Vintage 'dark Havana' straw grain 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.

This straw grain leather in dark Havana finish 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 .

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 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 rivetted together with copper rivets 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.

Embossed with our original Bolingbroke Saddlery England brand – but can be ordered plain without this if you prefer :- simply state this in the customer notes section on the online order form.

The nickel plated flat splitring which each keyring is fitted with is the strongest and best quality splitring available .

A genuine gold plated  splitring can be ordered instead of nickel plated at no extra cost – please ask for this in the customer notes.

Your keyring will arrive in it’s own simple little presentation box – making it the perfect present.