Leather is material that is both durable and flexible. It is created by tanning animal rawhide and skin, including deerskin, the skin from cattle, and lamb skin. There are even specialty items that use leather made from fish skin.
Leather has four different types of quality designations. Full-grain leather refers to hides that have not had imperfections removed on the surface of the hide. Top-grain leather has the “split layer” removed. It is thinner, more pliable, and the surface has been sanded away to remove any imperfections. There are also corrected-grain leather and split leather.
While leather is used to make a variety of products at all ends of affordability, from leather wallets to leather gloves, often there are products where the type of leather and the amount of work put into the leather matter more. This is the case with designer leather items like mens designer leather belts and Italian leather shoes.
Certain mens designer leather belts may have all the basics of a standard leather belt in terms of the craft–the cutting, the holes, the stitching–but add the value of highly sought after leather, such as calfskin. Mens designer leather belts may also have embossed patterns or custom belt buckles that make them more desirable than other leather belts.
While mens designer leather belts may be one example of how leather and a craftsman can produce a desirable product, there are other kinds of leather products that show the mark of craftsmanship. Leather dress shoes, for instance, may be designed out of a certain kind of leather that makes them more valuable. Some leather gloves are made out of slink, which is the skin of unborn calves, which makes them very profitable.
Leather often means that the item in question is more durable in harsh weather like snow or rain when compared to other, cheaper materials. This durability makes leather long-lasting, which may enable to owner to recoup savings over the long run. Durability can be compared to what is seen with other animal skin products, such as crocodile skin shoes or mens luxury ostrich skin boots.
Of course, the value in a purchase like a leather designer belt or luxury ostrich skin boots goes well beyond the durability for many buyers. Items like these are status symbols, as few people have them. The cost of the item enhances the status, assuming the item is well-made, well-designed, and made of valuable material.
An important point to consider whenever purchasing a designer belt or any kind of item deemed as ‘luxury,’ that the vendor you are purchasing from is reputable. There are many knock-offs of luxury items, imitations that can be bought for much less than the price of the original, and especially when it comes to animal skin products, it is not hard to deceive a customer who may not know the differences in different qualities of leather.