About Leather

If you're reading this, you obviously have more than just a slight interest in the world of punk leather fashion. So what is it about Leatherpunk's gear that's different from similar leather accessory sites? You see me write things such as "professional quality" a few times on my pages. What does that exactly mean?

We tend to use puffery words like, "the best", or "high quality" but lack sufficient evidence to support these claims, even if true.

A Good Example Of A Bad Example

Perhaps the best way to substantiate my claims of high quality would be to show you an example of a poor quality leather accessory. While I could easily pull a few pictures off some of my competitor's Web pages, that probably wouldn't be very fair, so I purposely made a bad leather wristband to show you what to look for and what to avoid when making purchase decisions.

On your right, you're looking at a 2" wide cuff with snaps. What's the first flaw you see in this leather wristband? I see about 4 or 5 quality issues with this cuff. Take a moment and study the picture, click for larger image and then read on.

The first and most obvious is the un treated inner surface. In the industry, it's called the flesh. Not only is this area un colored, but there's a great deal of nap. Nap means, knotted up flesh, it's bumpy and uncomfortable. Nappy leather is usually drawn from the belly of the animal (in this case, cow), and is not at all ideal leather for wristbands. A person or business who sells cuffs like these isn't really finishing the job, in my opinion.

I use(here it comes)a special leather that has a buffed flesh, and I only use select areas of the hide, plus I incorporate a proprietary method I've developed for coloring the flesh. Some crafters have opted to use a second layer of leather, a thin suede which is glued to the main cuff. It's not a bad fix to the problem, it allows you to use a wider range of leather qualities which can be hidden by the thin suede lining, but it can fall apart, and so I subscribe to the single layer of leather concept for wristbands. Fewer layers, fewer problems, and still smooth and comfortable on your wrist.

Second is the edges. The dye has bled over to the flesh and the edges are not beveled, they're just a straight cut edge. That's actually two things, because if it's pre dyed leather, there is no way to bevel the edges and you can't really re-dye leather that's already dyed.

Oddly, there's a great deal of accessories like these that use oil/drum dyed leather, mostly used for making cowboy chaps. Pre dyed leather is usually instantly comfortable, but will start to stink and deteriorate much more rapidly than the tannage I use(which will not ever smell fowl). Only about two other makers of leather wristbands (that I'm aware of) actually treat their edges correctly.

Next is the snaps. Notice how receded they are from the edge of the wristband. There's almost a half inch of excess leather from the end of the snap to the end of the cuff. (the snaps are also crooked) It surprises me how many wristbands with snaps are made like this. The problem that can occur is the cuff stars to fold over on those edges, which doesn't look good, gets in the way and can come undone from the wrist easier.

On very inexpensive wristbands with snaps, there is a high chance the snaps will fall off because they used cheap metals and machines that rapid set the snaps. I love using snaps, they're secure and unobtrusive, and are easy to set right with just a little common sense.

Leatherpunk Quality

Last is the finishing coat on the leather. It's dull and lifeless and lacks the luster and patina you see in the photo on the left. There's various reasons this could be. Cheap leather, bad craftsmanship skills, or just laziness throughout the process...or it was a reseller buying junk from China.

I'm not saying you're going to find a wristband with ALL of these shortcomings I've mentioned on one cuff, but you most certainly will spot one or two of these details on just about any leather wristband/accessory Web site outside of Leatherpunk, with very few exceptions.

Keep in mind, I use natural grain leather. That means only the hair follicles have been removed from the epidermal layer, leaving all the unique markings that make natural leather appealing, in tact. Every barbed wire fence the animal encountered, every wrinkle, all preserved. The opposite of this is what is called, "corrected grain". These are the pre dyed leathers I mentioned earlier. They are easier to work with, but don't appeal to my taste.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my informational presentation on leather quality. If you found it useful, hopefully you're now a little more armed with the proper knowledge when you do decide to invest in a leather accessory and can do so, intelligently and with confidence.

-Matt Rezac

Leather Wristbands

Leather Belts

Leather Chokers

Leather Watchbands

Plain Leather Wristbands