Latigo cordovan colour leather keyring

These were not car related and were very popular and were used by customers who appreciate genuinely handmade leather goods in a variety of interesting leathers and hides.

We are now producing these keyrings again and listing them for sale through this website.

Latigo leather gets its name from the leather girth strap which attaches the girth to a saddle & enables the rider to tighten and adjust the saddle to the horse.

The latigo is this girth strap ( and is also the Spanish word for a whip )

Latigo leather is a very duarable and pliable hide which is tanned twice .

The first tanning is chrome tanning by soaking the hide in a solution of acidic salts and then after drying the hide is then vegetable tanned usually with gambier which is extracted from a small tree which grows in the tropics.

All of this produces a leather which is very tough with a high tensile strength and suitable for the most demanding horse tack jobs – girth straps, reins & stirrup straps……………and very tough keyrings of course !

Latigo leather is available in various colours but the richest colour of all is this burgundy colour which we have chosen to make our keyrings in which is known in the trade as ‘cordovan’.

The appearance of this leather improves with use and takes on a shiny patina quite unlike any other leather.

We have a keyring which we made of this material over 10 years ago which is still in daily use hanging from an outside lock in all weathers on one of our workshop doors.

The leather has been soaked and then dried hundreds of times and the leather has taken on a dull polish whilst the linen thread has faded in the sun.

The keyring looks fit to hang in that lock for another 10 years and more.