SCHOTT NAKED COWHIDE OR STEERHIDE?

[PeterRocco]

Hi
Hope I can ask this question?
Whitch is Higher Quality Leather The Naked Cowhide or Steerhide from SCHOTT?
Never owned their Steerhide Leather whitch is their Naked Cowhide with a Finnish Applied.

 

[Carlos840]

They are different, neither is better quality.
Both start out as the same hide, it's just that one has a finish applied to it.
The naked cowhide is naked and won't be as shiny or as waterproof/

 

[Monitor]

@Carlos840, depends as according to Schott, Naked Cowhide is a higher grade leather than Steerhide. It's thicker to start with and only the most flawless hides are selected for the jackets made out of Naked Cowhide, which is why they are pricier.

Steerhide does get corrected to some extent. At least that's what Jason said on the forum a few times.

In any case, I prefer Naked Cowhide to Steerhide, maybe even Horsehide. It's much more organic to the touch and looks natural.

 

[Edward]

My 618 is the chromed steerhide. I don't think there's any difference in quality - just different hides. I'd expect the naked cowhide to 'wear' a bit faster, and perhpas be more permeable by rain.

 

[Seb Lucas]

Hi
Hope I can ask this question?
Whitch is Higher Quality Leather The Naked Cowhide or Steerhide from SCHOTT?
Never owned their Steerhide Leather whitch is their Naked Cowhide with a Finnish Applied.

Interesting. How would you go about establishing that one was better than the other? Would this not largely be a question of personal taste?

 

[Monitor]

Interesting. How would you go about establishing that one was better than the other? Would this not largely be a question of personal taste?

Supposedly hides with less scaring and other marks are selected for Naked cow as they don't need any correcting. That does make it leather of higher grade.

 

[PeterRocco]

Hello
Thank You All for the Fast and Great Answers. Very Helpful. I can see that if applying a Finish on the Leather you would use a Less Quality Leather. But maybe still the same thickness?
I bought a New No Tags 618 in Brown Leather. New Never Worn for $400.00 including Shipping From Canada. In Size 50. Did not get it yet Hope by 06/18.
I will post Pictures when I get it.
Thank You For All Your Great input.
Pete

 

[Monitor]

I can see that if applying a Finish on the Leather you would use a Less Quality Leather. But maybe still the same thickness?

Schott staff themselves claim Naked Cow leather is a bit thicker. That has been my experience, too. The difference can range from negligible to quite obvious. I have had a 118 that was made of a tremendously heavy & thick hide. All the other Perfectos I've handled were around the same weight.

 

[PeterRocco]

Hi
interesting, I had a SCHOTT BOMBER JACKET back in the early 1970’s and that Leather was like Shoe Leather the Jacket could stand up by itself!
Pete

 

[Seb Lucas]

Supposedly hides with less scaring and other marks are selected for Naked cow as they don't need any correcting. That does make it leather of higher grade.

Yeah, that makes sense - I've heard that said but I might prefer corrected hide as 'better'. Kind of depends on preferences and notions of 'purity' that make no difference to my tastes. I'm not too fussed by how leather looks when new. My ultimate test of leather is how does it look in 15 years after some hard wear.

 

[PeterRocco]

I Like How You Think

 

[PeterRocco]

Hi
So I guess To Correct the Schott Hide they have to cut away some Leather evenly Accross the Entire hide?

 

[Monitor]

Hi
So I guess To Correcte the Schott Hide they have to cut away some Leather evenly Accross the Entire hide?

Nah, just means they don't have to sand or imprint it. Or even cover it heavily with a top finish.

 

[Carlos840]

From Gail:

"The #118 is a Naked leather Cowhide, which means there is no finish on the leather. It has a non-shiney appearance with a softer pliable hand. The # 618 is a Steerhide leather which has a finish on the leather, a shiney appearance and a stiffer rigid hand. Both leathers are 1.2-1.4mm in thickness and a 3 oz. wt. which is very durable."

"In reference to the Naked Cowhide and Steerhide leathers, these are the highest quality of leathers available, both are the same heavier weight and smooth appearance. These leathers are a higher grade with less natural imperfections to the leather, which reflects in the higher price of the leather. Gail"

"The Steerhide though it does have a finish is still a higher grade hide and the finish applied does not mute any natural imperfection, it will still have the clean smooth look."

 

[Monitor]

Also from gail.

"Both leathers are cowhide, but as I noted the Naked cowhide is a higher grade leather and a heavier weight leather. The naked cowhide has no finish at all an dis just drummed dyed. This means the hides are very clean with the least amount of natural imperfections in the hide such as scarring or tick marks. The Steerhide though it does have a finish is still a higher grade hide and the finish applied does not mute any natural imperfection, it will still have the clean smooth look. "

But I read a post from Jason some time ago that confirms this, too. Naked Cow is supposed to be their best. And in my experience, that is so. The Naked Cow jackets vs. Steer ones barely even compare to me personally. I vastly prefer the Naked Cow leather.

 

[Seb Lucas]

So it sounds like to really comes down to personal tatse. And quite possibly mainstream customer's dislike and fear of imperfections in leathers has led Schott and others to elevate the smoother leathers and 'correct' the less smooth ones.

 

[Carlos840]

Also from gail.

"Both leathers are cowhide, but as I noted the Naked cowhide is a higher grade leather and a heavier weight leather. The naked cowhide has no finish at all an dis just drummed dyed. This means the hides are very clean with the least amount of natural imperfections in the hide such as scarring or tick marks. The Steerhide though it does have a finish is still a higher grade hide and the finish applied does not mute any natural imperfection, it will still have the clean smooth look. "

But I read a post from Jason some time ago that confirms this, too. Naked Cow is supposed to be their best. And in my experience, that is so. The Naked Cow jackets vs. Steer ones barely even compare to me personally. I vastly prefer the Naked Cow leather.

This feels a bit like trying to interpret the bible... We can both find passages that say that what we each think is true.
To me both leathers are described as being "a higher rade" without really saying one is "the highest" of the two.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I never cared for naked cowhide jackets. I think Schott's regular finished steer not only looks better, but also handles wet weather much better. Naked leather will stain if not careful and shrink if worn wet in the sun. The idea of 'better' comes down to how you want the leather to perform, IMO.
HD

 

[TREEMAN]

It's hit or miss with Schott. I've handled naked that was nice and thick and others that were thin and light.

 

[Edward]

It's hit or miss with Schott. I've handled naked that was nice and thick and others that were thin and light.

To an extent that's to be expected when we're dealing with an organic material like leather, where no two animals will be identical, even before you get to minor variances i the tanning batches.