Briefcase Appreciation thread

[Equus Leather]



Hi Gianni, Thanks for that, that particular piece was a bespoke design for a lady, as a flight 'carry on bag' The next 2 photo's were bags made to hold padded leather portfolio books, for professional photographers, agencies and other corporate clients, Hi Charlie, the canvas/leather trimmed case, was one of a pair of Victorian picnic hampers, that I restored/refurbished for a client that wanted one for each of their yachts. They were in very poor condition, and were stripped back to the wooden carcasses, recovered with artist grade canvas, and leather trimmed, and relined. I then made velvet lined, canvas / leather trimmed outer covers for them, A stylish life, eh

Really lovely work Simon, love it. I can see somthing like that going down well with the Morgan and MGA owners as well Charlie

 

[Mr VEV]

Looks nice!

What problems were you trying to solve that weren't being addressed by Saddleback?

Thank you, Concordia. First of all, I found the number of d-ring on the “Simple Briefcase” excessive: I removed them all, this helped reduce the weight of the bag and made it look a bit more formal. The handle is too wide and uncomfortable, the metal plate under the handle is also excessively wide, the single internal pocket made of pig skin is flimsy. I actually made a review of this briefcase and post it in the Saddleback Thread here in Styleforum but after a few days it was removed (looks like SBL is very sensitive to criticism).

 

[Gianni Cerutti]

Hi Gianni,

Thanks for that, that particular piece was a bespoke design for a lady, as a flight 'carry on bag'

The next 2 photo's were bags made to hold padded leather portfolio books, for professional photographers, agencies and other corporate clients,








Hi Charlie, the canvas/leather trimmed case, was one of a pair of Victorian picnic hampers, that I restored/refurbished for a client that wanted one for each of their yachts. They were in very poor condition, and were stripped back to the wooden carcasses, recovered with artist grade canvas, and leather trimmed, and relined.





I then made velvet lined, canvas / leather trimmed outer covers for them,



A stylish life, eh

Make truly masterpieces. You're really talented. Compliments. One day I'll make something from you.

 

[EdwMicInAus]

E.Marinella briefcase.

 

[Concordia]

Gorgeous stuff. Do you expect to broaden the line or do bespoke orders?

Hi Everyone, I have been making briefcases for over 30 years. I originally trained as a saddler, but in the mid 1980's Swaine Adeney were expanding their leathergoods making operation, and I was recruited to be involved. At the time SAB had some really good craftsmen and I was fortunate to get the type of training money can't buy. The people I worked with then, have all either passed away, retired or like myself drifted away from the Company as it changed over the years. So I now work in a small workshop in my back garden. I do very little advertising, as customers just seem to turn up and I get most of my work from recommendations. However, I have been working on a project recently, to produce a well built, rock solid briefcase in the £500 or $800 price range. At the moment I am making it in 4 colours, black, dark Havana, Cambridge nut and London tan. It's available in 15, 16 or 17 inches and has 3 variations of handle attachments. I have 2 different locks, either round or square, solid brass. I have all of my bridle leather hand finished for me and the guys will produce pretty much any colour I ask, so I am planning to introduce more colours in the future. All the cases feature a hand built, hand stitched, solid leather handle and have an internal steel bar for strength. I have called it the leather foundry briefcase, as I had a workshop that was part of an old iron works when I first started planning to make the case and I have stuck with the name. The individual models are simply called the type 1, 2 and 3. The cases can be seen at www.theleatherfoundry.net but here are some examples of them. I have also put the pictures into the gallery section. Type 1 Type 2 Type3 Ray Clark

 

[RayClark]

Thank you. I will probably add a top frame briefcase in the near future and am open to enquiries about bespoke items.

 

[guitar2013]

I visited your website. I would love to know more details about your products. They look great.

 

[Nikola]

Is it possible to choose the color of buckle/lock within this price range? I think the silver one would look more appealing ..

 

[LabelKing]

How are the hard-sided attaches that are not completely rigid made? The Vuitton style ones use a wooden box frame but what about something like this?

