What is a genuine leather wallet made of?

What is a genuine leather wallet made of?

Making a wallet is one of the most skilled tasks for leatherworkers. Due to the complexity of the product, the individual pieces must be assembled very precisely , the lining must be glued, and the processing of the corners and corners also requires great care. Because the product is an easy-to-fit product in one hand, small details such as a single slanted stitch, an asymmetrical corner, and an almost imperceptible leather flaw on a larger product such as a bag can degrade the quality of the entire wallet here.

Choosing the right skin

The first task when making a product is to choose the right skin . Wallets are usually made of sheep, goat or cowhide.

• The leather of the sheepskin wallet is thinner, soft, almost silky to the touch, with a small, very fine sheepskin design on the surface. The leather is silky and has a nappa finish. Its color can be black, brown, red and any shade to suit fashion. Since sheep are not a big animal, their skin is also thinner, so great care must be taken when making the wallet to avoid tearing the skin, so it should always be lined underneath.

• The goatskin wallet feels a little harder compared to sheepskin. The surface of the skin shows a small, delicate needle-like pattern that is characteristic of a goat. Goatskin is used in either a soft, silky-gloss nappa version or a slightly harder, mirror-gloss sevro finish to make purses and small items. It is also one of the thinner skins, so great care must be taken in the correct cutting direction during processing. It can be colored in any way, but due to its nature it is very suitable for making more elegant men's and women's wallets, which makes darker colors come to the fore.

• Cowhide is the most versatile type of leather . Due to its thickness and high tensile strength, it is suitable for almost anything that can be made of leather. To make a wallet, therefore, its thickness must be significantly thinned, it must be split so that not a small product will look bulky. The splitting of the leather is already done in the tannery on very special machines. The top layer of leather is suitable for all kinds of products . The second split layer does not have such a high tensile strength, but it may still be suitable for the production of many cheaper products, for example, suede bags and shoes are often made of such split leather. The upper surface of the split leather can be provided in leather factories with a glossy surface similar to the surface of colored leather. It is often very difficult to tell if a person is holding colored skin or split skin in their hands. You can only make a good quality wallet from colored leather. However, some manufacturers still try to make a wallet out of slit leather. Although these wallets are cheaper, there is a difference in durability: often after a few weeks of use, the material stretches, cracks, and tears.

The versatility of cowhide in wallet making

The upper part of cowhide can be finished in a wide variety of ways to obtain a wide variety of skins with a surface suitable for fashion and use. The most common is the so-called box leather finish. The surface of the skin is then high-gloss, silky to the touch and harder to bend. Its color can be any, usually brown and black are the most typical. Beef nappa leather is best suited for making wallets . Its texture is soft, its feel is silky, and despite its softness, it has a high tensile strength, so it is possible to use this type of leather wallet for a long time, it does not tear or stretch.

Cowhides are very suitable for embossing fashionable patterns or typical animal skin imitations. In accordance with animal welfare regulations, crocodile and lizard skins may not be used in the manufacture of leather goods. This problem is bridged in tanneries by pressing a lizard or crocodile pattern into the semi-finished leather with a hot press. The skin is then dyed, usually with a two-tone coloring. The result is almost similar to the original sound, but it is not a product made of the skin of a protected animal.

The best skin finishing procedure

The most expensive , but also the most natural method of leather finishing is the so-called vegetable tanning . The plant tanning process best reproduces the surface characteristics of the skin. So far, I’ve seen the most beautiful plant tanned cowhides in Italy, in tanneries around Santa Croce. These are usually smaller, privately owned tanneries that make skins based on centuries-old family recipes. The most beautiful men's and women's wallets and purses are made of vegetable tanned leather.

What is hunting skin?

Recently, products made of so-called sports leather or hunting leather have become fashionable. This type of cowhide is not degreased as much during leather production as boxholes, creating a fatter, fuller-looking leather from which to make high-strength products. It is perfect for making heavy-duty hunting and fishing products, as well as car and motorcycle wallets. Usually, hunting skins are colored in different shades of brown.

The oil pulls up skin

Cowhide, very similar to hunting skin, also with a higher than average oil content. The most important feature of bending the skin is that the skin will be lighter in color when bent. Once the bent part is straightened, the lighter skin color disappears and regains the original skin color. This type of leather is often used as a material for sporty leather wallets and small items.

In short, how suede leather is made!

Cowhide is also suitable for making different types of suede leathers. Suede leather is made either from the lower half of the colored skin, also known as the flesh side, or the flesh side of the split leather is also suitable for this purpose. The lower half of the skin is then fluffed and cut to size with special machines to create a uniform velvety surface. In line with current fashion trends, suede comes into vogue in 8-10 year periods in clothing, bags, shoes and small items. Suede toiletries and framed buggyell-like purses are made of suede leather. This type of leather can be painted on any color in the color chart.

Covered leather appeared in leather production

The result of the creation of new surfaces in leather production is the birth of covered leathers. In this case, a film-like material is applied to the natural surface skin by applying a combination of high pressure and heat, which gives the skin a completely new structure. Covered leathers can have a very interesting effect, but their durability is not very high, as this new surface is created on the slit skin, which has a tensile strength significantly lower than the durability of the upper skin, so they are not best suited for producing more demanding wallets.

Fashionable patent leather

Currently, patent leather is also a very fashionable raw material. Lately, the use of patent leather has become very popular in shoes, bags and, of course, purses . In its creation, a mirror-like layer is drawn on the naturally finished leather, which obscures the original character of the leather, while giving the material a color and a brilliantly shiny look. The wallet is also made of patent leather with a snake and lizard pattern, which is currently a very popular and salable fashion item. The fact that this material is made of genuine leather is only indicated by the genuine leather surface on the meat side.

The artificial leather

As in all areas of the industry, there is a long tradition of creating a cheap material that is very similar to genuine leather. This is faux leather. It doesn’t compete with genuine leather in any area , but the price is a fraction of the original . Chinese industry is professionally developing the production of artificial leather and as a result, they are able to create more and more beautiful, more durable artificial leather that is almost like the original leather. Imitation leather products are not as durable as leather products. The constant, long-term strain to which your wallets are exposed doesn’t really last. Therefore, genuine leather is more suitable for the production of small goods and wallets exposed to increased stress. The bags are far from being subjected to the same stress during use as wallets, so artificial leather can be used for their production.

Summary

In conclusion, the skin of a really good and durable wallet must correspond to the purpose and use. It should be made with high quality work and made of genuine sheep, goat or cowhide. Then the later owner will be happy to take it in his hands for years and will enjoy using the products for a long time.