PeterEliot
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Briefcase Review
Swaine Adeney Brigg Short-Strap Westminster
(Also, comparison with Filson Satchel)
In 2008, I posted on the AAAC forum a comparison review of two classic briefcases, the Swaine Adeney Brigg Westminster Wrap-Round and the Filson Satchel. You can find that review here:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/...-Brigg-briefcase-amp-Filson-Satchel-(Reviews)
I recently purchased my second Swaine Adeney case, a virtually unknown offering from that famed brand. I am writing a review of it because I think anyone looking to buy either the Filson or the Wrap-round Westminster should really consider this one first. I also believe I was comparing the wrong two bags 7 years ago. If there is any specimen of SAB that invites comparison with the Filson Satchel, it’s this briefcase. In design it is almost identical to the Filson, and in quality vastly superior. And few men shopping for a great briefcase know it even exists.
This probably happened because the bag was never a part of the SAB catalogue. SAB originally produced it for Sterling & Burke, their American distributor. For years it was only on Sterling & Burke’s website, generally unrecognized as an SAB. A crying shame, because this might well be the handsomest buckle-strap document case SAB’s workroom ever put out.
I saw a picture of this thing long ago and couldn’t get it out of my head. But I had just purchased both the Filson Satchel and the SAB Wrap-round in a fit of impulse, and adding a third bag felt just obscene. Sterling & Burke discouraged me further by ignoring my e-mail inquiry. I made myself forget the bag, and got on very well for the next six years with the rugged Filson at my side.
In January, I happened to google Swaine Adeney, and up popped this image:
The very picture that had me smitten 7 years ago. The old feelings came rushing back, and suddenly I had to have it. I e-mailed a second inquiry—not to Sterling & Burke, but to Swaine Adeney Brigg, asking why this product, advertised as an SAB in the photo, was not on SAB’s website. A Ms. Collinge from customer service wrote back that it was once made for Sterling & Burke, and that if I wanted it could still be made. I said yes please.
The helpful Ms. Collinge had the bag added to Swaine Adeney’s online catalogue just so I could order it. Check out the below link. The bag is now available from SAB for anyone to order, at a price significantly lower than the admired Wrap-round Westminster.
http://www.swaineadeneybrigg.com/store/swaine-adeney/document-cases/westminster-short-strap
An astonishing mere three weeks later (standard lead time is between eight and twelve), I was unboxing the most beautiful bag I ever held in my hands.
Bridle leather in Havana shade. Nickel fittings instead of the standard brass. Exactly like the case in the old Sterling & Burke photo—except the added shoulder strap.
Magnificent. Of all the things I ever paid money for, this is my favorite. I will carry it for the rest of my life.
So that’s the story of how I acquired the bag. And now on to the actual review.
The briefcase is made of thick, stiff bridle leather. Bridle leather is the sturdiest and most durable material you can have for a leather bag. This is not soft leather—it doesn’t crease or crumple, and it generally doesn’t bend except where it is meant to. If you like leather bags that change shapes like cloth, you don’t want bridle leather. But that doesn’t mean the bag is as rigid as an attaché case. It is quite supple to touch.
Here’s a frontal view. Square, simple, though not minimalist. Very classic, very British. Dandy, but in a restrained way. Baggage equivalent of a gray flannel double-breasted suit. This is about as old-school as a briefcase gets.
You will have to excuse the quality of pictures. Cell phone camera doesn’t do justice to the coloring. In strong sun, the shade and the texture are captured a little better. Notice the fine sheen.
Among the four colors offered by SAB, London tan and chestnut seem to be the most popular. My first SAB was chestnut too, and I regretted the decision five minutes after I unboxed it. I urge you to look at the bag in the flesh, if at all possible, before you settle on the color. Photos are misleading. Swatches don’t help—chestnut looked attractive as a palm-sized piece but seemed far too red and flamboyant as a finished briefcase.
