Brown Leather Journals

Brown Leather Journal Covers: Three Browns, Not One

"Brown leather journal" covers three different hides here, and picking the wrong one is the commonest ordering mistake in the range. This collection is Chestnut, the dark one. If what you have in mind is the warm mid-brown that most people picture, you want Caramel; if it is the rich rust-brown of a good whisky, you want Cognac.

Which Brown You Actually Want

Sampled from the same cover photographed in all six leathers, darkest 40% of the centre band:

• Chestnut — near espresso, much darker than the word brown leads people to expect. This collection.
• Forest Green — the same depth as Chestnut, separated only by hue; dark enough to read almost black indoors, and never an olive. See Forest Green covers.
• Black Onyx — the same depth as Chestnut, separated only by hue; the neutral, with almost no colour in it at all. See Black Onyx covers.
• Bordeaux — one step lighter than Chestnut; clearly red rather than a brown leaning red, with roughly twice as much red as green or blue. See Bordeaux covers.
• Cognac — two steps lighter than Chestnut; the most saturated hide we cut, closer to rust-orange than to brown. See Cognac covers.
• Caramel — three steps lighter than Chestnut; the lightest of the six, a warm mid-brown that reads brown from across a room. See Caramel covers.

So: dark brown means Chestnut. Mid brown means Caramel. Reddish brown means Cognac. All three are on this site and all three are the same leather, cut the same way.

What Crazy Horse Leather Does Over Time

Crazy Horse is finished with wax and oil instead of a pigment coat, so nothing sits on top of the grain to crack or peel. Press a thumbnail in and the mark goes lighter rather than paler, because the wax moves aside; rub it and the wax comes back. It collects the marks of being used, which is the reason to buy it.

Brown carries this better than black does — a lighter scuff on a warm hide reads as character rather than as damage, which is why Chestnut and Caramel are the two that age most gracefully in daily carry.

Brown in Every Size

Every size is cut in Chestnut — A4, B5, Sketchbook, A5, Cahier, Regular, B6, B6 Slim, A6, Personal, Pocket Size and Field Notes — from a 21 × 29.7 cm desk cover down to a 8.9 × 14 cm memo booklet.

Adding a Name to This Leather

Every cover in this collection can be personalized four ways: laser engraving, heat stamping into the leather, or that same stamping in gold or silver foil. Chestnut is dark enough that plain engraving and heat stamping read as shadow rather than contrast; foil lifts a name clear of the leather. On the lighter browns, Caramel especially, engraving alone gives plenty of contrast. Initials, a full name, a monogram, a date or a company logo all work.

What Goes With It

On the same elastics: notebook refills, inserts and organizers, pen cases and holders, journal charms and bookmark clips. All six leathers in all twelve sizes are on the leather journals hub.