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HIRSCH Artisanal - Manufacturing |
Leathers |
 HIRSCH Artisanal bracelets are made by hand in the craftsman workshops in Klagenfurt/Austria in a process involving more than 60 separate stages, and are characterised by special processing details.
In order to create its leather watch straps, HIRSCH uses top quality skins from different kinds of animals (mammals, reptiles, fish, birds).
Depending on the type of animal, different leather parts can be used. With cowhide, for example, leather watch straps can be cut from the neck, the crop and also the flanks.
Alligator leather represents a special case. The underbelly and the tail are used, but also flanks, of small complete skins taken exclusively from farmed alligators. The main factors affecting the visual appearance and the price are the proportion of round to rectangular scales and the method used for cutting the leather. |
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Tanning and Refining
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The tanning process
The process of tanning must be undertaken in order to make the animal skin durable and to transform it into a resistant and to some extent water repellent material. The chemical combination of the protein in the skin and the tanning agent turns the hide into leather.
The tanning agents used are either of vegetable origin (wood, bark, fruits) or of mineral origin (metal salts containing chromium, zirconium, aluminium, titanium or iron), or a combination of the two. Alongside the quality of the raw products, it is the type of tanning that determines the quality and characteristics of the leather end product: strength, elasticity, water tolerance and also such characteristics as resistance and flexibility are decisively influenced by the tanning process.
However, the finished leather always represents a genuine piece of animal skin, a true natural product with its own unique character.
The refining process
 The refining process significantly affects the aesthetic character of the leather. The leather can be dyed, or it can be given a shiny finish, or it can be patterned in various fashion "looks". A distinction is made between two types of leather, depending on the refining process used:
• Smooth leather - a general term covering all types of leather with a closed surface. It can be smooth, but also grained, patterned, structured or "shrunk", e.g. calfskin leather, nappa leather, goatskin leather, patent leather...
• Rough leather - the general term covering all leathers with a ground surface, e.g. velour leather or nubuck leather.
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