After a few weeks, our latest run of Triumph Briefcases has come to an end. As each stage of stitching was completed they then moved on to be turned and burned, one piece at a time. Another name for the act of thread finishing, “turning and burning” is how we ensure the knots we tie after stitching each part of a bag will never come undone. By melting the end of the nylon thread and then painstakingly nestling the knot back into the leather, it seals itself into the hide, invisible and strong.
As part of the finishing process, the edges of every piece of every Triumph were additionally polished and painted. Buffing the suede edges of a piece of leather and then painting it causes coarse fibers to surface above the paint once it dries, similar to raising the grain of a piece of wood. With the Triumph and each other bag, we continue this cycle of buffing and painting until the paint dries smooth to the touch, which can happen anywhere between four to seven coats of paint.
Finally, after the Triumphs were fully assembled and almost ready to head out the door, we gave them one last polish with our Leather Elixir. Working for all intents and purposes like a moisturizer, it brings out the richness of every briefcase’s color and visually evens out its texture so that they all look their absolute best come rain, shine, or snow.
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