Help with Relic Hunter

[Forrest For the Trees]

Bummer. Sorry to hear that. Sounds like a bad batch of that grainy lambskin. The striated lamb BK offers is phenomenal. Honestly, they should not offer a leather that is peeling, discolored, etc.

[Illinois_Jones]

Well that's similar to other complaints about BK that people have had here and elsewhere (especially Fedora Lounge). Personally I've only had good -- albeit limited -- dealing with BK and that was years ago and I'm still very pleased with my goat RH. People have had complaints about the striated lamb at times as well; sometimes it's not the most cooperative or durable leather, but such is a natural product. And TBH the complaints and seemingly declining service of BK even before the pandemic, and now during it, has prevented me from dealing with BK the past few years even though I've been sorely tempted to get another.

But S&J is the best service you can get in the Indy community, hands down. The ease of customization is one of the major selling points over BK who can be difficult in that regard. And shipping has always seemed fine from Argentina, especially in the US. Some people have had a few issues but it was never Diego's fault but usually the local post office.

Until we get a good domestic US maker again, which I honestly don't see happening anytime soon since USW demoted themselves by no longer offering the Legend or Signature pattern, S&J and Wested and Magnoli are the best and really only options for a custom let alone pretty much accurate jacket.

[xmasters]

I should add that I had ordered the Lambskin Grainy Authentic Brown, by the way. Everyone here seems to be head over hills with their Striated Lamb Relic Hunter, so perhaps I would have avoided all this trouble if I had ordered that instead.

Yeah the striated lamb is the screen accurate option, and it wouldn't have had the peeling effect as the striated lamb ages differently.

[Thunderspy]

That sounds awful, do you have the images?

I ordered mine in January of 2020 I think, just about the worst possible time to do it. Due to covid delays it took ten months to arrive, and the long periods of radio silence (seriously, just hire someone one day a week, or even a month to answer emails!) really made me think I’d lost my money for quite a long time. Unnecessary stress in the most stressful of years.

The jacket is beautiful though.

[Tibor]

I think my search for the perfect Indy jacket(s) has finished

You know, I used to read these kinds of statements and think: no, no you haven’t… you’ll see. But I have to agree with you. We’re really fortunate to have S&J who really nail it. Customer service, measurements, leather, distressing. It’s taken 40 years.

[onhorseback]

Yes, the S&J feels and looks amazing, and the accurate and detailed distressing is the cherry on top.

As for pictures of the Relic Hunter, it was difficult to capture the smalls cracks through photographs, and my phone is not the best suited for that kind of thing, but of course prior to shipping the jacket back I sent Andy a number of photos showing to the best of my camera's ability several areas that suffered from the flaking effect. Some cracks were tiny, others looked more like scales bubbling up from the inside, but the defect was obvious and a layer of dried leather showed unmistakably through and behind them. I have a 20+ years old Schott that is now suffering from the same problem after being in storage for several years without having had the appropiate maintenance, but even this is so subtle that can't be noticed without folding the leather in certain sections. The Relic, however, showed the cracks even when lying flat. Here's the sleeve, for instance:



It's a pity, the pattern seemed markedly different from the Wested and I could have happily be owning both the Relic and the Legacy if it hadn't been for the leather problems. But, as I said, I am more than satisfied with my current Indy jackets, and since I also have a thing for MacGyver's Chevignon G2 I'm ging to focus my search on that for the foreseable future. Now if only S&J decided to tackle that one...

[Thunderspy]

Oh weird, that is a shame. Thanks for sharing.

[marker2037]

Yes, the S&J feels and looks amazing, and the accurate and detailed distressing is the cherry on top.

As for pictures of the Relic Hunter, it was difficult to capture the smalls cracks through photographs, and my phone is not the best suited for that kind of thing, but of course prior to shipping the jacket back I sent Andy a number of photos showing to the best of my camera's ability several areas that suffered from the flaking effect. Some cracks were tiny, others looked more like scales bubbling up from the inside, but the defect was obvious and a layer of dried leather showed unmistakably through and behind them. I have a 20+ years old Schott that is now suffering from the same problem after being in storage for several years without having had the appropiate maintenance, but even this is so subtle that can't be noticed without folding the leather in certain sections. The Relic, however, showed the cracks even when lying flat. Here's the sleeve, for instance:



It's a pity, the pattern seemed markedly different from the Wested and I could have happily be owning both the Relic and the Legacy if it hadn't been for the leather problems. But, as I said, I am more than satisfied with my current Indy jackets, and since I also have a thing for MacGyver's Chevignon G2 I'm ging to focus my search on that for the foreseable future. Now if only S&J decided to tackle that one...

Sorry about your negative experience, but I have to say that I'm just not seeing any problems with that leather there. It's not cracking or cracked and it's nothing that wouldn't have happened to your elbows wearing the jacket for a week anyway. You have to embrace "wear" and "aging" on a leather product as that's part of the charm.

I would have to be on the side of Bill Kelso on this one... But in any case, you should have picked the striated lamb anyway. That's the golden leather from them for a Raiders and literally is the best smelling leather I have in all 12 of my leather jackets, which includes Badalassi, Shinki Hikaku, washed lamb, legacy lamb, Vicenza, buffalo, etc. from all kinds of makers.

[Thee]

Sorry about your negative experience, but I have to say that I'm just not seeing any problems with that leather there. It's not cracking or cracked and it's nothing that wouldn't have happened to your elbows wearing the jacket for a week anyway. You have to embrace "wear" and "aging" on a leather product as that's part of the charm.

Agreed, this looks like typical finish wear.

I would have to be on the side of Bill Kelso on this one... But in any case, you should have picked the striated lamb anyway. That's the golden leather from them for a Raiders and literally is the best smelling leather I have in all 12 of my leather jackets, which includes Badalassi, Shinki Hikaku, washed lamb, legacy lamb, Vicenza, buffalo, etc. from all kinds of makers.

I can attest to this after acquiring one in the striated lamb, the leather is second to none.