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The Story of a 237-Year-Old Russian Leather
237 years ago, Russian leather tanners took some of the best animal hide (I’m not saying reindeer for a reason), and they tanned it in willow and birch bark.
Then they added a beautiful cross-grain pattern to it, and that is the leather on my favorite wallet.
The wallet is 10 years younger than the United States of America.
What’s even nuttier is that the ship that this leather was on never even made it to Italy where it was supposed to go – it sunk in the Plymouth Sound and was underwater in a ghost ship during the French Revolution, the creation of the Bill of Rights, the fall of Napoleon, the US Civil War, the creation of the Eiffel Tower, the first plane, the first telephone, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the moon landing, and the Vietnam War.
The Metta Catharina was creaking quietly underwater in the Plymouth Sound. This is a very old piece of leather. Not to brag, it was made for me by one of the best leather craftsmen in the entire world.
There have been ships that sunk before with Russian leather in them – that leather did not survive.
That’s what makes this leather from The Metta Catharina so special. Even in the 16-1700s, this leather was a mystery to the Western World.
Anything made of this leather was left in your ancestors’ will. This was the finest leather of all time, and people will say it’s reindeer – that’s a lie. But this leather was found in a shipwreck, and the King of England gave some divers the okay to get it. So, let’s tell the entire story.
What’s up, Snailiens?
It’s Michael back with another article.
This is the hardest article that I’ve ever had to create because the story is so grand, and this leather is so improbable to be in my right hand right now that it seems like a lie.
Editor’s Note: This Story is Wild
Hello again everyone, it’s editor Michael.
This is a very hard story to tell because it is mixed with a lot of lies and myths, and as I was editing this article, I came across a lot more information that busts the whole story wide open, so I’ll do my best to tell you the whole story.
The Day Some Divers Found a Ghost Ship
In order to properly tell the story, we have to go forward, and then we can go backward.
So in 1973, Ian Skelton, along with two other divers for the Plymouth Sound branch of the British Sub Aqua Club – a diving club, really – went for a dive in the Plymouth Sound.
The Plymouth Sound is a very silty area, so they had 1 to 3 meters of visibility (that is 3 to 9 feet about, I think, a little bit more), and in that low visibility area, they spotted a bronze ship bell. That bronze ship bell said this, “Frau Metta Catharina von Flensburg,” to which I am assuming Ian Skelton said, “Good Lord!”
If it weren’t for that bronze ship bell, there would be no Metta Catharina. That was the thing that made them be like, “Oh, I bet we should look and see if there’s a ship there.” And there was, and on that ship was a boatload of hemp and leather. Hemp, at that time, was the number one material you used to make ropes – people weren’t just getting wasted.
Three Bros Walk Into a Bar…
The diving bros had absolutely no idea what to do with that leather, so they went to a bar and said, “I have absolutely no idea what to do with that leather.”
That’s what Ian Skelton said, and Mr. Robin Snelson heard Ian Skelton saying that and said, “Hey, I’m a leather crafter. I know what to do with that leather.”
Synergy! They connected, and all of a sudden, they had a beautiful bromance where they said we could make a dumpload of money by selling this leather.
Obviously, I’m just being silly – they were probably beyond excited about finding a treasure, a national, a worldwide treasure.
So now Ian Skelton had the ear of Robin Snelson, who had the ear of George Cleverly, AKA one of the greatest bespoke shoemakers of all time.
This is the summary of their company: George Cleverly has been producing footwear for royalty, heads of state, and discerning gentlemen for over a century.
Long story short, we now have the Three Musketeers of Russian reindeer leather.
We have Ian Skelton, who goes and gets the leather; Robin Nelson, who I believe cleans and then deals the leather; and we have George Cleverly, who makes it into the best and greatest shoes in the entire world.
But there was an issue – the King of England.
That Time We Had to Ask the Future King for Permission
The Metta Catharina shipwreck lay within the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Prince of Wales (then the Duke of Cornwall and now King Charles III) was the only person in the world who could grant permission to retrieve this leather.
