Briefcase Appreciation thread

[Equus Leather]

Update on Rutherfords - I ordered March 2021. They claim to have shipped 3 weeks ago and gave me a bogus UPS tracking number 1 week ago. When I asked for a copy of their correspondence with UPS as proof of shipping, they tell me that they don’t ship directly, but use a 3rd party (who presumably don’t offer proof of collection)……I am not alone: others here have experienced similar. The team
at Rutherfords are by far and away the most deceitful people I have ever dealt with.

Distressing to hear. UPS are awful, they are perfectly capable of cocking things up all by themselves, but they are very communicative while they do it. Highly suss if you aren't getting email or text tracking updates telling you the many and various misrouting UPS are making...

 

[Ian Clegg]

Have updated my post. There are clauses for businesses like Rutherfords (i.e. who push back delivery dates) which extends the period you can claim by up to 540 days.

This is a joke, right? Just cancel the order and ask for a refund. If a client of ours wants a refund due to a delay on our end I would not hold their cash.

 

[MPS]

This is a joke, right? Just cancel the order and ask for a refund. If a client of ours wants a refund due to a delay on our end I would not hold their cash.

Rutherfords are a joke. There are two other members who have tried cancelling - just like their "made to order bags", the money was never delivered.......I also know of another person not on this forum who is in the same predicament.

 

[ceriano]

This is a joke, right? Just cancel the order and ask for a refund. If a client of ours wants a refund due to a delay on our end I would not hold their cash.

@Ian Clegg when do you release the “one of a kinds” this year? August?

 

[Leander walker]

Just can't understand why Rutherford would sully the wonderful British leather goods industry by employing such shenanigans. Their website is so enticing and pictures many beautiful and traditional briefcases and bags. What a shame that they would resort to this for sordid profits. There are so few traditional British bag makers left-Swaine Adwney,Equius,Whitehouse Cox,Ettinger,and very few others. So many wonderful companies are gone as appearantly many "gentlemen" would now rather carry a nylon backpacks than a traditional business case. So assuming all these accounts are true it is indeed a shame

 

[MPS]

Just can't understand why Rutherford would sully the wonderful British leather goods industry by employing such shenanigans. Their website is so enticing and pictures many beautiful and traditional briefcases and bags. What a shame that they would resort to this for sordid profits. There are so few traditional British bag makers left-Swaine Adwney,Equius,Whitehouse Cox,Ettinger,and very few others. So many wonderful companies are gone as appearantly many "gentlemen" would now rather carry a nylon backpacks than a traditional business case. So assuming all these accounts are true it is indeed a shame

One can only speculate. It's been floated before that Rutherfords are likely to prioritise large/bulk orders from Southeast Asia.

Anyway, some of their excuses are pitiful. Think of a 5 year old running a business and you get the picture......

 

[DonRaphael]

If one is limited to only one briefcase, worn mostly with suits and SCs + ties, what colour would be the safest and most classic? Ideally, I'd like to have a black one. But I imagine that it'd clash too much with brown shoes and would be too formal for SCs.

Thus, I'm leaning towards oxblood which has a brown undertone as a compromise between black and brown. Opinions?

 

[jet-stream]

If one is limited to only one briefcase, worn mostly with suits and SCs + ties, what colour would be the safest and most classic? Ideally, I'd like to have a black one. But I imagine that it'd clash too much with brown shoes and would be too formal for SCs.

Thus, I'm leaning towards oxblood which has a brown undertone as a compromise between black and brown. Opinions?
View attachment 1804676

Oxblood would be a fine choice, as it would clash with almost nothing. I went with navy for my everyday case, for the same reason.

 

[DonRaphael]

Oxblood would be a fine choice, as it would clash with almost nothing. I went with navy for my everyday case, for the same reason.

Thanks, appreciate the input. Next thing to decide is 1 vs 2 gussets.

 

[Leander walker]

Black is pretty boring as it is everywhere. London tan,dark brown are great. In the 1980s oxblood and Burgundy were the number one selling colour business case but the popularity has waned but still a nice colour. British racing green is a more jaunty but still conservative alternative to black or brown. But if owning one business case , I would go with brown

 

[DonRaphael]

Black is pretty boring as it is everywhere. London tan,dark brown are great. In the 1980s oxblood and Burgundy were the number one selling colour business case but the popularity has waned but still a nice colour. British racing green is a more jaunty but still conservative alternative to black or brown. But if owning one business case , I would go with brown

Boring (conservative) is good in my field of work. So not necessarily a negative.

Isn't brown everywhere as well while hardly being regarded as boring? Couldn't it rather be that black is considered boring because of the lack of patina and the "flat" nature of the colour?

In that regard, oxblood strikes a middle ground: not as conservative and/or boring as black, but not as casual and/or daring as brown.

 

[Emospence]

Whether or not brown is more casual than oxblood depends on the shade, no? There are some really dark shades of brown.

 

[DonRaphael]

Whether or not brown is more casual than oxblood depends on the shade, no? There are some really dark shades of brown.

Absolutely, but within the real of classical menswear, brown as a colour is considered more casual than oxblood/burgundy. If shades are equal, the latter would be considered more formal. If not, that would indeed play a big role.

 

[Equus Leather]

Boring (conservative) is good in my field of work. So not necessarily a negative.

Isn't brown everywhere as well while hardly being regarded as boring? Couldn't it rather be that black is considered boring because of the lack of patina and the "flat" nature of the colour?

In that regard, oxblood strikes a middle ground: not as conservative and/or boring as black, but not as casual and/or daring as brown.

Brown sums up a lot of colours, and it doesnt have to be boring or conservative, IMO, though it can be if thats what your going for. I personally certainly think black is boringly though a necessary boring at times.

You could have a very very dark brown case thats more than conservative enough for any environment I can think of, equally you could have a light brown thats much more characterful and probably not high end law/accountancy firm suitable

I personally would say a really dark brown is the most flexible colour of all. Not black, but with the formality of black but aspects of the personality of a brown.

The interesting thing about the conversation is really that everyone disagrees about colours! Therefore do your own thing, tweaking the rules to suit your tastes and environment..

Charlie

 

[Ian Clegg]

@Ian Clegg when do you release the “one of a kinds” this year? August?

The launch date is set for the first week of August. Just wrapping up photos and videos.