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Horween Essex leather: what to expect and how it agesUpdated 16 minutes ago


That swatch says "Spice Essex 2013" because it's from the first leather we ever ordered from Horween, for our very first production run. The passport sleeve next to it was cut from the same hides and has been carried ever since. Thirteen years of pockets, bags, and hands are what turned it that color — and you'll note the two shades are never the same.

It's the same leather we chose for the Cary Briefcase Founders Edition, and it's why we wanted to show you what you're getting, both on day one and 10 years from now.

Our Original Swatch of Horween's Spice Essex Leather (our Tan color)
Horween Essex Leather

Horween has been tanning leather in Chicago since 1905. Essex is one of their signature leathers: a full-grain, vegetable-tanned leather made with the same tanning extracts Horween uses for their famous Shell Cordovan. It's unusually soft for a veg-tan, with a rich, round feel in hand, and it's built to age.

Horween Essex Leather

What "full grain" means

A hide is split into layers. The top layer, the grain, is the animal's actual skin surface, and it's the densest, strongest part of the hide. Full grain means that surface has been left intact. It hasn't been sanded, buffed, or covered over — you're getting the hide in all its natural glory.

That's why no two hides look alike. You'll see the natural grain pattern, faint wrinkles from where the animal moved, small variations in tone, and the occasional healed scratch or mark from the animal's life. Below is what Essex looks like at our factory, before it's cut:

(one caveat — our factory took these photos indoors under fluorescent, white light with a low-res camera; please disregard the color and focus on the patina, grain, and variation across the different hides.)

Tan Essex LeatherTan Essex LeatherTan Essex Leather

Chocolate Essex Leather

Tumbled Essex Leather in Black

Tumbled Essex Leather in Black

As you can see, there will be variation and patina across the surface of the leather. The Black color in particular was given a tumbled effect, for a more vintage finish.

Leather that looks perfectly smooth and uniform has usually had that top surface sanded down ("corrected grain") and finished over, or it comes from a lower layer of the hide ("split"). That doesn't automatically make it bad leather. It's simply a different product with a different look, and it won't age the way full grain does.

Vegetable-tanned vs. chrome-tanned

Tanning is what turns a hide into leather. Most leather today is chrome-tanned, a fast process using mineral salts that produces soft, consistent, colorfast leather. Vegetable tanning is the older, slower method, using natural tannins from tree bark and plants.

One isn't simply better than the other. There's excellent chrome-tanned leather out there (Horween makes some), and plenty of cheap leather of both kinds. What veg-tan does best is age: its open surface absorbs oils from your hands and develops depth and color over time. That's the quality we were after, and why Essex leather was selected.

How it ages

Essex starts out lighter and gradually darkens with light, handling, and use. Scuffs and fine marks soften and blend into the surface as it goes. This is patina, and it's different for every bag, because it reflects how and where you carry it.

Below are the Chocolate and Tan colors, in our original passport sleeves that were made 10+ years ago and with lots of miles on them — let's see how they aged:


Chocolate Essex Leather

Chocolate and Tan Essex Leather

Tan Essex Leather

Both pieces above are from our original production run, and they looked a lot like the factory photos when they were new. Over time, they darken and develop a depth in color.

Further reading

If you'd like to go deeper, these are three of the best explanations we've found:

A few practical notes

  • Natural marks, variation, and healed scratches are characteristics of the hide, not defects, so they aren't covered under our warranty.
  • If your briefcase isn't right for you, unused items with all original tags attached can be returned within 30 days. See our Return & Refund Policy.
  • Not sure about something you're seeing? Send a photo to [email protected] and we'll gladly take a look at things.

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