Aero Horsehide Samples

[dan_t]

***NEW PICS ADDED BELOW***
Full Sun shots and a thickness comparison.

Hi all,
I received a fantastic envelope in the mail today with several beautiful samples from Aero. I know that many of the familiar faces around here are also very familiar with the various offerings from Aero. Others on the other hand (like me) are very much less so.
As such, I thought I'd post these images here to try to illustrate the differences between what is currently on offer - I hope this is useful to someone out there !!

These are all horse, a combination of FQHH, Tumbled & the 'new' Italian Vicenza hides.

The first thing that I noticed is that the 'Tumbled' horse is very similar in feel and flexibility to the Vicenza. As you would expect, the FQHH is the stiffest, followed by the Tumbled & then the Vicenza for flex. The Tumbled does feel marginally thicker than the Vicenza, but I would seriously need a micrometre to measure any difference.

The other thing I noticed was a difference when I performed a 'scratch test'. I am tossing up between the FQHH Brown & the new Vicenza in Seal (colour is more important than thickness etc to me right now).
The FQHH in Brown has a lovely lighter brown when scratched, whilst the Vicenza has an almost greyish undertone. Not sure if this matters at all, although it may make a difference years down the track.
To my eyes though, it does make the FQHH a 'richer' brown than the flatter Seal Vicenza (ignoring the amazing grain of the hide for one minute) - Note; this is ONLY an opinion.

I will state for the record that there's not a bad hide here whatsoever. They are all stunning & I would be happy for a jacket to be made out of any of these samples.

Here are the pics for your viewing pleasure;

The family portrait;
Left to right; FQHH Cordovan, Tumbled Cordovan, Tumbled Brown, FQHH Brown, Russet Vicenza, Seal Vicenza, Dark Seal Vicenza, Black Vicenza

FQHH Brown & Vicenza Seal.
The Vicenza somehow appears a little 'flatter' as a colour to my eye in real life - again, ignoring for one minute the wonderful grain with this comment.
Also note the difference in scratch test.

Tumbled Brown vs Russet Vicenza

Vicenza; Seal, Dark Seal, Black
All LOVELY hides

FQHH Brown vs Cordovan vs Tumbled Cordovan

FULL SUN SHOTS

FQHH Cordovan, Tumbled Cordovan, Tumbled Brown, FQHH Brown, Russet Vicenza, Seal Vicenza, Dark Seal Vicenza, Black Vicenza

Vicenza; Seal, Dark Seal, Black

FQHH Brown, Tumbled Brown, Vicenza Russet

Tumbled Cordovan, FQHH Cordovan, FQHH Brown

Hide Thickness.
Bottom to top (Left to Right); FQHH Brown, Tumbled Brown, Vicenza Russet

 

[Superfluous]

Great comparison -- thanks. I am awaiting many of the same samples from Carrie.

 

[Sloan1874]

Nicely done. A handy 'in the field' comparison.

Here's a pic of my LHB that I took early last year, which shows how the FQHH brown lightens naturally through wear:

 

[rocketeer]

Nicely wearing in Craig.

Dan, nice samples, why not stitch em together and make your own Jacket Scratch test? After a while when I get my jackets scratched or caught on anything rough, I just rub some Ko Cho or even a little boot polish on the offended area. It will soon blend in naturally.

 

[dan_t]

Actually, I was wondering whether there was enough leather in a sample to make a watch strap.......
After I've made my decision of course!

 

[Sloan1874]

Nicely wearing in Craig.

Dan, nice samples, why not stitch em together and make your own Jacket Scratch test? After a while when I get my jackets scratched or caught on anything rough, I just rub some Ko Cho or even a little boot polish on the offended area. It will soon blend in naturally.

Personally, I just lick my thumb and rub the scratch till it softens down.

 

[rocketeer]

I think front quarter horse is a little thick for a watch strap, especially where it has to be turned for the pins and buckles. I made a wallet from an old 1940s Croc handbag though(everyone here hates me for doing things like this) Or how about a comb case?
No doubt Aero will now be inundated with sample requests for these reasons

 

[pawineguy]

Actually, I was wondering whether there was enough leather in a sample to make a watch strap.......
After I've made my decision of course!

Very well done Dan, great comparison.

 

[l0fielectronic]

Thanks for posting these, interesting to see.

 

[Edward]

Interesting. As you've discovered, there's no bad hide among them. Me, I think the regular FQHH is worth the extra break-in time to truly make it your own over the tumbled stuff, but both look great. I'm jonesing a bit for something in the Vicenza, though. I've tried on a jacket in that, and it really is lovely stuff. Didn't feel at all like a less durable hide than the FQHH. It'll age differently, but equally nicely, imo.

 

[theeggcarton]

Thanks for all the comparisons...excellent info for all us new to these amazing options. It has been interesting to see how my new vicenza jacket has changed over this past week since I received it. Eagerly awaiting my brown fqhh Maxwell so I can compare/contrast. I agonized at whether I should have gone with tumbled, but ultimately felt I'd rather break it in from new.

 

[ProteinNerd]

I think the regular FQHH is worth the extra break-in time to truly make it your own over the tumbled stuff, but both look great.

The tumbled cordovan in my bootlegger is definitely slightly thinner than the regular FQHH in my other jackets, it could be just a difference in batch but I was under the impression that the tumbled does come out slightly thinner and lighter and not "just" tumbled and was one of the reasons I chose it.

 

[Damo]

Just got a bunch of samples from Alexander Leather. Al and aero both use Horween leather. The brown cxl steer when scrunched really creased and lightened the brown colour. The brown fqhh didn't crease or lighten as much as the cxl.

Does the creasing and lightening in colour happen with the aero fqhh swatch?

 

[Sloan1874]

The tumbled cordovan in my bootlegger is definitely slightly thinner than the regular FQHH in my other jackets, it could be just a difference in batch but I was under the impression that the tumbled does come out slightly thinner and lighter and not "just" tumbled and was one of the reasons I chose it.

I would agree that the tumbled feels slightly lighter. Not massively, but enough to feel different.

 

[Gobble]

it is the oils the fqhh isn't a pull up leather I am assuming

 

[pawineguy]

it is the oils the fqhh isn't a pull up leather I am assuming

The regular FQHH and the tumbled FQHH are tanned the same way and both are pull up leathers. The Vincenza is not a pull up.

 

[Gobble]

The regular FQHH and the tumbled FQHH are tanned the same way and both are pull up leathers. The Vincenza is not a pull up.

Apologies if I wasn't clear but I was referring to the Alexander leathers swatches

 

[pawineguy]

Apologies if I wasn't clear but I was referring to the Alexander leathers swatches

Now I understand, and it's a good question. AL lists their HH as Chrome tanned, where the CXL HH or Steer are combination tanned leathers, so their HH may not be a pull up.

 

[pawineguy]

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is "pull up" leather?

It's a heavily oiled leather (CXL is an example) that will lighten in color when bent, because the oils and color will actually "flow" within the leather. Thus, when the leather is bent, the pressure at the bend point pushes the oils and color away. Conversely, when you have a scratch or smudge on the leather, it can "self heal" by simply rubbing the area, heating it up with friction and allowing some oils to flow back into the damaged area.

 

[dan_t]

New Full Sun pictures added to the first post, plus a thickness shot.
Glad to see this is useful for so many!!

Dan