How long does it take for a Leather Jacket to show patina?

[user290389023]

If it scratched showing the under color then it will age relatively fast.

Does that mean its bad quality leather?

 

[user290389023]

FAKE ALARM it wasnt a scratch just some dust in the shape of a scratch. i could just wipe it off.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[navetsea]

Maybe asbestos dust

 

[Guppy]

Does that mean its bad quality leather?

No. Some leather is made to show "age" faster than others.

"Quality" is a vague term, though. It means many different things, and many of them are trade-offs. It depends on what you want and what you value.

 

[rocketeer]

Nice - the thing about patina like that is it lets people know your jacket has been a firm friend for many years. The stories and adventures it hints at are not to be trifled with. This is not the jacket worn by an accountant on 8 weekends a year.

Of course you can always get a pre-worn jacket and pretend...

That is probably what all those non biker actors buy. To someone who has been around old jackets for a while, fake so called patina can be spotted a mile off. All those Eastman's made to look old can also be spotted a mile off even if regularly roughly worn. Those old replica original makers jackets they sell (Hell Angels, Patton etc), well any replica really do not have that aroma of 50 years of riding or flying even if you doused them with a mixture of aviation fuel, used engine oil and spilt beer, they will probably always smell new.
Most people baby a jacket that costs £800+, yes even I don't purposely get my Dainese Power Ranger gear roughed up. So should you want a jacket to look 30 years old my best advice is to wear it for 30 years

 

[Peacoat]

Of all of my black leather jackets, only my Schott has any real patina, and it has a bunch. It is my lightest weight jacket and gets used the most. Plus I ofter leave it draped over the seat back when in for lunch. It has a lot of sun damage patina, and now is more of a gray than a black.

Your best bet for wear may be the creasing and graining of the leather, which others have noted, is not patina. I actually prefer a well creased and grained jacket to one that is faded out.

This is the Schott. No artificial aging here.

And for comparison, here are the Johnson, Schott and Vanson.

 

[navetsea]

Black jacket pigment coated only on top, not protected by lacquer or anti UV, fades into "patina" within 2years