https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_cordovan
Not keen on it myself as a watch strap..
~Hi all, i'm just after some of you shell cordovan wearing peep's input here.
I have just bought a Nomos Club, and the strap it comes with is a very nice shell cordovan leather number.
The only downside is, it is by far the strongest smelling leather i have ever encountered, and to top it off, it smells like a horse stables tack room.
Is this normal for this type of leather, or is it just my ex wife torturing me via voodoo and the smell of horses?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_cordovan
Not keen on it myself as a watch strap..
I've had a few cordovan straps and none smelled especially strongly.
However, given the leather comes from a horse's backside...
Having just given up smoking rollies for the last 30 years, i can smell a gnats fart from 50 yards- there is a definite twinge of saddlery
I've had a couple of shell cordovan straps, including a Nomos one, but I don't remember them being overly whiffy. Perhaps you've just been unlucky or have a more sensitive nose than me!
.. either of the standard black ones I've had with my Orion/Ludwig have all been .. pleasantly odoriferous when new... Similar with the custom (blue) one I had Jan @ xxxstraps make me ..
it does diminish over time I've found. I wouldn't not have them based on odor - they are extraordinarily comfortable as a strap material.
al
I have a Nomos Club, have had it for about 8 months, and have never noticed any smell. TBH I just took a sniff and it has a light leathery-ish smell as any leather which I actually like :)
I imagine it's like that new leather smell you get with a leather jacket or a new car. After a short time the smell disappears almost completely.
Some people have more sensitive noses I think. I noticed the exact same thing with my first shell cordovan strap - I actually let it outside to air for a few days with no effect. Two three years down the line the smell has faded though.
I've been in the tannery when cordovan has been processed, the smell is...not nice. My wife threatened to burn my clothes on my return to the house and didn't seem to care if I was wearing them at the time...
Finished cordovan smells nice to me and the leather dressings I've fed leather with before similarly pleasant.