So George Cleverly and the other two musketeers went to King Charles III with the goal of asking, “Can we take this leather from your land and use it for shoes?”
The three men stood in front of King Charles III and said, “Can we have the leather?” King Charles III thought for a second, and he said, “Yes, on account of if you follow three rules:
1. The first leather shoes you make will be for me
2. You may not price gouge things made with the leather
3. You, Ian Skeleton, and friends are the only ones allowed to retrieve leather from The Metta Catharina – everybody else – dead.”
So now I would assume our Three Musketeers were like, “Great, thank you, King Charles III.”
They secretly fist-bumped each other, and then they were like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe we just got the leather!” Boom! Those three men secured the rarest leather on the entire planet.
Here’s Where Things Get Complicated
Okay, and here’s where the myths are woven, so pay close attention here. In 1978, George Cleverly chose longtime pupils John Carnera and George Glasgow to succeed him, and in the early 1980s, this leather was acquired by George Cleverly.
So George Cleverly the man was not there – this whole story that was told to me, I believe, was just written correspondence, and Cleverly the company just bought a bunch of the leather.
I don’t know why Cleverly is so tied to the story – maybe they bought the most leather, maybe they marketed it the best to everyone, but a lot of other shoemakers did have access to this leather as well. The reason I’m telling you this is because this is where the story begins to sort of unravel.
So, I’m going to be touching on the supposed “lost recipe,” which I feel like I kind of sort of found. The amount of leather that is actually left in the world and, of course, there’s an article from The New York Times that says Americans are obsessed with this leather – specifically Americans.
So we’ll get into that at the end, but I also want to say George Cleverly does not seem to be involved in this crazy myth at all. They look like they just told the facts, and myths were built around it because of the nature of the leather.
So, I am not blaming any companies or anything like that; there’s just a craze around this leather.
But What About Other Shipwrecks?
“Michael, there is absolutely no way that was the only Russian reindeer leather in the entire world – there had to be other shipwrecks where this happened!”
Yes, there was, but the Metta Catharina was special because of the silt and mud that it was in. Something to do with a low amount of iron meant that the leather stayed for a dramatically longer time.
There were four shipwrecks total where people found Russian leather – none of it was in nearly as good condition as the leather that we have today.
So that’s why you hear about the Metta Catharina – it was the unicorn, the one-in-a-million shipwreck that landed in the exact right spot.
Let’s Go Back to 1782
Now we go from 1973, back 191 years before the Three Musketeers were standing in front of the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III), to when the ship was being built in Denmark in 1782.
Four years after that, it was loaded up with this leather – literally this leather in my hands. It was supposed to go to Italy, where then this leather would be made into some of the finest crafts in the entire world and sold to the entire world, but it didn’t make it there.
There was a huge storm. The storm was so bad that Captain Hans Jensen Twedt decided to take shelter in the Plymouth Sound, but the wind was way stronger than he thought and it snapped The Metta Catharina’s anchor off, and The Metta Catharina crashed into rocks and sank to the bottom of the Plymouth Sound.
According to a newspaper at the time, nobody died – everybody made it to shore just fine, but nothing was able to be recovered.
But what creeps me out the most is that underwater, 200 years later, the ship laid almost perfectly. The top half was not in so good condition, but the bottom half, because of the silt and mud, was basically perfect.
That is just so creepy that it’s just underwater, waiting, creaking back and forth, and I really want to go see the Vasa ship in Sweden because that freaks me out. It’s so cool!
That Famous Leather Smell
Now, the leather – the first thing that everybody talks about when they’re reviewing this leather or talking about it is a certain aromatic fragrance that it gives off, and it certainly has one.
To me, it smells like older leather, maybe leather that has been left about for a while, mixed in with smoke. And I don’t think it’s that extreme, but when my girlfriend Taylor smelled it, she made quite the face, and I was like, “Wow, the tale of the Metta Catharina lives on through you!”
