Leather Pen Attache With Contents

In addition to their very practical aspects, what characterizes the products from Sonnenleder is that with age they become more interesting and individual.
The company with headquarters on Lake Constance uses traditional methods to process vegetable tanned leather from south German cattle. The design is no-nonsense and to the point. The undoctored photo documents the aesthetic and material aplomb of a Sonnenleder writing case which after seven, to say the least, "robust" years of service in school, is none the less for wear. When undyed, Sonnenleder leather has a characteristic light brown reddish color (which is why it is called "red tanned"). Every batch looks differently. In time, use and exposure to the sun changes its color, with a protective patina giving the leather an unmistakable appearance. Even the black leather, after a time-consuming vegetable tanning process in a barrel, develops a glistening patina that bears witness to its purity and provenance.

... one might fill a writing case like this with: six Monolith graphite pencils (all grades), a Toison d’Or mechanical pencil, twelve Ø 2 mm graphite refills, a Granate pencil sharpener with three blade refills, a small10 cm scale Rumold ruler made of white beech and pear wood, an eraser, a pencil stretcher and a pencil cap. The vegetable tanned Allgäu cowhide leather case is carefully sewn.

These leather articles are made by Sonnenleder from Bodman-Ludwigshafen on Lake Constance. Paying painstaking attention to the smallest details, Sonnenleder maintains traditional leather-making practices and stands for consistently functional styles and minimalist designs. The hides of south German cows are vegetable-tanned according to traditional methods and then air-dried.
The tanning agents contain extracts from bark, roots and fruits. In twelve tanning pits with slightly increasing concentrations of tanning liquids, they transform the protein fibres of the cowhides into leather fibres over a period of between six to twelve weeks. After tanning, the hides are air-dried and lubricated in an oil vat according to a well-kept secret recipe. In its pre-dyed state, the finished leather has a characteristic light brown, reddish colour (hence the term "red-tanned"), which looks different in every piece. With use and exposure to the elements, the leather changes colour and develops its own unique patina, which is distinctive of leather. Leather dyed with natural oils and fats in a vat also acquires its own shiny patina over time.