A couple of years ago I received four pieces of a beautiful dark blue shell cordovan from Chicago based tannery, Horween. I loved that leather, and it seems you did too because the little I had was sold out inside a couple of months. Ever since then I’ve been trying to get hold of some more, but without success. The production of shell cordovan leather is a labour intensive process, taking between 6-8 months, and as a result it is only ever produced in small quantities. To make matters worse, the dark blue colour was a limited run by the tannery. To be honest I didn’t hold out a lot of hope of finding any more, but I made sure that several of my suppliers knew I wanted some, just in case.
Three weeks ago I received a phonecall from a leather wholesaler I use. They told me they had received a delivery from Horween and there were a few pieces of the blue shell codovan in the consignment. I didn’t hesitate and two days later I drove the 200 miles to see it. They didn’t have much, and I wasn’t allowed to buy it all, but I brought a few pieces back to Toshi Straps HQ and made this strap from it to photograph. It’s gorgeous! I’m delighted to announce that because of that phonecall Blue shell cordovan is available again.
Why do I get so excited about shell cordovan?
Quite simply, I think shell cordovan is the best leather there is. Sad as it may sound, I was actually really excited to receive that phonecall. Yes, shell cordovan is very expensive, and it can be difficult to get hold of, but for a watch strap it is just perfect. Those of you who have experienced shell cordovan will already know why it’s such a special leather, but for those of you who haven’t, this is a blog post I wrote some years ago about it. You might find it interesting – it explains what shell cordovan is, how it is produced, and why it is such a good leather for a watch strap.
It’s also worth noting that Horween are world famous for their shell cordovan. The Chicago based tannery have been making shell cordovan since 1905 and trust me when I say they know what they’re doing. Over the 16 years I’ve been making watch straps I have occasionally looked at shell cordovan produced by other tanneries, but it never seemed quite as good a product as that produced by Horween. I believe that a watch strap is only ever going to be as good as the leather it’s made from, so I use the best I can find. Horween Shell Cordovan is the only shell cordovan I use.
