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The Oak Bark Leather Belt – Using 2000 Year Old Technology!
Friday, June 5, 2015 6:29
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1888 PressRelease – The Oak Bark Leather Belt – Bringing Back 2000 year old technology!
Tucked away in the south west of England there’s a small leather tannery beside a river. There’s been a tannery on this spot since Roman legionnaires were marching past, en-route to the local garrison and it’s been in the ownership of the current family for more than 150 years.
Whereas over 95% of leather produced these days is tanned with chromium because it’s fast and cheap (it’s done in one day), this tannery continues to produce leather in the same way it did some two thousand years ago.
Using nothing more than river water and sustainably-produced shredded bark from English oak trees, the tanning process takes a full 18 months from locally sourced hides arriving to finished leather leaving.
The slow, gentle, natural tanning process preserves the strength of the fibres and produces leather that’s light, super- strong, great-smelling and has a beautiful full surface grain. It’s used in bespoke shoes, saddles and luggage by artisans and makers around the world who, having once discovered it, won’t use anything else.
Dyed by hand, the beautiful finish of this leather has often been likened to a piece of burnished walnut.
Now it’s possible for anyone to acquire a piece of this leather in the form of a beautifully crafted belt made by English leatherworker Peter Sandford from Victory Leathercraft near Portsmouth in Hampshire. The belts are fitted with solid brass or stainless steel buckles and are guaranteed to last a lifetime.
The oak bark belts are only available through a crowdfunding campaign just launched on the Kickstarter.com website.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1233314455/the-oak-bark-belt-made-to-last-a-lifetime-and-more
