Material
Simply put, leather is tanned hide (skin), which is treated so that its natural strength and elasticity are preserved. Leather possesses the remarkable property of becoming more beautiful with time. It is one of the few materials in the fashion industry for which fragrance is an essential part of the quality experience. It is no wonder that we like what we do.
From raw hide to leather
Full grain leather
The strongest and most durable part of an animal’s hide is just below the hair. The grain pattern in this part of the hide is very tight, and leather made from it is called full-grain leather.
Nubuk
Nubuck leather is easily sanded for a matted, smooth surface.
Nappa leather
This is the name for full-grain leather from smaller animals, such as lambs or calves.
Embossed grain
Full grain leather that is embossed so that it has a pattern, such as alligator leather.
Split leather
The layer of the raw hide that is closest to the animal's body is generally called split. This is the layer that remains when the grain leather is separated from the raw hide.
Suede
When leather is roughened mechanically to a velvet-like texture, it is called suede.
Coated split
This is a process to give split leather a color or structure to resemble a grain leather.
Bonded leather
This is a leather in which left-over parts from other types of leather production are bound together to generate bigger pieces of leather.
Metal details and nickel
Metal details (e.g. catches, zips, belt buckles and decoration) on our bags, belts and accessories are always developed in accordance with our founding principle, which is that our products should not contain any substances that may be harmful to people or the environment.
All of the metal detailing on our products is what you would call “nickel free”. We carry out ongoing tests and systematic random testing of nickel levels in order to ensure that they meet our own, as well as the current legal, requirements. All of this is to ensure that we create a product that is as good as it can possibly be, and so that you as a customer can feel safe.
However, you should be aware that any product made out of metal, or a metal alloy, is in most cases not 100 % nickel free. A product that is labelled “nickel free” by us, and most others in the business, will however follow the guidelines provided by the Swedish Chemicals Agency (a centralised regulator under the Ministry of the Environment), which provide the limit value for how much nickel may be released from a product. That limit value is today set at 0.5 micrograms per cm2 per week, which we adhere to with all of our products. In the document provided below, you can read more about the Swedish Chemicals Agency’s regulations surrounding nickel.
Skim protection
We at Saddler wants you to feel safe with our products. In selected wallets and card holders, we have added RFID blocking technology. The technology prevents RFID readers from scanning your bank cards and helps to protect your personal data from skimming.
Saddler products with skim protection are practically designed with the RFID blocker only on one side of the product (the logo side). This means the RFID-technology is conveniently available – so you don’t have to take your bus or gym card out of your wallet when scanning it. At the same you can feel confident that your cards containing sensitive information are protected.