giving it a candle-like touch and feel. It is these layers of waxes that will polish up so beautifully over time, producing a unique patina, but left untouched for a few weeks, they will also produce...

ETTINGER'S FINE BRIDLE HIDE Traditional bridle hide is made with very tough cowhides as this leather was used for making horse bridles, saddles and other tack. We prefer to use the skins from younger animals for our wallets; typically we use skins from yearlings, as this means the skins are finer, have less marks and are slightly softer. This is better for making small leather goods to our standards, while still being strong enough to feel like traditional bridle hide. Our bags, however, still use traditional bridle hide as this has more structure and is more durable. Once the skin...