SAB’s Havana is a terrific shade of chocolate brown. Properly deep under normal indoor lighting, resplendent in sunlight. It looks boring in photos and downright ugly as a swatch. I assure you it isn’t.
What I appreciate about the bag’s design is that although it seems simple and square at a glance, it offers so many interesting sights from different angles. Let me show you what I’m on about.
Frontal view again. Flat. Square. Just another box of a document case, right?
But turn it around a little… Now look at all these interesting shapes that are woven harmoniously into the total package. The flap and the front wall are not parallel but meet at a slant. Notice the gentle angle between the two halves of the lock. The buckle straps bulge forward, making up for the V-shaped furrow of the front side. The wall of the gusset is rigidly straight, but the flap complements it with an overhanging arch. The accordion is a beautiful trio of identical waves. The side is not rectangular but trapezoidal—and the four walls of the compartments start at far intervals at the bottom and gradually move closer, maintaining even space between them at all time.
Laying it face up affords another great view, emphasizing the beautiful folds of the accordion. The bag looks equally admirable standing erect or lying down.
Swaine Adeney’s craftsmanship really shines at the accordion. Flawless, immaculate. I don’t know how they get leather to bend into those intricate shapes. The bag really makes you admire the skills that put the bag together, not just the quality of the material.
From the top. The D rings are a bespoke option for a shoulder strap. Also notice the newspaper pocket at the back, another bespoke option. You need that pocket, in my opinion. This is not the easiest briefcase to open and close on the fly. Sometimes you will need to put away a document or an envelope in a hurry, and it really helps to have a pocket, however thin, that is accessible at all time. One of the gripes I had against the Wrap-round Westminster was that the buckle straps, which go completely around the case, prevent the addition of this pocket.
Side view.
Here is a nifty detail that I enjoy. When standing upright, only the outermost walls of the briefcase touch the floor. The accordion folds are kept a few millimeters above, protected from floor dirt and leaving a cowboy-hat-shaped space underneath. Nice.
A men’s briefcase just doesn’t look right with a shoulder strap. But I need it because I must have both hands free and because the bag is heavy. Weight is a very real factor to consider when shopping for a leather bag, especially if you walk a good deal or commute via public transportation. With a couple of books and a laptop inside, a bridle leather case will present a substantial weight. It’s nothing a grown man can’t handle, but if mobility is your top concern I advise you to go with lighter material.
It’s difficult to imagine a more suitable briefcase for professors and academics. It bespeaks intellect and class.
Shall we open up the case?
Another thing I didn’t like about my first SAB, the Wrap-round, is that it looked untidy when opened because of the 4 long ends of straps that were left dangling. The short-strap case doesn’t suffer that problem. The lower straps are securely sewn into the front wall and do not jiggle about.
Triple-gusset design. Plenty of room.
Notice that the main walls use thick slabs of leather, but the folds are made of thinner material. The folds are very flexible and will easily stretch wide if you really want to stuff your bag.
To give you an idea of the bag’s capacity, here is a list of things I could put in it without stretching the gussets: 2 thick hardbound volumes (600 pages each) and a pencil case in the backmost compartment; a 100-page paperback volume and a document folder in the middle compartment; a 70-page paperback volume and 2 Moleskin notebooks (each more than 100 pages) in the front compartment.
You could easily squeeze more in, but the bag should feel uncomfortably heavy by this point already. If you routinely carry bigger load than this, I’d say you need a lighter briefcase or a backpack.
And now the final part of my review… My go-to briefcase since 2008 has been the much-praised Filson Satchel. Let me show you some side-by-side comparison photos of the two bags. You will be immediately struck by how similar they are in dimension and styling. You will also see immediately the difference in quality; as good and reliable as Filson is, it is up against a rival it cannot beat. (Nor should we expect it to, really, when it costs only half as much.)
That concludes my review. If you are in the market for a handsome but not overbearing leather briefcase that will be at your side for many years to come, this is definitely an item to consider.
If you have questions, post them below and I will be glad to answer what I can.