 

[RayClark]

This type of Briefcase has a metal frame in the lid and around the top of the base. The leather is reinforced with fibre board.

A few years ago I made a piece for the Discovery Channel 'How it's made' program which demonstrates how this type of case is made. Just search 'How it's made Attache case' on You Tube and you should find it.

 

[justinjack]

My Vintage 'Made in England' for Brooks Brothers top frame briefcase:

 

[SimonC]



How are the hard-sided attaches that are not completely rigid made? The Vuitton style ones use a wooden box frame but what about something like this?

Papworth / SAB used to use steel frames - I think they probably still do.

 

[RayClark]

The Lidover style case is built on a steel frame in the lid and base. The leather is around 1.8 to 2mm and reinforced with a heavy grey fibre board. The Swaine Adeney Lidovers and Peel case last really well and can be easily repaired if necessary.

In my experience the cedar, box style, (which is a completely different type of case) is far more fragile and much harder to repair. The cedar box inside, tends to crack, particularly at the corners of the lid. Once the box has broken they are virtually impossible to repair. The stitched through style, known as a lapped edge is particularly fragile, because pushing an awl through the wood creates a weakness. SAB stopped making them years ago.

 

[jackgb1980]

Interesting. Indeed.

Thanks for your opinion on refinement, I disagree. And thank you for making a distinction that I do not have an SAB English Workmanship style. They have been one of the many masters in this art form and I have never intended to be their clone or a cheaper version. I have carved my own New York style.


For all the briefcase lovers, let me save you “a thousand words” and introduce some of my new styles for 2014 – an American Workmanship Style and Refinement.

The pictures link to more info so you can see the rest of the thousand words.

Today was memorial day - remember those who've fallen


The Nathan Hale Briefcase – this is brand new and still underdevelopment. It will be out by mid June 2014. This is a final sample with the only difference being my logo name engraved on the hasp. This is a very unique combination lock that is built so well the internal and external components resemble a fine clock. This lock is NOT Nickle Alloy an inferior metal. It is made of Palladium, a pure precious metal and will also come in solid brass. I will have more info as the time comes. It is lined with suede – handle is removable and here are 2 types
















The Bartolomeo Vanzetti Briefcase – another highly built solid brass combo lock. All suede lined with a removable handle and flap that pivots all the way back that is built and stitched hinges and all entirely by hand









The Fyodor M Dostoyevsky Briefcase – this is a limited edition. I only have a few of these unused old (at least 30 years) antique Eagle locks – a great American luggage company that has been out of business now for over 30 years. These locks were built like tanks. I have the chrome and some in solid brass









The Thomas More 1912 – refined stitching detail on the handle with stitched in buckle straps and thin 1.5” compartments. This is a smaller overall gusset width at 3” than my normal at 4”




The Alfred Wallace 2209 – refined and manufactured on Long Island, leather grazed and raised in America and vegetable tanned in St Louis – ships to the people of the world








Always advancing my Strong Eye Latch briefcases

The Habermas 2066 – brought out the width from the normal 2.5” to 3”







The Thomas Paine Briefcase – Extra handle support, curve cuts on the top flap ends for a better shoulder strap hang, and the front top latch has been redesigned for a cleaner look.



The McCarty 1541 - simple clean black briefcase, bottom cross stitch handle that pulls up from the flap

Hey JP, would you take a middle aged soul for one of these? joking aside i agree with you, if i wanted an SAB i would get an SAB no matter how much people try and put them down. I have watched your style progress for a few years now and i have to say it is incredible. I like what you do because it is authentic. I actually met you at the style forum trunk show last year. Ive had my eye on your Thomas More model for a few months now and I am close to making a decision but now you have some new models i have to think about.

i don't see any 3 section briefcases would you do this?

 

[MrKaizen]



The Alfred Wallace 2209 – refined and manufactured on Long Island, leather grazed and raised in America and vegetable tanned in St Louis – ships to the people of the world

JP I'm just in love with The Alfred Wallace 2209. It will be my next briefcase