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Bill Kelso timeline of leather, with a little wear thrown in...

M3Cavalry

Member
Matt, whenever I get a jacket in Victory I’m going to place my full trust in you and pay you to do exactly to it what you did to that ANJ3. It sounds abusive but you absolutely cannot argue with the results.
 

jeremiah

Well-Known Member
I made this zipper fob out of a sample of liberty hide Andy sent me. This is dark seal. I was hoping my victory hide jacket would have worn in with the red or russet color coming through.
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This is a piece of my cut of sleeve victory hide leather David sent me when he altered my sleeves. I did the same thing to both the scrap piece and the zipper fob. You can see the difference.
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Skip

Well-Known Member
Matt, whenever I get a jacket in Victory I’m going to place my full trust in you and pay you to do exactly to it what you did to that ANJ3. It sounds abusive but you absolutely cannot argue with the results.

LOL ! Clark, you know that jacket only cost me $700 Australian brand spanking new back then, pretty much when they were just ramping up. Because it was a new jacket I proposed to them I got a discount. At todays Victory prices (unless you scam one off eBay for a lessor value) might make you think again my man. It can be done, you just gotta use a light touch and take your time.

I think because the victory hide is so thick, there is a lot of depth. No way in the world would I do it with Liberty or an ELC hide, they are too thin, and especially Liberty its easily scratched as know doubt you are beginning to see. Of all the Liberty colours I think the russet would age the better and most natural. Just wear the hell out of it mano, and in a few years reckon it will be just good.

How'd ya go with Dave or JC?
 

M3Cavalry

Member
That’s the deal of the century. 1850 pounds is insane.

Waiting on Dave’s samples to see how they look and smell.

You’re right of course re: Liberty, although mine is half again as thick as my ELC.
 

jeremiah

Well-Known Member
I made this zipper fob out of a sample of liberty hide Andy sent me. This is dark seal. I was hoping my victory hide jacket would have worn in with the red or russet color coming through.
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This is a piece of my cut of sleeve victory hide leather David sent me when he altered my sleeves. I did the same thing to both the scrap piece and the zipper fob. You can see the difference.
View attachment 9471

Nice work J!!

Thanks but my point was that unlike the liberty hide, my victory hide must have the red tones in the top and only coat of dye on the jacket. I even wonder if the red tone is applied after the dark brown for the seal.
As you can see any sand paper removes it and nothing underneath. If I let it out in sun it will actually bleach out that red undertones some.
So maybe because this was a prototype. Still great leather and a great jacket and will look great once really worn in one day.
 

M3Cavalry

Member
Meant to wait, but noticed an interesting change in the leather of my BK ANJ3 in Liberty russet after its first real wear in rain. It’s not stiff, but it’s gotten a bit mottled in places. I don’t mind it. What do you think?
 

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jeremiah

Well-Known Member
The darker Areas are where rain drops settled? If so same thing happened with my ELC. Eventually it blends in and gives it that cool patina. I like it. I would not be worried. You can hardly tell anyway.
 

jeremiah

Well-Known Member
Whoah. I had not worn the BK aero in a few days. Been wearing the Dubow. I just put the aero on and the aroma hit like a ton of bricks. It smells so different from any other leather I have. It’s a really sweet aroma while still smelling like leather. Anyway, it’s funny how it hits you when you aren’t used to it.
 

Skip

Well-Known Member
Yeah I like that, when that happens. Have you lost some of the aroma of the BK Dubow since you redyed it? My ELC WERBER I can hardly smell now, My BK Werber comes out more in the sun, but interestingly since I've stretched it some been driving with it a lot and have noticed its starting to smell like a day in the pits at the races. Time will tell if the original smell returns. The BK seems to absorb more petrol smell than the ELC, I wonder why?
 

jeremiah

Well-Known Member
No. That same aroma is with it when I first opened the eBay mailer. I had once thought it was the pigment on it that smelled that way. It’s nice but so different from leather I had experience with. It still smells like that. So it’s the leather tanning coming through.
 

M3Cavalry

Member
Alright, I'm well overdue for a review of my BK ANJ3. Bottom line--the best A-2, for me, is not an A-2. It's this jacket. I think it's luck more than anything, but it fits me to a T, just big enough in the shoulders and somewhat tapered to the waist. The 'liberty' leather is as described. It's fairly thick, smells great, and wears fairly quickly (all in comparison to my Eastman 'warhorse' A-2). It's showing some decent wear on the elbows, edges, near zipper area, etc (see photos). I love the ANJ3 design. It's far more comfortable than an A-2, makes the wearer look better, and lacks the fur collar that makes the G-1 a bit of a stretch to wear in public. The inside pocket sees a lot of use. My only experience with BK was this jacket, but I was fortunate to get it on time and as described. As I write this, I realize I have literally not worn my A-2 since this showed up about six months ago. It's a great jacket.
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Lebowski

You might not want to sell to this guy.
The BK seems to absorb more petrol smell than the ELC, I wonder why?
I suppose it's 'cause BK's Victory HH is much thicker than WarHH from Eastman and moreover Victory's structure looks noticeably more spongy - so, it just absorbs more waxes and that's why it fades its smell a bit faster after wax treatment.
 
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