I’ve decided to offer a discount on “Metta” calf for the entire month of August. This is a modern calf leather that has been produced to resemble the 18th century reindeer hide found on the wreck of the Metta Catherina when it was discovered in 1973. This calf leather has been vegetable tanned and treated with birch oil in the tanning process – and of course the characteristic “Russia” cross-hatching has been made to give it an authentic look. It’s one of my go-to leathers and I think works really well with natural stitching.
For anyone who doesn’t know about the leather from the wreck of the Metta Catherina, I should give you a brief explanation, so here is the history lesson….
In the 17th and 18th centuries, leather from Russia was a highly prized luxury commodity imported by the west in large quantities for everything from furniture upholstery to fine leather goods. At that time, the process of producing “Russia leather” was unknown by leather produces outside of Russia, and it’s characteristics included being long-lasting, water-resistant and insect-repellent. Western leather manufacturers tried to discover how it was produced (even sending spies over to Russia in their attempts) but they were unsuccessful. The leather became highly desirable, and the cross hatching that was imprinted by hand during the production of the leather became well known as a sign of quality.
In 1786 a 53-ton brigantine, the “Metta Catherina” left St Petersberg with a cargo of leather and hemp, bound for Genoa in Italy. On it’s journey it anchored just off Plymouth Sound, but a storm blew up and sank the ship. Although the crew were saved the cargo was lost, and the ship became just another wreck lying at the bottom of the Ocean for almost 200 years until a local diving club discovered it in 1973. One of the first objects the diving club brought to the surface after the discovery of the wreck was the ship’s bell, which carried the inscription ”Die Frau Meta Catherina von Flensburg 1782 Die Brigantine”. Once the name of the ship was known it was relatively easy to find out what she was carrying when she was lost, and soon the divers were surfacing with bundles of leather that had come from the wreck. You can read more about the wreck here.
As you would expect some of the leather had deteriorated badly, but the leather had been transported in rolls and many of the hides from the middle of the rolls had survived remarkably well – probably due to the thick layers of mud that had covered the wreck preventing the salt water from penetrating it. Scientific analysis at the time showed that the leather was almost certainly reindeer hide. This leather quickly became sought after because of it’s provenance, and today what little is left is fiercely expensive.
Much less expensive than the reindeer hide from the wreck of the Metta Catherina is the “Metta leather” that I offer, and that is now on sale for the next month. If you fancy a new strap and think that Metta is the one for you, then by using the code AUG2017 when you place your order you will get a £15 discount on the prices shown on the Metta leather page. Simply type the coupon code AUG2017 into the box at the top of the checkout page and click the blue “apply coupon” button. Providing there is a Metta leather strap in your shopping cart you will then see £15 is deducted from the cart total. Please note the code is AUG2017 – there is no space between “AUG” and “2017”
To avoid any confusion, I need to point out that my “Metta” leather is not an authentic 250 year old Russian reindeer hide salvaged from the bottom of the English Channel. It is a modern calf leather that has been produced to resemble the leather from the wreck.