Habermas 2070: A Bag Lined With Itself
Most people picture a lining as a separate material, a layer added after the leather is cut. On the Habermas 2070 the lining is the leather itself: the back of the hide, matted down and smooth, with nothing glued in. The bag is black UK English bridle with two Marcellino latches.
What natural lining means
The page on natural leather lining describes it plainly: the back of the hide is pasted and matted smooth. English bridle comes that way from the tannery. It is waxy and dense, the surface is smooth, and if something spills inside, you wipe it away.
A suede lining is more refined, and I do not pretend otherwise. I have also said many times that a bridle bag works well without one, because the leather is made firm and waxy enough to do the job. The journal article on bridle leather versus vegetable tanned leather covers the difference between the leathers, and the article on English bridle leather covers where this one comes from.
Two latches, two sections
The video shows the traditional Habermas as I make it: two Marcellino latches, rings on top for the shoulder strap, two sections of two inches each, and a 16 by 12 body. There are no pockets inside on that bag. The edges are burnished, not painted.
The latches on this bag wear leather covers. The covers can feel stiff at first and soften within a few months, and a dab of glue holds them where they sit. The covers come off if you prefer the plain latch. I sewed the leather cover onto a latch on camera in this short video.
Burnished edges
I burnished the edges on this bag instead of painting them. Burnishing gives a lighter highlight along the edge, and in my experience it holds up better than paint, which looks refined but eventually wears off. I paint the edges when a bag is lined with another material, because the lining showing through looks poor. With the natural lining that problem never comes up.
The page on hand stitching covers the seams, and the journal article on the saddle stitch explains why they hold.
Wax and time
Bridle leather is made firm and waxy. The wax can rise to the surface as a haze, particularly in cold weather, and it melts back in when the bag warms. I polish a new bag with lotion at the end to bring it down, and I leave oil alone for the first months. The article on caring for a bridle leather briefcase and the leather care page give the routine.
Sharp corners keep the case standing when it is empty, and over five to ten years it softens.
