Once the leather is worn in a few weeks it typically gets more grippy. If you have a tendency to drop your phone I wouldn’t get full leather. The surface scratches will heal up but drops will typically damage the leather. You either want a leather case or a case that will stands up to drops. I don’t think you can have both
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Leather Cases - Patina Proud Photos
- Thread starter JamiLynee
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After the damn case being stuck in customs for over a week, I have finally picked up my Ryan London case. Since I have not had a leather case since iPhone X I have been kinda worried about what I'd get, since some people say the leather of case this and that is dry, rough and so on.
My initial reaction is "what the hell are those people on about"? Yes, the leather is not saturated with oils and it is not heavily finished, but it is exactly as smooth and supple as you can ever expect from this kind of leather. I think it feels awesome. The smell is a little more towards chemicals than what I'm used to though, a bit towards rubber actually. The buttons are superb from the start. The fit is snug enough but it is pretty awful around the camera housing, like really awful. At least the gap between case and camera housing is even on all sides. I even have a camera protection "cap", so without that there would be an even bigger gap.
So, leather is great. Fit is good around the case. Fit around camera is truly horrible. I will not buy it again for next model due to the camera housing fit.
My initial reaction is "what the hell are those people on about"? Yes, the leather is not saturated with oils and it is not heavily finished, but it is exactly as smooth and supple as you can ever expect from this kind of leather. I think it feels awesome. The smell is a little more towards chemicals than what I'm used to though, a bit towards rubber actually. The buttons are superb from the start. The fit is snug enough but it is pretty awful around the camera housing, like really awful. At least the gap between case and camera housing is even on all sides. I even have a camera protection "cap", so without that there would be an even bigger gap.
So, leather is great. Fit is good around the case. Fit around camera is truly horrible. I will not buy it again for next model due to the camera housing fit.
So you think you will keep it? If it’s anything like the Bullstrap, yeah the housing of the camera isn’t great at all.
How do you think the leather will age?
Yes I will keep it. I have already conditioned it with a leather balm that won't darken the leather and it feels even better now.
How will it age? Way too fast, is my guess. But I will keep feeding it leather balm until I saturate it and hopefully that will slow down the aging. You just have to condition it slowly, you can't just drown that b*tch, then you over saturate it and that has undesired side effects.
When I get a case other then this Apple leather case, I am reaching out to you on taking care of it. I am like you, I don’t want fast aging.
So the balm will keep the color from darkening way too much?
Got my Ryan London today (and sold the RL 15Max) – there are a few nitpicks like the buttons that bulge from the case and the open lower end, which some people like but makes me wonder what happens if the phone falls exactly on THAT edge... Apart from that it smells good, fells like leather and will probably age good. The Mujjo so far is the closest to the Apple case (leather is bit more structured) and the Native Union faux leather is very thin, feels good due to the texture but of course will age differently due to it being «Yatay» instead of something that gets more beautiful with usage.
One word on the RL AirPod Pro 2 cases – the leather here is so thick that the MagSafe charging does not work. Otherwise a beauty, but this is not the smartest idea. :-D
One word on the RL AirPod Pro 2 cases – the leather here is so thick that the MagSafe charging does not work. Otherwise a beauty, but this is not the smartest idea. :-D
I don't know if saturating the leather with the balm will work. The balm does contain some oils, but also some waxes and other goodies. What it does not do is darken the leather upon application, which some leather creams can do. Dry leather especially has a tendency to get darker when you apply moisture.
Be mindful that Saphir has 2 product lines and both have a leather balm. This is the cheaper line, which I prefer for this specific case. The other line is called Saphir medaille d'or instead of just Saphir.
So if you hadn’t had a leather case in a long time what were you rocking before? What made you go with the Ryan London?
I went naked. I had the apple clear case for the 11 and 13 model, but only ended up using it in the beginning then got sick of seeing dust collecting. But those were also built differently and both could handle a drop or two, which model 15 cannot.
I wanted a vegetable tanned full grain leather without any structure/grain, with an open bottom and zero branding on the back. Pretty sure Ryan London is the only option then.
Oh yeah, I am too chicken to go naked.
Yep I think Ryan London was your only option. I think if anyone can make it a great case, it would be you.
In my experience depending on the fall sometimes it tears the leather or scuffs it. My old ryan london i literally super glued a corner cause i didn’t want the flap fall off lol. Very minuscule tear but it was enough for me to start fidgeting with.
1-month update:
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Pretty good video comparing some of the more popular leather case for the 15 series. Ryan London seems to be the favorite in almost every category.
I saw this a couple weeks ago and I almost ordered the Mujjo since it was the thinnest but apparently their leather quality is not great from all the reviews I’ve seen. I wish he would have weighed each case. The Ryan London looks nice but I use my phone one handed and can’t do the lip digging into my pinky.
Yeah I wondered about the Mujjo, but so many people here say that leather is trash.
Same with the Ryan London. Since I have the PM and use my pinky, open button with the thick lip does not work. I don’t know how people hold their phones to make it comfortable.
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Here's link to my post about this case:
The leather is very good and smooth to the touch. Much smoother than BS leather. However, I can say for sure that no noticeable patina will appear over time. My case has darkened a little along the front edges and on the back side where the leather is lighter. Also, since I bought it, it has become a little, but not too much, grippy.
How is open bottom an issue for people? How can it dig into your pinky? I don't understand that.
He reviews leather cases and doesn't know what some of the leather terms mean, like aniline. Sigh.