Visit to S. C. Hall & Sons Leather Merchants....groovy!

[Angst]

Hi....two years ago at Bentley Wood Fair a very nice guy called Alex introduced himself and invited us to visit his family-run business in London....S. C. Hall & Sons Leather Merchants. I proceeded to lose his business card and a year later he came to my stall again and this time we managed to hook up.

Halls has moved premises, nearer to me, and they are now based in Partridge Green, West Sussex. We arrived late as always (blame the kids) which was of no concern to Alex, who's a really accomodating and friendly guy and he ended up staying 2 hours past regular closing time in order to give us the full guided tour.

The place is very ship-shape with orderly piles, rows and shelves full of just about every colour and type of skin you can imagine....cow, goat, snake, iguana, dodo, dragon, crocodile, turtle, pig, leprechaun.....nappa, suede, chromium, aniline, upholstery, splits the lot. He's currently out of unicorn and doesnt as a rule deal in natural veg tan shoulder but when we spoke one of the things he mentioned was that he may well be doing so soon. I've been keen to find a supplier of veg tan shoulder in 2 to 2.5mm and fingers crossed my search may be over. And I don't use unicorn hide on moral grounds, so no matter.

I'd just like to say that I quickly noticed that Alex and I were ''on the same page'' concerning the issues, attitudes and points we discussed and I'm confident saying that he's a very fair guy, knowlegeable about his product, who believes in providing good service and I'm very happy recommending him. He didn't even mind my 1 year old, Raffi, repeatedly trying to climb the industrial shelving.

Here we have Alex showing my son Oliver a box of (specially reared for perfection) alligator skins....at, if memory serves correctly, 2000 dollars a pop...



and yes, you guessed it....an alligators exit hole....sorry but Oliver found it funny...I didnt, not at all.

















Alex and his puppy who quickly became known as 'Tiddler'....



http://www.schallandson.com/

regards,

Sonni

 

[Klenchblaize]

Interesting. I may pop in for a wee rummage as it would make a change from the painful trip to Culford Mews, London N1

Did you spot any fake zebra as in stencilled pony skins?

K

 

[knifeman]

Looks great. And I would like to get my hands on some leprechaun!😂


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[dwardo]

That's jus about the only type of "shopping" I would allow my self to be dragged to. Aladins cave is that.

 

[Tengu]

Yup, me too.

Since they are a high end dealer you would think they would have more veg tan? English leather is very much in demand, so Im told by a saddler.

 

[Joonsy]

for leather enthusiasts a great place to visit is the Leather Museum in Walsall in the West Midlands, Walsall is world famous for it's leather industry making some of the finest horse saddles and leather goods, it is a working museum so you can watch craftsmen make leather goods and even have a go yourself, it is free entry.

http://cms.walsall.gov.uk/leathermuseum

 

[Macaroon]

Scary how much money he must have tied up in all that stock - that's a great deal of very nice stuff

 

[Dreadhead]

heaven mate I wish there were places like that here in Scotland!

 

[Klenchblaize]

Wouldn't those naturally vented alligator skins make wonderful backpack flaps if aligned with a horn or antler button?

K

 

[Hibrion]

You're lucky to have that near by! I might need a bit of horn back caiman for a saddle soonish. Must keep this place in mind.

 

[Angst]

ah....caiman, not alligator....ta hib....twas lovely stuff to touch....

glad the post has been of help and interest....yup just drop him a line then pop in....fair prices too!

s

You're lucky to have that near by! I might need a bit of horn back caiman for a saddle soonish. Must keep this place in mind.

 

[forginhill]

Looks like a great place! Seeing all of this leather....I'm feeling drawn to some leather work.

I lived in the Amazon for awhile and while I was there the natives killed and skinned a 14 foot black caiman. The skin from that thing must have been an inch thick! The skins in your pictures are beautiful. The pattern on them is attractive.

 

[Tengu]

Can you imagine having to cut something that expensive?

Its bad enogh chopping up Veg tan.

 

[Angst]

lol tengu, yup yup.....that stuffs about £100 per square inch!

s

Can you imagine having to cut something that expensive?

Its bad enogh chopping up Veg tan.

 

[Angst]

hi....i've just sent alex an email virtually forcing him to join the forum.....lololol!

how kool would it be to have our own in-house merchant?!

lets all nag him!

s

 

[Hibrion]

Stingray is the most expensive stuff I've had. Bloody pain to cut and quite a bit of waste due to the shape of the skin.

Would be great to have an inhouse leather merchant!

 

[Angst]

hi....ok.....we now have our own in-house leather merchant.....just got an email from Alex saying he's going to join the forum (hopefully today)....feel free to nag him to death with every question under the sun!!!

s

 

[Alex - S.C.Hall & Son]

Morning Guys & Galls!

Thanks Sonni for getting me to join, it looks like a great forum, I hope I can be of help with things leather related down the line, although I think everyone is always learning when it comes to leather, I know we are!

I will do my best to help and answer questions given time, at the moment we are pretty short staffed and I seem to be playing catch up far to much so if you guys can bear with me that would be great.

As you guys can see from the pictures we do have a good supply of leprechaun and the like, however they are particularly difficult to work on I hear, owing to the need of a rainbow to get the stitching right!

All the best,

Alex

 

[Angst]

lol, no worries mate......just leave the unicorns alone, i can't handle that.

s

Morning Guys & Galls!

Thanks Sonni for getting me to join, it looks like a great forum, I hope I can be of help with things leather related down the line, although I think everyone is always learning when it comes to leather, I know we are!

I will do my best to help and answer questions given time, at the moment we are pretty short staffed and I seem to be playing catch up far to much so if you guys can bear with me that would be great.

As you guys can see from the pictures we do have a good supply of leprechaun and the like, however they are particularly difficult to work on I hear, owing to the need of a rainbow to get the stitching right!

All the best,

Alex