That smell is very important – it’s mainly because birch is used rather heavily in the creation of this leather.
The “Lost Recipe” That Wasn’t Actually Lost
This way of making leather was either not efficient, wasn’t allowed, or whatever it may be, but the exact recipe is gone to history because people weren’t using it to make money, so out it goes.
Okay, here is a bigger note where everything kind of cracks open about the myth a little bit more.
So it is believed that this recipe was lost because of the Russian Revolution, but on Style Forum, there’s a really great seven-page posting discussion about Russian leather, and a member named VegTan gives a whole bunch of sources, including one called “The Industries of Russia” published in 1893 by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire.
It was translated into English, and although you could technically probably say, well, the exact recipe for this leather was lost, they pretty much outlined the entire way that they made this leather. So, I wouldn’t even really say it’s lost, and it can be recreated exactly how it was back then.
What’s Still Down There?
The leather survived this long not just because of the birch oil – but the birch oil does a lot of things, making it insect repellent and making it also very water resistant – but the true secret was this leather was wrapped very tightly on the ship.
So when it sank, it got covered in this very dark mud that kind of trashed the outside layer of the leather, but inside, it was rolled so tightly that the leather was okay.
Now, the crazy part is, as rare and as valuable as this leather is, it was far too dangerous to recover all of it from The Metta Catharina, so they really only cleared out the bow and the stern – in the front and the back of the ship.
Nobody wanted to risk their lives to get everything else, so there is probably a lot more of this leather in the Metta Catharina in the Plymouth Sound right now. But after they dug up all this leather and looked at the ship and everything like that, silt and mud covered the entire ship, and it is no longer visible or accessible. It’s gone.
Myths vs Reality: What We Actually Know About This Leather
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Material | 237-year-old Russian bovine leather (not reindeer) |
| Tanning Process | Tanned with willow and birch bark; features a cross-grain pattern |
| Preservation | Survived due to tight wrapping, birch oil, and being buried in silt and mud |
| Discovery | Found in 1973 by divers in the wreck of the Metta Catharina |
| Unique Qualities | Aromatic fragrance from birch; highly water-resistant and insect-repellent |
| Crafting History | Used by master craftsman George Cleverly and others for bespoke products |
| Historic Context | Survived major historical events; leather remained sacred in Western culture |
| Current Status | Limited supply remains; highly marketable due to its story |
Plot Twist: It’s Not Even Reindeer
Somewhere in the Plymouth Sound right now, as I write and you read this article, there are the ghost remains of a ship buried in mud and sediment, full of Russian reindeer.
Oh, reindeer! Reindeer made up a tiny, tiny portion of what Russia was exporting with leather. So, if this was Russian reindeer leather, it would truly be unfathomably rare – it would be the rarest leather found in the most precarious way and recovered in fantastic condition.
So frankly, it’s just not – it’s not reindeer leather, it’s bovine leather, AKA cow leather.
And not just because it would be incredibly rare, but because this was tested by a lab to see what it was made of. There were proteins found in the leather that proved it is, in fact, cows.
Watch This Review
Final Thoughts on America’s Obsession
Anyways, though, that is about it. I will see you later and talk to you later. If you’re interested in getting a wallet just like mine, check out Robert Ross.
He’s retiring. He made things for George Cleverly and gunmakers and everything like that. He is probably undoubtedly one of the best leather crafters in the entire world.
He is one degree separated from the entire story I just told.
The final two things left are the amount of leather that is out there right now that is waiting to be made into something and America’s obsession with this leather.
The first thing is that since this leather is so marketable, there’s always a last supply left. It seems like there’s always one more hide or one more round of shoes, something like that. It is depleting – I have no idea how much is left. I’d assume George Cleverly has a bunch. I know Robert Ross has a hide, so who really knows?
However, the other thing is that Americans are very obsessed with this, according to the articles. It’s just such a cool thing to market that it’s very hard for brands to talk about it without the story getting blown up every time. So this is the most accurate information I could find. Okay, see you later, goodbye!
This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.
The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.