X Nihilo Leather & Craftsmanship

When you invest your hard earned money on a designer handbag, you should expect something in return; definitely more than just a logo on a bag. With X Nihilo bags, you can expect exquisite material, delightful details, as well as carefully considered construction and sumptuous craftsmanship that will excite you for years to come.

Our Leather

At X Nihilo, we take our leather seriously. Exceptional quality leather underlines the principle of all our design. Natural unevenness gives our bags individual character, which makes the grain and color of each bag unique and unrepeatable. It is one of the characteristics of the very best leathers, along with suppleness and a minimal amount of dye, allowing leather to breathe. Leathers used on X Nihilo bags are soft but strong, and unlike any synthetic materials, they last.

Our Quality

When you invest in our bags, you are not merely paying for the material. X nihilo bags are the end product of painstaking, ritualized craftsmanship. Our bag is luxurious because of the laborious construction process involved in making each bag.

Hardware

X Nihilo bags only use high quality custom plated metal hardware. This heavy metal will feel solid in your hand, and it will ensure your bag can handle the grunts of daily use for years to come.

Leather Finishing & Inking

At X Nihilo, we understand the importance of finishing leather edges well (except for those that are left raw for the look). Edge 'inking', also sometimes referred to as edge 'staining', 'burnishing' or 'painting', is a process where a cut edge seam (as opposed to a folded seam) has been 'finished' to give it a smooth feel, a seamless appearance, and a defined edge.

The skill in application, using the right 'ink' recipe to suit the flexibility of the leather, and number of layers applied define how well this finish lasts. Inking of X Nihilo bags are done by hand, and creates an appearance where the joints are not visible between the two leather panels. This will prevent the edges of your leather bags from fraying due to repeated friction, as well as giving the bag an overall luxurious finish.

Our inking artisans are taking great care in this meticulous process. Inferior quality bags will have blotched or uneven inked edges, more noticeable when the ink colour is of contrast with the leather colour. We take pride in our artisans’ skill, and are proud to use contrasting coloured ink to showcase their skill in some of our bags.

Thread and Stitching

The thread used for X Nihilo bags has excellent dimensional stability and will not be affected by different climates. When you compare a luxury bag to its lower priced counterparts, you will notice that wobbly stitching is a tell-tale of inferior craftsmanship.

A high quality bag with superior construction should have even sized stitching, and the stitches should run along the seams in a straight line. The seams should not have loose strings or different colored thread along the inner and outer seams of the bag.

Each of our product pages will have a detail shot of the bag. This will show the quality of our leather, hardware and craftsmanship. You be the judge.