For the longest time I assumed that aniline/semi aniline finishes were the best, because it seems like that's what all the good quality makers say they use. (The bad ones don't really say anything.) Then, in a recent thread about ELC marketing, it came up that period accuracy would be chrome tanning with a pigment finish.
Now, obviously chrome tanning is probably out for a number of reasonable regulatory concerns. But I don't really understand the difference on the finishes.
Was pigment a cheap wartime necessity, or perhaps a requirement for wartime durability? Some googling reveals that it is a more durable finish. If it was anything more than a cheap necessity, then why aren't pigment finishes more desirable? I found that Buzz Rickson makes one that they specify as pigment finished - their 21996 Aero copy with the red knits. That one seems to be their "flagship" model as well, on the first page of their catalog with the full-page artsy photo. Beyond that though, no one that I've found. You could probably ask Aero to make a pigment finish, with their plentiful leather options.
Then, perusing different sites, I saw that Five Star offers a "pull up" horsehide. A lot of googling, both on the wider internet and this forum, didn't yield a lot of information about the desirability of pull up for a jacket like an A-2. In fact, most pull-up leather references were tied to furniture. Buzz Rickson makes a Werber copy, their 2951P, that says it's vegetable tanned with a "wax hand finish", which sounds kind of like pull up as well. Given that it's their most expensive model, if that is "pull-up" it can't be that bad.
And, of course, every good maker advertises vegetable tanned with aniline or semi-aniline finish.
Botton line...I'm now thoroughly confused why aniline/semi-aniline is better than pigment, and also where pull-up/wax fits into the mix.
Now, obviously chrome tanning is probably out for a number of reasonable regulatory concerns. But I don't really understand the difference on the finishes.
Was pigment a cheap wartime necessity, or perhaps a requirement for wartime durability? Some googling reveals that it is a more durable finish. If it was anything more than a cheap necessity, then why aren't pigment finishes more desirable? I found that Buzz Rickson makes one that they specify as pigment finished - their 21996 Aero copy with the red knits. That one seems to be their "flagship" model as well, on the first page of their catalog with the full-page artsy photo. Beyond that though, no one that I've found. You could probably ask Aero to make a pigment finish, with their plentiful leather options.
Then, perusing different sites, I saw that Five Star offers a "pull up" horsehide. A lot of googling, both on the wider internet and this forum, didn't yield a lot of information about the desirability of pull up for a jacket like an A-2. In fact, most pull-up leather references were tied to furniture. Buzz Rickson makes a Werber copy, their 2951P, that says it's vegetable tanned with a "wax hand finish", which sounds kind of like pull up as well. Given that it's their most expensive model, if that is "pull-up" it can't be that bad.
And, of course, every good maker advertises vegetable tanned with aniline or semi-aniline finish.
Botton line...I'm now thoroughly confused why aniline/semi-aniline is better than pigment, and also where pull-up/wax fits into the mix.
