Volynka Russian Leather
- Thread starter Tony Yang
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This is so beautiful ! Congrats on getting (one of) your dream bags! I am so happy for you!
Almost 3 years later, my words became things. Presenting my own Plume Fourre-Tout 40 in Volynka
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Here it is in comparison with the Tanner Bates Russia Kip notebook. You can see that Volynka is darker and more reddish in terms of color, and the graining is deeper:
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I must say, they smell very differently. The notebook smells of leather and birch oil perfume like Chanel's Cuir de Russie or Le Labo's Patchouli 24, but the Volynka bag smells like... smoked dried meat? Like dried bacon or beef jerky.
It's very strong. It remains on my hands after carrying the bag and it makes my entire bedroom smell of it. Maybe it will fade in time to approximate that pleasant smell of the Russia Kip notebook.
I don't know if my SA was just convincing me to buy the bag but she said it's the last one in Europe. My store, though not a franchise, is a part of the Benelux-Nordics H stores. SA said they couldn't find it from that group and from other nearby European countries that they got the bag directly from Paris (don't know exactly which store), wherein they were informed that it was the last one.
(I'd like to think it's the one being held by a Blouse Brother in this youtube video)
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I feel lucky and grateful.
P.S.
I asked the store to put it in a white paper bag and this is what I got.My SA said that it was the biggest box they ever received and so their biggest paper bag doesn't even fit the box (check out the ribbon tying the handles together)
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Congrats! I remember you posting your love for this leather for so many years now! Enjoy!
That is unfortunate. Probably their strategy is also a bit wrong. They started on travel bags which are hard to sell to begin with even before the pandemic (I see a lot of Shark and Baseball Bolides at resellers, for instance). Also Volynka is priced way too expensive, around 1.5x the price of the same bags in regular leather. Just a little bit more one could buy an ostrich piece.
They could've started with a Birkin and a Kelly.
But good news for me that I might be able to find a Plume Volynka easily
But I guess not a lot of women would appreciate the smell of this leather. And this Russian leather is more a man style that’s probably why they started selling with men style bags. I got the notebooks, HAC, plume. The plume is really amazing and never thought it could be that good. Really wish I could get the bolide as well someday (probably not happening)
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I posted that when I didn't have the Volynka bag yet, and only the other Russian leather notebook. Coming from the same tannery, I had assumed they would smell the same (my Russian leather notebook smells like birch oil, very perfume-y). And now I agree that it might not sell to women because Volynka, when it's new, has a real burned odor. The smell is a bit incompatible with a woman's handbag.
I do hope they come out with smaller pieces because the leather is incredible. Volynka has a sheen almost like boxcalf and very nice to touch. Being fully vegetable tanned, I'm looking forward to my bag acquiring patina real soon.
I must be an exception then. I am a woman and would buy a Volynka bag just for the amazing scent, if they were not so huge or heavy. Being 5’1 100 pounds, the 3 original releases are way too big for me.
I posted that when I didn't have the Volynka bag yet, and only the other Russian leather notebook. Coming from the same tannery, I had assumed they would smell the same (my Russian leather notebook smells like birch oil, very perfume-y). And now I agree that it might not sell to women because Volynka, when it's new, has a real burned odor. The smell is a bit incompatible with a woman's handbag.
I do hope they come out with smaller pieces because the leather is incredible. Volynka has a sheen almost like boxcalf and very nice to touch. Being fully vegetable tanned, I'm looking forward to my bag acquiring patina real soon.
I'm agreeing with @periogirl28 totally. I know a lot of ladies that adore and have a wholistic appreciation of this leather including the smell (which is down to the tar in the tanning process). Many ladies I know bought the notebook. The bags did not work more for the travel sizes and respective weights.
I think H didn't think ladies would like the smell hence the specs of initial releases, but connoisseurs do. We've seen that there are some smaller bag examples out there so it'll be interesting to see who buys these. People are as interested in special leathers as they are in styles and colours, and certainly for me that isn't only just in exotics.
As I said previously (sorry to bore everyone) I tried the Volynka Travel Bolide and it was about double the weight of my Travel Web 1923 (Chocolate Swift). Had the weight been OK I would have have been very tempted to get it, even with 2 other brown Bolides (either side of the brown spectrum). Hope you get your Bolide @rthk , and thank you showing us your very special bags.
I've just received my coin purse from the Metta Catharina and I can't stop smelling it! I was amazed that after being under the sea for 200 years it still has it's incredible smell! By the way, I'm a lady aswell and LOOOVE it's unique smell.....a bit like bacon
I've just received my coin purse from the Metta Catharina and I can't stop smelling it! I was amazed that after being under the sea for 200 years it still has it's incredible smell! By the way, I'm a lady aswell and LOOOVE it's unique smell.....a bit like bacon
Just don't eat it!
I agree with @periogirl28 and @papertiger .... what is this "it's a man's smell" thing? I really like the way Volynka smells. We are not all delicate pink princesses who want everything to smell like vanilla and baby powder.
when you get a chance to hold a very new Volynka bag (one that just came out of the box), carry the bag for about 5-10 seconds with one hand, and then smell that hand afterwards.
that's the smell.
mine doesn't do that anymore since I have purposely aired it out for about two weeks now, and it smells quite nice now (sweet smoky leather scent, one that I have been expecting) but when I got it I reached out to the tannery because I thought it was made with defective leather. the scent was so strong during the first few days I had to open windows or light scented candles--my living room smelled like someone smoked a cigarette and then fried some funky meat.
ditto-I love smoky woody scents and to own a bag that Smells like LeLabo Pachouli or Dyptiques Feu du Bois would make me SO happy
I JUST got another new Feu de Bois candle yesterday!ditto-I love smoky woody scents and to own a bag that Smells like LeLabo Pachouli or Dyptiques Feu du Bois would make me SO happy
Snap! so did II JUST got another new Feu de Bois candle yesterday!