Aniline-dyed leather

[bbeagle]

Good news for those that are getting leather watch bands. Looks like the leather band for the Apple Watch is a higher quality than I'm used to. It's 'Aniline-dyed' which means that the leather is the same color all the way through.

Aniline : Leather that is colored all the way through with a transparent dye. The effect is applied by immersing the leather in a dye bath. Because the finish is transparent and shows the natural texture of the leather, only the best quality (usually hand selected) hides can be used. Aniline leather watchstraps have a unique look and feel sometimes described (somewhat unflatteringly) as having 'pre-stressed' look which is subjectively speaking a fair description, but does little to descibe the distinctive appearance and finish that characterises superior quality aniline watchstraps.

From: http://www.watchworx.co.uk/pages/glossary.html

I'm used to 'genuine leather' - this is actually WORSE for wear and tear, as only the top layer of the leather looks like leather, a scuff shows the underlying white/tan color.

Still, $150 is a lot for that... I've seen those types of bands for $60.