Oakside Saddlery

Leather

I use English Bridle Leather for all of my handmade items. Whether it is Bridle Butt, Bridle Back, or Harness Back you can be assured that you will be getting the finest leather in the world.

Sedgwick & Co

I use J & E Sedgwick & Co leather. They have been around since 1900 and are world renown for being one of the leading leather suppliers. Sedgwick have always prided themselves on their consistently high quality of the finished leather. They put this down to the expert curriers who finish the leather by hand. To help achieve this in the future they have an in-house training scheme for new apprentices.

Sedgwick put down that their quintessential attributes of the leather are;

• Visual Appeal,
• Endurance,
• Resilience, and
• Fundamental characteristics of true quality.

For more information visit their website J & E Sedgwick.

Provenance

All of Sedgwick's leather is crafted with provenance. They have a select number of UK suppliers all of whom can provide details of exactly where the animal came from and its age. They guarantee that all hides are past a certain age ensuring that they have lived a longer life before coming in to their hands. Each hide has a unique, traceable number that can identify it throughout the entire process.

Best of British Quality

Being the best of British quality means being certain that only the finest UK hides are used. Quality control at every stage of the process ensures that no imperfection, however small, is missed by the craftsmen.

All about our leather

In an economy where the consumer wants the most value for their money, leather delivers superior value. Many efforts have been made to create a synthetic material that is able to provide the multiple properties of leather but all efforts have proved unsuccessful. Due to these properties, leather is the preferred material for many areas of application, from daily used products to exclusive fashion items.

• ETERNAL STYLE
  • Leather will always be a relevant material to use. A timeless classic, it will never go out of style. The high quality of leather in contrast to synthetic materials also adds a touch of luxury to your products.
• RESILIENCE
  • A significant benefit of using leather is its immense longevity. Leather is extremely durable, especially when great care has gone in to its production. We know that great quality requires patience, so our leather can take up to 28 days in the tanning process; ensuring that it lives up to our customers’ standards.
• STRENGTH
  • Leather is a strong material; able to hold a lot of weight, and will not break or tear under pressure as easily as synthetic products. This is what makes it so suitable for products such as bags, saddles and cricket balls.
• SUPPLENESS
  • Contrary to what you may think, considering leather’s resilience and strength, it is in fact a very supple and flexible material. It allows you to be creative and mould it to suit your vision, which makes it an incredibly easy and pleasurable product to work with.
• SUSTAINABILITY
  • Leather, being a wholly natural material, is a biodegradable product. The hides that we use to make the leather from are already a byproduct from surplus pieces from the abattoir. Furthermore, we ensure that extra steps are taken to recycle all additional waste we create in the tanning process. All of which help us, and our product to stay sustainable.

leather Colours

Leather Colours - from left; Australian Nut, Black, Burgundy, Chocolate, Conker, Dark Havana, Dark Green, Hazel, Light Havana, London Tan, Navy Blue, Oak Brown, Old Oak, Red