Christmas In July

[thescot]

Christmas? That's Christmas, New Years, July 4th and your birthday all rolled into one. Beautiful.

That's what my wife would say if she were in on the cost.

@OC: the "vintage, classic, timeless" idea is what I was shooting for. I like to think that many decades after I'm gone, my grandson will be wearing it and telling everyone how Big Daddy had it made and wore it several decades before passing it down to him and so on. Ha.

I have admired the sporran of HRH the Duke for many years and wanted on that looked similar, and now I have it. I'm planning a kilted evening at the Celtic Tavern soon just for an excuse to show it off.

Anyone in the area: take note!

[artificer]

Two things I learned from my reading:
1. Lexol (which I own) and Zymol (which I've never heard of) are both excellent conditioners for the leather.
2. Buffing the strap with a hair dryer on medium heat will restore the luster to the strap itself.

Who knew?

Then, after exhausting the process and building the anticipation to a fever pitch, I removed the brown paper and bubble wrap to reveal what is arguable the most beautiful sporran I've ever seen. I had asked for a hunting style akin to the one you often see HRH the Duke of Rothesay wear, the one without the brass cantle. But I wanted tassels on mine instead of those little sewn-down flap things. I've always liked the tassels best (which he does have on his brass-cantled sporran).

Well, enough of that. I shall now show you the beauty that I have only just received. These are photos I took here at work, so I don't have one of the sporran on me yet. It's similar to the photo on Scott's site, but I wanted a darker brown and that is exactly what I got. The picutres won't do it justice, but hopefully you can see the excellent workmanship of the piece, the supple nature of the fine leather, and the suede lining.



This is the best representation of the true color of all the photos. You can see how supple the leather is; it just feels good to the touch.

Such patience, Jim! I'm terrible at that sort of self restraint. I really need to spend more time online, I totally missed this thread until just now. LOL

I'm glad everything arrived safe and sound and brought a bit of holiday cheer to your day.

A few things about the care notes-

Zymol does a huge range of car care products, but their leather conditioner is very gentle, something you rarely see from car related products. I use several other conditioners around the shop, but these can be a bit iffy on
certainly leathers and some are harder to find, so that's why I recommend Lexol and Zymol (another benefit is that both are also difficult to over apply, which is a risk some conditioners carry).

My belts are finished with oil and beeswax, so if they get scuffy over time, or caught in the rain and the finish gets damaged, a warm hairdryer will soften some of the wax that's imbedded in the leather and cause it to migrate toward the surface. A light buff will re-smooth the finish and you're off.

Waxed leathers aren't as "No-Maintenance" as leathers with an artificial surface (like an acrylic dye), but they age much better.

That's amazing!

It looks like it could be out of a Forsyth catalogue from the 1920s.

Vintage, classic, timeless.

Thanks, Richard! That's why I originally got into making sporrans, I couldn't find all the lovely treasures that, for some inexplicable reason, just stopped being made.
The irony being I've had no time to make either a brass cantle OR a soft hunter for myself yet.

ith: