Discuss Swaine Adeney Brigg cases

[MoosicPa]

My SAB cases....

 

[jodaghoda]

Lovely! Did you go with the bespoke option and add a shoulder strap? Look forward to seeing pictures of the interiors and also your review.

 

[Sonny1]

I am new to this forum and wondered if anyone has Swaine Adeney's Chesterford trolley cases. I would appreciate your opinions regarding the quality of construction and the robustness of their trolley handle and wheels. I am assuming that these cases are machine stitched due to their size.

 

[MMNY]

I just purchased a "new, unused" Swaine Adeney Westminster 3, Chestnut, but when I compare it what others have posted, it has distinct differences, and appears more like a bag made by Ray Clark--even though it has a SA label. In particular, the strap holds are not squared off, but pointed, and the buckles on the strap are squared off, not round like an SAB.

Anyone have an opinion? Thanks.

Here are pics:

 

[Sonny1]

Hi. Did you purchase from a UK seller on Ebay?

 

[MMNY]

Yes, I did.

 

[Sonny1]

I have noticed that he is selling at substantial discounts to SAB's recommended retail price. You may want to confirm with SAB if they actually manufactured these pieces.

 

[MMNY]

Thanks. I sent them an email earlier today. See if I hear something back tomorrow. I was puzzled about the discount as well.

 

[casemaker]

He has listed the 2 cases he has on e-bay uk, as "100% TRADITIONAL HAND STITCHED ONE STITCH AT A TIME " this is incorrect, only the handle and the chapes holding the handle to the case are hand stitched, the rest is machine stitched. On your case, the chapes holding the body straps will also be hand stitched.

 

[jazzsol]



Yes, I did.  His eBay name is tumsteph.  He's been selling on eBay since Nov. 2014 and has all good reviews.  His actual name (which I received via email) is Steve Bell.

Was it necessary for you to post his actual name for the world at this time? He has not done anything wrong yet. You bought the bag at a substantial discount which makes you nervous.

 

[MMNY]

Quote:
I suppose not, and I'm not accusing him of anything. His name is readily available at Ebay; it is not private, and I was only responding to the person who asked if it was from a UK seller on eBay. The products he's selling look quite genuine and I know there are variables in products. Also, he's a very nice guy.

 

[MoosicPa]

I thought

Quote:
I suppose not, and I'm not accusing him of anything. His name is readily available at Ebay; it is not private, and I was only responding to the person who asked if it was from a UK seller on eBay. The products he's selling look quite genuine and I know there are variables in products. Also, he's a very nice guy.

I thought you said you got his name via email? It looks genuine to me, machine stitched as opposed to hand stitched, but legit.

 

[letsi]

Well, here's my 2 cents as one of the customer who actually bought one of Ray's briefcase.

He has listed the 2 cases he has on e-bay uk, as "100% TRADITIONAL HAND STITCHED ONE STITCH AT A TIME " this is incorrect, only the handle and the chapes holding the handle to the case are hand stitched, the rest is machine stitched. On your case, the chapes holding the body straps will also be hand stitched.

Ray publicly disclosed that his briefcases are only hand stitched for the handles, chapes as well as the stitching on the straps and buckles as can be seen on his ebay listing. http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/The-Gran.../251792448892?ssPageName=ADME:B:WNARL:SG:1123 As what Simon had noticed for this seller, he left out that fact or he could be parroting SAB's marketing line that all parts of SAB's briefcase are hand crafted. That said, the discrepancies here would be the stitching on the leather straps considering SAB West Minister briefcases generally only have their straps imprinted with parallel lines and not stitched like what Ray does for his briefcases. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SWAINE-ADEN...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Was it necessary for you to post his actual name for the world at this time? He has not done anything wrong yet. You bought the bag at a substantial discount which makes you nervous.

Quote:
I suppose not, and I'm not accusing him of anything. His name is readily available at Ebay; it is not private, and I was only responding to the person who asked if it was from a UK seller on eBay. The products he's selling look quite genuine and I know there are variables in products. Also, he's a very nice guy.

Ray's ebay nick is actually som3652010 in case anyone's wondering... As for the case that you've gotten, you've got to show more pictures but the stitched straps, sharp ended strap holds and squared buckles are signatures of Ray's current work (i.e. after SAB) not found in SAB's, the strap holds of his work have crosses as you can see in this picture

which he claimed was something of his personal signature he had retained from his SAB days as seen in the below SAB briefcases previously made by him.

It's up to individuals if they want to take that claim with a pinch of salt but I've not spotted the crosses on the holds on the newer SAB briefcases shown here on this thread nor the ones on SAB's website. Hence it's quite surprisingly to see this together with the stitched leather straps I've noticed on the seller's listing of all SAB briefcases he sold... The top of the first leather partition is actually reinforced by stitching to another piece of leather that is imprinted and branded with Ray's shop's name. Westminister Briefcases from SAB does not have this. It is also something not shown by the seller for all his SAB briefcase listing's photos

As for if anyone bought his cases and re-branded them as SAB... Looking at the Westminister briefcases the seller in question has sold recently, they all appeared to bear those features of Ray's briefcases (other than the one listing with the round lock which Ray doesn't really use IIRC) which none of the SAB briefcases showcased in this thread have (would love to be proven wrong) Ray could have chipped in too but he's no longer responding much to emails or posts here after giving up this trade.

 

[MMNY]

There were more pics but I didn't post them. However, On the one I purchased the strap holds have crosses, just like in the pictures you showed, but the label inside says Swaine Adeney 1750. When I receive it, I'll follow up.

 

[Sonny1]

As mentioned above, these cases are being sold with the Swaine Adeney label inside. If they have genuinely been manufactured by SAB, then you're getting great value, as I recently bought a Paternoster from the London store for £2295. If they haven't been manufactured by SAB, then that opens up a different issue.