Original Vintage & Restored Leather Keyrings for Classic Cars & Motorcycles
Original Vintage & Restored Leather Keyrings for Classic Cars & Motorcycles
1 in stock
The reverse of the badges mounted onto the keyrings in this listing are not marked with Manhattan Windsor’s details and have a plain polished finish – but came to us together with badges which were marked which are currently offered in a separate listing ( unless now all sold )
We are currently offering just these two keyrings in this special leather – when both keyrings have been sold this listing will be cancelled .
This listing is to buy just one keyring .
We have remounted these original vitreous enamel Land Rover green oval badges onto individually hand cut & hand stitched keyfobs in ‘ dark Havana ‘ straw grain leather of a very generous thickness which will most certainly withstand the rigours of daily use in any Land Rover vehicle whether used for work or pleasure.
These keyrings will be some of the toughest Land Rover keyrings which we have ever produced ( together with those made using genuine black pigskin leather available in a separate listing )
Manhattan Windsor of Birmingham had a proud tradition of producing Land Rover keyrings stretching back well over 30 years which sadly came to an end in the early 2000s when they closed their doors .
The badges which we have mounted onto these keyrings came to us on some of the final Manhattan Windsor Land Rover keyrings which had been produced for issue with faux leather keyfobs embossed with information no longer in date or relevant
The green oval badge is the badge which we all associate with Land Rover and is correct for almost all Series Land Rovers, 90s & 110 and all classic Defenders together with Discovery, Freelander and Range Rover.
These original new old stock nickel plated badges were produced in ‘ old school’ jewellery quality green vitreous enamel and are the quality of keyfob badge which Manhattan Windsor were well known for .
The straw grain leather in dark Havana finish which we have chosen to use for these keyrings was a mainstay of saddlers the length & breadth of The British Isles at a time when natural materials were of paramount importance for producing different products.
In those not-so-far-off times the word ‘plastic’ had never been heard of – let alone the myriad range of poly this that and the other materials which have now just about replaced all of the natural materials and fibres used previously .
Many of the older saddlery businesses will still have a shoulder or two of straw grain leather gathering dust under the workbenches – ours are back on top of the workbench and have been dusted off again.
Straw grain leather was one of the strongest, stiffest and toughest leathers ever produced and was used for those leather items which would receive the very toughest use – such as luggage ( Doctor’s Gladstone Bags are a good example ) horsetack and support gaiters for horses with sprained ankles.
Many items for the armed forces were made using this leather during WWI and again in WW2.
The leather was often riveted together with copper rivets rather than being stitched to impart even more strength.
Maybe their stitching machines struggled to cope with stitching it ?……………….it is certainly a challenge for us to hand stitch it !
The distinctive striped ( straw ) grain was applied in leather presses using extreme pressure which compacted the fibres and gave the leather a slightly ‘corrugated’ texture – imparting even more strength rather like the corrugations on a roofing sheet.
In use – the dark Havana finish would eventually wear from the top of the raised grain to reveal the lighter natural leather beneath .
We have cheated here and have accelerated this process by distressing the top grain of the leather to reveal the most attractive aged leather appearance which can be seen in the photos.
One of the keyrings in the photos is the actual keyring which you will receive ………….what better talisman from yesteryear could accompany you in your journeys along the long & winding green lanes of life which are the natural habitat of the original Land Rover before the brand became associated with ‘redefined luxury ‘ ?