Repairing Vintage Leather Dior Saddle

[IvetteOrozco17]

I am new to PurseForum and just received my first Dior piece - this vintage Dior saddle from 2004. I have cleaned it thoroughly with baby wipes, but am noticing these dark speckles on the front are not coming out. With closer inspection, I see they are tiny scratches or indentations in the leather with dirt in them. I rubbed with the baby wipe and was able to get some of the dirt out. Does anyone have any ideas on how to remove these marks/repair the indents?

Also, if anyone knows what this material is called/has photos of this Dior Saddle I would really appreciate it! It feels like smooth calfskin and is a really light tan leather color with silver hardware.

 

[averagejoe]

I am new to PurseForum and just received my first Dior piece - this vintage Dior saddle from 2004. I have cleaned it thoroughly with baby wipes, but am noticing these dark speckles on the front are not coming out. With closer inspection, I see they are tiny scratches or indentations in the leather with dirt in them. I rubbed with the baby wipe and was able to get some of the dirt out. Does anyone have any ideas on how to remove these marks/repair the indents?

Also, if anyone knows what this material is called/has photos of this Dior Saddle I would really appreciate it! It feels like smooth calfskin and is a really light tan leather color with silver hardware.

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I don't know what the material is exactly, but it looks like nubuck. If this is nubuck, then these water-stains cannot fully be removed, unfortunately.

 

[IvetteOrozco17]

I don't know what the material is exactly, but it looks like nubuck. If this is nubuck, then these water-stains cannot fully be removed, unfortunately.

This bag is definitely not nubuck or any suede material. It is a smooth leather, but am not sure if it is an untreated calfskin leather meant to patina over time or if it is a treated leather. The spots in the photo are not water stains, I have already removed all of the water stains these are tiny scratches or dents in the leather. I hope that helps! I can try to post closer photos

 

[averagejoe]

This bag is definitely not nubuck or any suede material. It is a smooth leather, but am not sure if it is an untreated calfskin leather meant to patina over time or if it is a treated leather. The spots in the photo are not water stains, I have already removed all of the water stains these are tiny scratches or dents in the leather. I hope that helps! I can try to post closer photos

It is unusual for scratches to darken the leather. If anything, they usually remove the surface colour to reveal a lighter hide-colour beneath. Hopefully another member can help you with this as this is beyond me.

 

[IvetteOrozco17]

It is unusual for scratches to darken the leather. If anything, they usually remove the surface colour to reveal a lighter hide-colour beneath. Hopefully another member can help you with this as this is beyond me.

I agree it is very odd. I noticed some dirt inside these scratches/holes and was able to remove some of the dirt from the larger holes, but most of these holes are too small to remove the dirt inside. I wonder if it is a shadow from the depth making it appear darker, the holes are tiny but deep.

 

[IvetteOrozco17]

Here are more closeup photos of the scratches/holes in natural light - anyone able to help me out with a good idea on repairing this? When I run my finger over these dark spots, I can feel the scratches/holes. If I shine light on them I can see they are deep but very tiny, as you can see size compared to a stitch. Any help or ideas would be really appreciated! I am thinking either some type of leather cream to fill in the holes or darkening the color of the bag?