As many people know, leather ages beautifully! Yes, it may take time, but good things come to those who wait. The art of aging leather is something that everyone can do, with just a little bit of patience and the right technique. The first thing to do when starting to age leather is to pick the right piece of leather. This may come in the form of a wallet, belt, watch strap or even a key chain. Once you have selected the right item to age then you need to choose the right technique to age it properly. You will need to let the sun hit it, water splash on it, and allow your skin oils to rub all over the leather. Wearing your leather watch strap while washing dishes is a great idea or wearing a natural leather belt during a rain storm. You can let your wallet sit out in the sun and you can touch it a great deal, which also helps it break in and become soft.
Patina is a truly remarkable thing to witness, but it can be tough to really see unless you take a before and after picture (as seen below). We recommend that you take a picture, right when you purchase your leather. After you do this, try aging your leather for a few weeks, then take another picture of your newly aged leather. One word of caution is to make sure you do not dry out your leather in a way that makes it dry or brittle. You can always use some Venetian Cream to get that softness back into your leather.
The natural or new looking vintage Panerai watch strap below comes from a vintage army belt. While this leather may look new, it is really 50+ years old. The darker brown Panerai watch strap is the same exact leather and looked like the watch strap on the left about 1 month prior. Us at DaLuca could not believe our eyes as our customer sent this watch strap back to us, so we could see the patina development (he also wanted to add another custom punched hole to the strap, which is why the holes are different from the natural looking Panerai watch strap on the left). The techniques used to age this leather were washing dishes while wearing this strap, wearing the watch in the shower, splashing rain water on it and touching it, which allowed the natural oils from his skin to transfer onto the leathers skin.
DaLuca Straps - Aged Leather Patina Comparison
DaLuca Straps - Natural Leather (Brand New)
DaLuca Straps - Aged Leather Patina (2 Months of Aging)
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