Aero options balancing strong grain and good longevity

[l'oreille]

I'll take the heavy grain any day.

Likewise! And to be clear, my question really was aimed at finding an Aero offering that most closely would approximate this.

 

[Zoro]

Dunno about Venetian, but Saphir is very easy to find in Europe. Even found a dealer in Estonia! As I'll be getting a pair of CXL boots soon to match my CXL jacket I might grab some of this "Crème Cuir Gras" stuff.

Yes, Saphir is French so it's very easy to find, both online and in small shops, even in little towns.

I have a little Venetian Shoe Cream bottle that I bought in a work trip to US though, as I had read that Saphir gives a shinier look and I'm not keen on that.

 

[l'oreille]

The primary reason for this is climate, not tanning. Japan with its subtropical (and tropical) climate isn't healthy for leather so humidity and salt is what is destroying those jackets, not the way they were tanned.

Horween's Chromexcel tanning method is, in general, very durable but it is also very susceptible to climate due several reasons I won't get into right now. But Aero's jackets that stayed in the UK, especially Scotland, never display this kind of degradation.

If you're living in a country with a mild climate, you have nothing to worry about. If not, some other leather might be a better choice.

Interesting! I’ve never considered that that would be a possibility, especially given the amount of care I’ve seen in Japan when it comes down to things like “the right way to clean and polish shoes”.

Maybe I’ll do a deep dive and try find some examples of old CXL jackets online that are in a milder climate (as I’m in Belgium, there’s barely any difference with the UK climate anyway).

 

[MrProper]

But Aero's jackets that stayed in the UK, especially Scotland, never display this kind of degradation.

I had my CXFQHH for around 12 or 13 years. I inspected it carefully before selling it and didn't notice anything like that.
I'm not going to worry about my CXSH either.

 

[Aloysius]

Dunno about Venetian, but Saphir is very easy to find in Europe. Even found a dealer in Estonia! As I'll be getting a pair of CXL boots soon to match my CXL jacket I might grab some of this "Crème Cuir Gras" stuff.

Zoro was referring to Venetian. Saphir is European.

Interesting! I’ve never considered that that would be a possibility, especially given the amount of care I’ve seen in Japan when it comes down to things like “the right way to clean and polish shoes”.

It's the climate. Like how classic cars just do better in California even if well maintained in wetter states.

 

[Marc mndt]

The primary reason for this is climate, not tanning.

Maybe it's a combination of tanning and climate?

You know I've handled a ton of vintage leather jackets in Japan. I didn't get the impression that jackets deteriorated faster in general over there.

 

[Monitor]

Maybe it's a combination of tanning and climate?

It is. I had this really informative talk about leather with a person who works at a tannery in Italy (met them through Poell server) and to vastly simplify things - Not by choice but by need because full, technical explanation went way over my head - several ingredients that the Horween's CXL tanning method consists of, decompose faster in humid, warm and salty climate than they would in, say, the UK or German weather which, in turn, acts as a cascade and accelerates the degradation of the leather.

It's wax, I think but I'm not sure but that's why applying conditioner on an already crusty jacket doesn't do nothing.

The more basic the chrome tanning, the longer will the jacket live so basically, many jackets will still live a long, happy life in Japan, as they do, especially if kept safe but leather in general has a shorter life-span in Japan.

My Kendo teacher had to replace all the leather parts of his katana three times as often whilst training in Japan and leather straps, belts, etc. just weren't viable.

Another example are all those sicc fadezzz on jeans that all turn up on guys from tropical countries, who wore their denims for three months, only on Sundays, on the way to church while Joe from North Dakota had to use Eyedropper tool in Photoshop to finally realize how his jeans stopped being a perfect indigo after 4 years of daily (and nightly) wear.

 

[Marc mndt]

those sicc fadezzz on jeans that all turn up on guys from tropical countries, who wore their denims for three months, only on Sundays, on the way to church

I thought that was accomplished by a thing called sandpaper lol.