Swaine Adeney Brigg Short-Strap Westminster
(Also, comparison with Filson Satchel)
In 2008, I posted on the AAAC forum a comparison review of two classic briefcases, the Swaine Adeney Brigg Westminster Wrap-Round and the Filson Satchel. You can find that review here:
http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/...-Brigg-briefcase-amp-Filson-Satchel-(Reviews)
I recently purchased my second Swaine Adeney case, a virtually unknown offering from that famed brand. I am writing a review of it because I think anyone looking to buy either the Filson or the Wrap-round Westminster should really consider this one first. I also believe I was comparing the wrong two bags 7 years ago. If there is any specimen of SAB that invites comparison with the Filson Satchel, it’s this briefcase. In design it is almost identical to the Filson, and in quality vastly superior. And few men shopping for a great briefcase know it even exists.
This probably happened because the bag was never a part of the SAB catalogue. SAB originally produced it for Sterling & Burke, their American distributor. For years it was only on Sterling & Burke’s website, generally unrecognized as an SAB. A crying shame, because this might well be the handsomest buckle-strap document case SAB’s workroom ever put out.
I saw a picture of this thing long ago and couldn’t get it out of my head. But I had just purchased both the Filson Satchel and the SAB Wrap-round in a fit of impulse, and adding a third bag felt just obscene. Sterling & Burke discouraged me further by ignoring my e-mail inquiry. I made myself forget the bag, and got on very well for the next six years with the rugged Filson at my side.
In January, I happened to google Swaine Adeney, and up popped this image:
The very picture that had me smitten 7 years ago. The old feelings came rushing back, and suddenly I had to have it. I e-mailed a second inquiry—not to Sterling & Burke, but to Swaine Adeney Brigg, asking why this product, advertised as an SAB in the photo, was not on SAB’s website. A Ms. Collinge from customer service wrote back that it was once made for Sterling & Burke, and that if I wanted it could still be made. I said yes please.
The helpful Ms. Collinge had the bag added to Swaine Adeney’s online catalogue just so I could order it. Check out the below link. The bag is now available from SAB for anyone to order, at a price significantly lower than the admired Wrap-round Westminster.
http://www.swaineadeneybrigg.com/store/swaine-adeney/document-cases/westminster-short-strap
An astonishing mere three weeks later (standard lead time is between eight and twelve), I was unboxing the most beautiful bag I ever held in my hands.
Bridle leather in Havana shade. Nickel fittings instead of the standard brass. Exactly like the case in the old Sterling & Burke photo—except the added shoulder strap.
Magnificent. Of all the things I ever paid money for, this is my favorite. I will carry it for the rest of my life.
So that’s the story of how I acquired the bag. And now on to the actual review.
The briefcase is made of thick, stiff bridle leather. Bridle leather is the sturdiest and most durable material you can have for a leather bag. This is not soft leather—it doesn’t crease or crumple, and it generally doesn’t bend except where it is meant to. If you like leather bags that change shapes like cloth, you don’t want bridle leather. But that doesn’t mean the bag is as rigid as an attaché case. It is quite supple to touch.
Here’s a frontal view. Square, simple, though not minimalist. Very classic, very British. Dandy, but in a restrained way. Baggage equivalent of a gray flannel double-breasted suit. This is about as old-school as a briefcase gets.
You will have to excuse the quality of pictures. Cell phone camera doesn’t do justice to the coloring. In strong sun, the shade and the texture are captured a little better. Notice the fine sheen.
Among the four colors offered by SAB, London tan and chestnut seem to be the most popular. My first SAB was chestnut too, and I regretted the decision five minutes after I unboxed it. I urge you to look at the bag in the flesh, if at all possible, before you settle on the color. Photos are misleading. Swatches don’t help—chestnut looked attractive as a palm-sized piece but seemed far too red and flamboyant as a finished briefcase.
