Our Leathers

The use of animal skins by man goes back thousands of years. It is undoubtedly true to say that the leather industry is one of - if not the oldest - industries known to man. As man developed his intelligence he made use of skins to protect his body.

No one can be pointed to as a particular genius in the history of the industry and it is not a history of spectacular inventions or of outstanding contributions by great names, but a steady progress stemming from the experience, integrity and skill of innumerable craftsmen tanners over literally thousands of years.

Leather is made from the skins of any animal, reptile, bird or fish, by a process called tanning. This process preserves the skin, which would otherwise quickly decay or putrefy.

From the primitive methods of early man, the industry today is highly scientifically based and constant research is applied towards improving leathers to fit in with modern living.

With a few exceptions, hides or skins are by-products. Animals are reared for meat, milk and wool and not for the value of their skins. As a consequence, the tanner is not able to control the supply of raw hides and skins, which he purchases in open markets all over the world and is in competition with tanners on a global basis. Many attempts have been made to create artificial leather however nothing can compare to the real article for durability, look and feel.

Bridle Hide

Traditional bridle hide is made with very tough cowhides as this leather was used for making horse bridles, saddles and other tack. Whereas we prefer to use the skins from younger animals; 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 tough enough to feel like traditional bridle hide.

Once the skin has been tanned, we apply our own bridle finish, for a smoother, deeper and more refined look. This involves adding oils and coloured polishes to coat the top layers of the skins. Each skin is therefore slightly different, as always with hand-finished leathers, which is why you may find slight differences in shade from one product to the next. Nonetheless, our controls ensure all leathers meet our quality criteria, both in terms of colour and feel.

Over time, the bridle hide will acquire a unique patina as it takes in natural oils and is polished by repeated handling.

Bridle Hide Leather: Care & Wear

Although traditional bridle hide is pretty tough, ours is made to be a bit more refined and therefore you should look after it more carefully.

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your bridle item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

The natural oils and waxes used to coat the bridle hide will protect the leather. If left unused for some time, a natural white bloom can appear on the surface. These are the waxes and oils coming up to the surface of the leather. Simply rub these white marks with a soft cloth to put the oils and waxes back into the leather.

Over time, rubbing and friction can cause slight de-pigmentation as the top layers of waxes and coloured finishes rub off. This is unfortunately inevitable with constant use. However, the leather will also darken slightly and acquire a unique patina through use, which should counter-act any slight de-pigmentation and give your leather goods more character.

Panel Hide

Ettinger’s iconic panel hide is a vegetable tanned full grain cowhide. It is tanned using only natural tanning agents, essentially different types of bark and plants. Vegetable tanning is not just a very natural process, but the longer time required to tan the leather means it develops a particularly natural look and feel.

Once tanned, we then apply a waxy coloured finish on top of the panel hide, to give it it’s colour and protect the surface. The colour we use is our special “London Tan”, which is a deep, bright golden yellow favoured by London leather tanners and merchants for centuries.

Panel hide was traditionally used to make the underside of saddles. These were the parts that went against the horse’s back, where the horse would sweat and that is why the natural tanning process was so important: so that no chemicals would cause irritation on the horse’s back.

As with any leather tanned in a natural way, this panel hide is slightly porous and it will darken with time. To ensure it ages beautifully, which it will, please follow our care guidelines below.

Panel Hide Leather: Care & Wear

As mentioned earlier, panel hide being a natural leather, it can take in dirt and impurities if you are not careful. You should ensure any dirt is cleaned off as soon as possible.

Moreover, as with any fine leather, panel hide is quite sensitive to abrasion, so please do not rub the surface too hard as this may remove the colour and scratch the surface.

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your leather item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

Fine Black Calf

This is our finest calf, taken only from the very best skins available. Only the finer, softer sides have been taken from the full grain skins to then be chrome tanned with a classic aniline finish, which means they are coloured through but still retain a natural grain and suppleness. Any imperfection would show with this tanning process, which is why only a very small percentage of skins can be selected to make this type of leather.

