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Leather Cases - Patina Proud Photos

tinnybastard said:
All Apple's iPhone 12 leather cases have a coloured coating that rubs off revealing a very dark (almost black) 'leather' underneath. I would NOT call this patina. If your case is still showing any colour, there's still coating left.
Click to expand...

i discovered the same. took the coating off from the saddle brown one and no matter what i do: it will get very dark. disappointing!
 
So for those that took the coating off does it start to darken more? My SB is only turning black around the sides nowhere else and I would prefer to have the entire case looking darker.
 
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tinnybastard said:
People seem to missing what we've discovered here!
It's not the leather that's being damaged by general wear or alcohol wipes.

All Apple's iPhone 12 leather cases have a coloured coating that rubs off revealing a very dark (almost black) 'leather' underneath. I would NOT call this patina. If your case is still showing any colour, there's still coating left.
Click to expand...
yeah, people are just not getting that there's no leather on the case, no leather is coming into contact with any wipes, UNTIL the coating rubs off. you're wasting your time using oil or leather polish on it because it's not leather. if you think your blue case is blue dyed leather you're just not grasping how the cases were made this year. it's a coating. the first time you get a deep enough scuff on the case, you'll see this pretty clearly.

i've had leather jackets, bags, shoes, you name it -- if it's genuine leather and not suede you can wipe them down with a little soap or damp wipes and it's fine. alcohol, again, should be relatively harmless with only minor color transfer. you might get some color transfer from your jeans or whatever, i had an orange leather fossil bag that would always happen to. and even that can be cleaned off if it's real leather. leather can take some wear and tear! that's the whole appeal of buying leather! that's what the scuffs and patina mean, that it's been well used. but it doesn't rub off or melt away lol.
 
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allprologue said:
yeah, people are just not getting that there's no leather on the case, no leather is coming into contact with any wipes, UNTIL the coating rubs off. you're wasting your time using oil or leather polish on it because it's not leather. if you think your blue case is blue dyed leather you're just not grasping how the cases were made this year. it's a coating. the first time you get a deep enough scuff on the case, you'll see this pretty clearly.

i've had leather jackets, bags, shoes, you name it -- if it's genuine leather and not suede you can wipe them down with a little soap or damp wipes and it's fine. alcohol, again, should be relatively harmless with only minor color transfer. you might get some color transfer from your jeans or whatever, i had an orange leather fossil bag that would always happen to. and even that can be cleaned off if it's real leather. leather can take some wear and tear! that's the whole appeal of buying leather! that's what the scuffs and patina mean, that it's been well used. but it doesn't rub off or melt away lol.
Click to expand...
i'd also add that they kept the european leather for the magsafe wallet and you can clearly tell the difference in how those are turning out. it's unfortunate.
 
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It’s not like anyone’s forcing third parties to not make a MagSafe leather case with clicky metal buttons.
 
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i have the California poppy case. Same thing as you guys. Feels less like leather more like PU leather. Thin too.

here’s a month in.
EF9B31DB-4F96-4F35-89DD-11E736A7A110.jpeg
You can see a little bit of scuffing on the top right corner.Weird Because it isn’t black, rather A dark brown. Could be some pigment still there.

also, I was scouring the web for some photos of the previous leather case and found someone with a similar “patina”

https://imgur.com/E3fcPFj
 
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allprologue said:
yeah, people are just not getting that there's no leather on the case, no leather is coming into contact with any wipes, UNTIL the coating rubs off. you're wasting your time using oil or leather polish on it because it's not leather. if you think your blue case is blue dyed leather you're just not grasping how the cases were made this year. it's a coating. the first time you get a deep enough scuff on the case, you'll see this pretty clearly.

i've had leather jackets, bags, shoes, you name it -- if it's genuine leather and not suede you can wipe them down with a little soap or damp wipes and it's fine. alcohol, again, should be relatively harmless with only minor color transfer. you might get some color transfer from your jeans or whatever, i had an orange leather fossil bag that would always happen to. and even that can be cleaned off if it's real leather. leather can take some wear and tear! that's the whole appeal of buying leather! that's what the scuffs and patina mean, that it's been well used. but it doesn't rub off or melt away lol.
Click to expand...
there is brown leather under the coating. but as soon as it comes into contact with oil or (hand) grease it gets really dark. so the only way would be to remove the coating and then not oiling it or anything. but it will get dark through hand grease only anyway.
 
I'm surprised it has taken Apple this long to switch to a coated leather, given the complaints in the past. Does the packaging still have the disclaimer about how aniline leather is the material, and will change appearance? I'd guess that it does not, and the only claim is of genuine leather, which covers a wide swath.

Most people like the look of leather, but don't want stuff their stuff to age, or show signs of wear; for them vinyl, or "vegan leather" (I hate that term) is a better fit.

At least there are others who still provide alternative with less artificial traits.
 
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TheIntruder said:
I'm surprised it has taken Apple this long to switch to a coated leather, given the complaints in the past. Does the packaging still have the disclaimer about how aniline leather is the material, and will change appearance? I'd guess that it does not, and the only claim is of genuine leather, which covers a wide swath.

Most people like the look of leather, but don't want stuff their stuff to age, or show signs of wear; for them vinyl, or "vegan leather" (I hate that term) is a better fit.

At least there are others who still provide alternative with less artificial traits.
Click to expand...
No, it doesn’t state it’s aniline leather, but you’re right. It has “genuine leather” stamped on the box. If I remember, the Apple sleeve does say European leather? I can’t remember off the top of my head.
 
SteveZman said:
I have the sienna case which hopefully one day will look like the bourbon.

I might use the ocean blue case one day. Would hate to miss a day of patina though ;)
Click to expand...
Oops. Not sure where I got Bourbon. I'm sure the Sienna will age beautifully. Just save the Ocean and when the new phones release next year, switch over and pretend you got the new phone. Great way to save $1k!
 
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scarrz said:
So for those that took the coating off does it start to darken more? My SB is only turning black around the sides nowhere else and I would prefer to have the entire case looking darker.
Click to expand...
Yes, mine is now a golden honey color, not the fake light tan color and it’s starting to darken in more worn/touched areas. And it actually smells like leather now.
 
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