Nice review! Full grain or top grain leather that hasn't been treated with a wax coating will scratch easier. You can buff it out, or condition it to mellow out the appearance. It doesn't mean that it's bad, or the leather isnt durable, usually the contrary. The marks add to the character as the patina develops IMO. Genuine leather is usually the lowest quality of leather you can get. Some are even painted over after bonding and that's why the scratches aren't that visible on your wallet.
Hey I know this comment is late but I wanted to say thank you for the brief education on leather quality. I definitely was wrong to complain about the quality of leather. I am curious though what you think about the discolored scratches, and if that’s a normal part of the patina. The reason I ask is because I took a look at the Bullstrap iPhone 12 case and it did scratch, but the scratches wore in over time and while the texture change remained, the scratches did change color back to the original dye after a day or so. Thanks again, I really do appreciate the feedback -Bryan
@@bry0000000 hey there, I am a bit of a leather-case fanatic. I bought bellroy leather 3 card case, twice with different colors. 2 Bullstrap cases, and other manufacturers that won’t be too relevant to mention here. For me, the best cases that “patina’d” over time are my Bellroy and Nomad Leather Case. Bullstrap seems to wear very unevenly because of their coating they put on top of the leather. Bellroy initially had that problem but fixed itself and the whole leather now is patina’d instead of just where I grip them the most. (Usually the coating on top of the leather fades where it is usually in contact with the skin such as the sides of the case). Iphone leather case, bullstrap, and twelve south all suffer from similar problems, but the worst are both apple and bullstrap. Bellroy treatments of leather cases are overall the best in just pure experience. When leather scratches it is usually lighter in color, but for me it was always what happened AFTER the scratch. How it patina’d, how the overall case looked is a part of leather and its story. It gives it that rugged look, so for me, it isn’t about scratches or discoloration of leather over time, but how it looks afterwards that shows the quality. Overall, I believe from my limited experience with bellroy and nomad is that they are really good quality products, and their leather patinas beautiful, taking in the scratches and discoloration to something personal.
Thank you for the insight - really learned a lot from your comment :). I had no idea about the coating on the Bullstrap case, but I did notice the same patina/wear pattern that you described. I really want to try the Nomad case but for some reason I'm struggling to find it in the color I want for the iPhone 12. It looks like the smartest design of all the leather cases. Bellroy seems to have a strong contender there as well. I think you articulated what I was trying to say much better than what I did in the video. I was wrong to call out the leather quality for Bellroy; however it was how the key cover reacted to the scratches over time that got me. And it's not all scratches. Most darken over time, and while you can still see scratches and some discoloration it looks like the type of desirable wear. But there are some that are white and look like I scratched all the dye off the leather. And now that the rest of the leather has had some time to patina it doesn't stand out as much as it did when I did this review, but I still notice it. The Bellory key cover is still the best looking key organizer on the market, in my opinion. I haven't seen anything else that looks like a real contender.
I used to the think the same until I came to realise that real leather will pick up thousands of scratches and marks over the years. This all adds to the Patina. I now oddly embrace all the scratches. 😄
wish the leather was scratch proof? you're wishing for leather not be leather man... please don't spread around misinformation, Bellroy uses pretty decent leather actually.
Uhhh that’s what quality leather is supposed to do
Exactly
Thank you for this review! Really liked how you talked about the awkwardness when opening doors using the key cover!
Nice review!
Full grain or top grain leather that hasn't been treated with a wax coating will scratch easier. You can buff it out, or condition it to mellow out the appearance. It doesn't mean that it's bad, or the leather isnt durable, usually the contrary. The marks add to the character as the patina develops IMO.
Genuine leather is usually the lowest quality of leather you can get. Some are even painted over after bonding and that's why the scratches aren't that visible on your wallet.
Hey I know this comment is late but I wanted to say thank you for the brief education on leather quality. I definitely was wrong to complain about the quality of leather. I am curious though what you think about the discolored scratches, and if that’s a normal part of the patina. The reason I ask is because I took a look at the Bullstrap iPhone 12 case and it did scratch, but the scratches wore in over time and while the texture change remained, the scratches did change color back to the original dye after a day or so.
Thanks again, I really do appreciate the feedback
-Bryan
@@bry0000000 hey there,
I am a bit of a leather-case fanatic. I bought bellroy leather 3 card case, twice with different colors. 2 Bullstrap cases, and other manufacturers that won’t be too relevant to mention here.
For me, the best cases that “patina’d” over time are my Bellroy and Nomad Leather Case. Bullstrap seems to wear very unevenly because of their coating they put on top of the leather. Bellroy initially had that problem but fixed itself and the whole leather now is patina’d instead of just where I grip them the most. (Usually the coating on top of the leather fades where it is usually in contact with the skin such as the sides of the case). Iphone leather case, bullstrap, and twelve south all suffer from similar problems, but the worst are both apple and bullstrap.
Bellroy treatments of leather cases are overall the best in just pure experience. When leather scratches it is usually lighter in color, but for me it was always what happened AFTER the scratch. How it patina’d, how the overall case looked is a part of leather and its story. It gives it that rugged look, so for me, it isn’t about scratches or discoloration of leather over time, but how it looks afterwards that shows the quality. Overall, I believe from my limited experience with bellroy and nomad is that they are really good quality products, and their leather patinas beautiful, taking in the scratches and discoloration to something personal.
Thank you for the insight - really learned a lot from your comment :). I had no idea about the coating on the Bullstrap case, but I did notice the same patina/wear pattern that you described. I really want to try the Nomad case but for some reason I'm struggling to find it in the color I want for the iPhone 12. It looks like the smartest design of all the leather cases. Bellroy seems to have a strong contender there as well.
I think you articulated what I was trying to say much better than what I did in the video. I was wrong to call out the leather quality for Bellroy; however it was how the key cover reacted to the scratches over time that got me. And it's not all scratches. Most darken over time, and while you can still see scratches and some discoloration it looks like the type of desirable wear. But there are some that are white and look like I scratched all the dye off the leather. And now that the rest of the leather has had some time to patina it doesn't stand out as much as it did when I did this review, but I still notice it.
The Bellory key cover is still the best looking key organizer on the market, in my opinion. I haven't seen anything else that looks like a real contender.
If you dont like that it scratched, look into Quad Sapphire Leather because I dont know what I'm talking about. Leather scratches.
You were embarrased to get your keys out of your pocket before?
I wanted to see how the keys were hold in this and the video shows it great. Thanks.
I have had no problem with scratching on mine over the last years of use.
Could be that I got a bad one. But if I'm getting it you have to imagine that other customers are as well.
I used to the think the same until I came to realise that real leather will pick up thousands of scratches and marks over the years. This all adds to the Patina.
I now oddly embrace all the scratches. 😄
Does it fit in the 5th pocket of jeans?
Not sure what the 5th pocket is, but it fits most pockets!
@@bry0000000 The small pocket jeans have on the front left, historically used for pocket watches.
@@Lazerscythe it will probably fit, but it will be tight if you have a separate key fob.
dude, it's leather not diamond. it will absolutely scratch.
wish the leather was scratch proof? you're wishing for leather not be leather man... please don't spread around misinformation, Bellroy uses pretty decent leather actually.
Exactly
He seems to put his keys in the same pocket as other items. No wonder it scratches.
So funny. I HATE the owl logo! Hahaha 😂
Scratch proof? It’s leather lmao! Seriously. You clearly don’t know much about leather and patina!