This fine calf is very durable, the black will retain its deepness of shade and the fine grain will look good even after prolonged use. This is truly a beautiful leather, which we reserve for our finest luxury goods.

Fine Calf Leather: Care & Wear

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your leather item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

Although this leather is dyed through and the colour should not wear off, please be careful not to rub or scratch the surface. This is fine leather, as such it needs to be looked after properly.

Dressed Calf

Taking the sides only from full grain calf skins, this leather is chrome tanned to perfection then dyed through with a more pigmented finish to obtain an array of colourful tones. This leather is firm and will sustain a good amount of wear.

Dressed Calf Leather: Care & Wear

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your leather item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

Although this leather is dyed through and the colour should not wear off, please be careful not to rub or scratch the surface. This is fine leather, as such it needs to be looked after properly.

Soft Dressed Calf

This leather is made with top quality Italian calf sides, which have been chrome tanned, dyed through and then drum rolled to give the leather a buttery soft touch and a slightly more pronounced grain. It is wonderful to handle and will not wear out easily.

Soft Dressed Calf Leather: Care & Wear

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your leather item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

Although this leather is dyed through and the colour should not wear off, please be careful not to rub or scratch the surface. This is fine leather, as such it needs to be looked after properly.

Croco

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 as you would any exotic skin, that is with extreme care.

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your leather item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

Shadow Hide

This waxy hide leather is made from full grain, vegetable tanned yearling (young cow) hides. The tanned leather then has an aniline treatment and is hand-finished with many layers of waxes and oils to give it a deep, rich aspect. Made in a range of natural colours, this shadow hide is beautiful to touch and the depth of colour is enhanced by a slightly smoky effect, which give the whole leather a lot of character.

We use this leather to make simple classics and heirloom leather goods that will enhance your lifestyle and marry with any interiors. Like these products, this shadow hide may appear simple at first sight, but look closer and you will quickly appreciate the inherent beauty of this leather.

Shadow Hide Leather: Care & Wear

All the waxes and oils that are put into this leather during the tanning process means it will hardly need any treatment at all. It should have all the nourishment it needs for a lifetime. Moreover, should you happen to scratch the surface slightly (with a nail for example), all you need to do is rub the leather slightly with a finger and the mark should disappear.

Direct sunlight can cause aniline leathers to discolour slightly so please do not expose these leathers for prolonged periods.

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Leather is naturally a supple material so will take shape easily, which you may or may not want. In any case, please avoid compressing your leather accessories for prolonged periods (for example in a tight pocket) as this will deform the items and can strain the stitching.

Pig Suede

Pig suede has a silky touch and is instantly recognisable thanks to the little dots caused by the pig’s follicles. Pig skin is naturally thin and supple but this is enhanced further by several mechanical processes to massage and soften up the leather, once the skins have been chrome tanned and dyed through.

Suede is in fact the flesh side of the skin, which has been finely trimmed and brushed. It is a beautiful leather for lining fine leather accessories.

Pig Suede Leather: Care & Wear

Suede can be kept clean simply by brushing it regularly with a soft brush.

Should you get stains on the suede, wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. If this is not sufficient, ask advice from a specialist dry cleaner.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources.

Skiver

Skiver is a term commonly used to describe a dressed goat or sheep skin with a patterned embossing. Traditionally used as a lining and for book binding because it is very thin, supple and can have many effects applied onto it. We have ours glazed and embossed with a cross grain (also called paste grain) pattern and use this to line our attaché cases.

Skiver: Care & Wear

The best way to clean any leather is to wipe it gently with a soft damp cloth, then leave to dry naturally. Applying a little leather balm or neutral polish once in a while will help protect and nourish the leather so that your leather item will last for many years.

Generally speaking, avoid using your leather accessories in very wet or humid conditions. If they do get wet, leave out to dry naturally, away from strong heat sources. Once dry, check for any water marks and apply a little polish or leather balm if necessary.

Although this leather is dyed through and the colour should not wear off, please be careful not to rub or scratch the surface. This is fine leather, as such it needs to be looked after properly.