Caramel Leather Journals

Tan and Caramel Leather Journal Covers

Caramel is what most people picture when they search for a tan or light brown leather journal: a warm mid-brown, bright enough to read as leather rather than as a dark shape. Measured off our own product photography it is the lightest of the six hides by a clear margin — well ahead of Cognac, and roughly twice the brightness of Chestnut.

Caramel Against the Other Five

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

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.

Caramel shows every stage of this, which is the point of buying it. A new cover is even and light; a year in, it carries darker patches where hands hold it, lighter lines where it has been pressed, and a depth of colour it did not have new. Nothing else in the range changes this much.

Caramel in Every Size

Every size is cut in Caramel — 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. This is the easiest hide in the range to personalize. Laser engraving burns a clear dark mark against a light ground, so a name or a logo reads at a glance with no metal needed. Both foils work, but on Caramel they are a stylistic choice rather than a legibility one. 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.