In the context of Patina...

I've thrown a lot of "patina" words in my first post. What does it really mean and represent? Basically, a patina is the 'wear' in the leather surface, often this will make the surface glossier. The patinated surface will also feel much softer, more supple, and gives it a much more luxurious 'hand' feel. To enchance and preserved this 'patina', I normally rub some wax into the surface and then burnish it lightly so the wax will be absorbed into the leather surface. This patina effect is much more pronounced in a vegetable tanned leather compared to a chrome tanned leather.

Depending on how the leather is worn, patina can comes in many different faces.

If the leather stays out of the sun most of the time but receive a lot of rubbing and handled by human hands most of the time, overtime the surface will become quite glossy with deeper tan colour. A good example is a phone pouch or wallet. The oils from our hands help darken the leather and the frequent rubbing will gloss the surface overtime.

If the leather receive a lot of sun exposure but rarely has its surface rubbed against or handled by human hand, the surface will tend to turn into a brownish orange colour with less surface gloss. A good example for this is a hand bag. Sun exposure will turn a vegetable-tanned leather into a brownish orange hue. Due to the lack of oils and rubbing on the surface, the original texture will be maintained.

The photo below illustrates this. The iL Bisonte bag receives a lot of sun exposure, as a result it turns brownish orange. Note the surface under the bag flap still retain its original colour. The phone pouch is much glossier due to the frequent rubbing and oiling occurring naturally by my hands. It also has a different colour compare to the bag, more brown hue than orange. The strap is a combination of both, it receives a lot of sun exposure, while occasionally rubbed by being worn. It has a slight shine in the surface but not as pronounced as the phone pouch. As a base comparison, the dog collar style bracelet was a brand new leather, still retaining its 'Virgin' colour and texture.

Another note on the iL Bisonte bag: I absolutely love the il Bisonte vegetable tanned leather!! It has the perfect texture, suppleness and feel. Hopefully in the not too distant future I can source the exact leather and work with it. That will be a dream come true!!