A question to the experts : clemence maintenance

[joyjuice]

FROM HERMES GROUPIE'S LEATHER BOOK : CLEMENCE
"Official name is veau taurillon clemence. It is baby bull and heavy. Perhaps the leather with most slouch to it. It is a broader, flatter grain. The grain has a tendency to come to the surface and this is evidenced by cracking of the resin along the edges of the bag. Around since the 1980's, it is becoming a classic. Another of the Hermes leathers that can be refurbished to almost as good as new."


Hi - I'm so new to the Hermes world and was reading HermesGroupie's Leather book... I was wondering what it means when the grain of the leather 'comes to the surface' Would anyone have pics of this so I can be aware of what it looks like. I was lucky to received a 35 cm black Birkin in Clemence as a gift and have no idea how to take care of it... Any tips on maintaining a togo or clemence would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance for helping a newcomer!!! :okay:

 

[Handybags]

Joy congrats on your lovely gift and welcome.

Clemence is a very hardy leather and doesn't require special maintainence from you. Use and enjoy your bag and every 12 months or so take it to your local store they will tell you if it needs any work and send it away to be refurbished if required (or do it there if you are lucky enough to have a craftsman in store).

I doubt it will need work that often but it's worth having it checked regularly depending on how often you use it.

HTH

 

[duchess]

I too have wondered what this cracking of the resin means? I have a clemence Birkin and I just took it to the madison store for monogramming.
My corners were a bit rubbed and I have superficial scratches. Pierre fixed my corners and I can barely see my scratches. I wish that I had thought to ask him which products he prefers? I will ask at my store tomorrow.

 

[Pepper]

Joy, I have several clemence bags, they are very durable and I have not needed to take a single one in for any sort of maintenance. Enjoy!
(I will also say that in my experience, there is a lot of variability to the size of the grain, it is not necessarily always broad.)

 

[joyjuice]

Thank you handybags, duchessofs and peppers for your advice - I'm glad to hear that my bag won't need much maintenance... - so that i will be able to use it well as an everyday bag... I don't want to ruin my precious bag!!!! I'm a get up and go kinda girl so I guess a clemence is best...