SAB’s Havana is a terrific shade of chocolate brown. Properly deep under normal indoor lighting, resplendent in sunlight. It looks boring in photos and downright ugly as a swatch. I assure you it isn’t.
What I appreciate about the bag’s design is that although it seems simple and square at a glance, it offers so many interesting sights from different angles. Let me show you what I’m on about.
Frontal view again. Flat. Square. Just another box of a document case, right?
But turn it around a little… Now look at all these interesting shapes that are woven harmoniously into the total package. The flap and the front wall are not parallel but meet at a slant. Notice the gentle angle between the two halves of the lock. The buckle straps bulge forward, making up for the V-shaped furrow of the front side. The wall of the gusset is rigidly straight, but the flap complements it with an overhanging arch. The accordion is a beautiful trio of identical waves. The side is not rectangular but trapezoidal—and the four walls of the compartments start at far intervals at the bottom and gradually move closer, maintaining even space between them at all time.
Laying it face up affords another great view, emphasizing the beautiful folds of the accordion. The bag looks equally admirable standing erect or lying down.
Swaine Adeney’s craftsmanship really shines at the accordion. Flawless, immaculate. I don’t know how they get leather to bend into those intricate shapes. The bag really makes you admire the skills that put the bag together, not just the quality of the material.
From the top. The D rings are a bespoke option for a shoulder strap. Also notice the newspaper pocket at the back, another bespoke option. You need that pocket, in my opinion. This is not the easiest briefcase to open and close on the fly. Sometimes you will need to put away a document or an envelope in a hurry, and it really helps to have a pocket, however thin, that is accessible at all time. One of the gripes I had against the Wrap-round Westminster was that the buckle straps, which go completely around the case, prevent the addition of this pocket.
Side view.
Here is a nifty detail that I enjoy. When standing upright, only the outermost walls of the briefcase touch the floor. The accordion folds are kept a few millimeters above, protected from floor dirt and leaving a cowboy-hat-shaped space underneath. Nice.
A men’s briefcase just doesn’t look right with a shoulder strap. But I need it because I must have both hands free and because the bag is heavy. Weight is a very real factor to consider when shopping for a leather bag, especially if you walk a good deal or commute via public transportation. With a couple of books and a laptop inside, a bridle leather case will present a substantial weight. It’s nothing a grown man can’t handle, but if mobility is your top concern I advise you to go with lighter material.
It’s difficult to imagine a more suitable briefcase for professors and academics. It bespeaks intellect and class.
Shall we open up the case?
Another thing I didn’t like about my first SAB, the Wrap-round, is that it looked untidy when opened because of the 4 long ends of straps that were left dangling. The short-strap case doesn’t suffer that problem. The lower straps are securely sewn into the front wall and do not jiggle about.
Triple-gusset design. Plenty of room.
Notice that the main walls use thick slabs of leather, but the folds are made of thinner material. The folds are very flexible and will easily stretch wide if you really want to stuff your bag.
To give you an idea of the bag’s capacity, here is a list of things I could put in it without stretching the gussets: 2 thick hardbound volumes (600 pages each) and a pencil case in the backmost compartment; a 100-page paperback volume and a document folder in the middle compartment; a 70-page paperback volume and 2 Moleskin notebooks (each more than 100 pages) in the front compartment.
You could easily squeeze more in, but the bag should feel uncomfortably heavy by this point already. If you routinely carry bigger load than this, I’d say you need a lighter briefcase or a backpack.
And now the final part of my review… My go-to briefcase since 2008 has been the much-praised Filson Satchel. Let me show you some side-by-side comparison photos of the two bags. You will be immediately struck by how similar they are in dimension and styling. You will also see immediately the difference in quality; as good and reliable as Filson is, it is up against a rival it cannot beat. (Nor should we expect it to, really, when it costs only half as much.)
That concludes my review. If you are in the market for a handsome but not overbearing leather briefcase that will be at your side for many years to come, this is definitely an item to consider.
If you have questions, post them below and I will be glad to answer what I can.
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