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Material Selection
Berling works with two leathers. Shell cordovan for the exterior. Full-grain French goatskin for the lining. Each was chosen for how it behaves in the hand and how it ages over years of carry.
01 · Selection
We tried hundreds of leathers before we kept two. More than a decade of bench work lies behind that choice. Shells and skins from most of the great tanneries have passed across this bench, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. We cut them, stitched them, carried them and watched what they became.
Most were good. The question was never whether a leather was good, but how it would be in twenty years, after a card has been drawn and returned thousands of times. Two answered that question better than the rest. Together, they became the foundation of the first collection.
02 · Exterior
Shell cordovan is not cut from the surface of a hide. It is a dense layer of fiber that lies beneath, found only in the hindquarters of the horse, and each hide gives just two small shells.
The leather has been rare for as long as it has been made. It resists stretching, which helps the slots of a card holder keep their fit year after year. Handling brings up its polish. For a small object carried every day, those are the properties that matter.
Himeji, Japan
Shinki Hikaku has worked in Himeji since 1951 and is one of the world's leading tanners of horse leather. The hides come from Europe. The tanning is vegetable and takes several months, and each shell leaves Himeji with the density the finished piece depends on.
Leather Working Group
Gold rating under the Leather Manufacturer Standard
Kashiwa, Japan
Tanning gives the shell its structure. Color belongs to a second craft, entrusted to a second specialist. From Himeji, the shells travel to Leder Ogawa in Kashiwa, a workshop devoted exclusively to cordovan since 1971. The two have worked together since 1996.
Little of the work is color. The shells are dried in shade and open air, never with heat, then shaved until the shell layer beneath is uncovered, taking care never to go below a millimeter. Glazing brings up the sheen.
Only then is the leather dyed by hand, one shell at a time, in the full-aniline finish the workshop developed and still keeps to itself. The dye is drawn into the shell rather than laid over it, so the surface you see is the leather itself.
03 · Lining
The lining is full-grain goatskin from Mégisserie Jullien in Chabris, France. Goatskin has lined fine French leather goods for more than a century, and Jullien has tanned it in the same town for just as long. Hides are sorted before tanning, and only those with an even grain and uniform thickness are kept. Its satin skins are recognized among the finest goatskins in the world.
The grain is fine and tight, and the leather is strong out of all proportion to its weight. That balance is what an interior needs, since the lining meets every card that enters and leaves. The color runs deep and even, so the inside of the piece is finished to the same standard as the outside.
04 · Pairing
Cordovan gives the body. Goatskin gives the interior. One is dense and holds the line of the piece. The other is supple and takes the wear of daily use. Together they make a card holder that stays slim, keeps its shape and improves with handling. Take either away and it is a different object. How the two are brought together is the work of the bench in Luleå, set out in Savoir-Faire. Both age well with very little attention.
The Materials in Use
