Thank you!I only saw and handled it in the store, the leather didn't feel fragile to me, but it didn't seem like a bag where you would want to put a lot in, as the shape might really suffer, I have the college bag in large with silver tone hardware (would have preferred the just black, but it wasn't in) and I totally love it. To me it is more practical, the leather feels better and it really goes with everything. It's a bag I can see myself carrying in 5 or 10 years.