On my desk, I have four samples of cognac leather:
- Aeristo's Touranil Cognac 2
- KHM's Original-Muster ("Old Timer")
- Hyde's Vegetable-Tanned
- Hyde's Basic Klassic
I believe KHM's supplier for vegetable-tanned is Steenbuck, but I will amend this post with that information if they're willing to disclose it. The others, representing what's purported to be the top two automotive leather suppliers in the US, make their own leather. When one purchases "old-timer" leather from GAHH, they are using Hyde's, though upcharging for it.
It seems cognac is a very difficult thing to achieve. I'm sure the old salts here are very familiar with the story of how it came about, but the long and the short is that it was an accidental innovation by Roser, the original leather supplier for our cars. My understanding is they were trying to create a certain red color, but the dye beaded on the leather surface instead, creating a two-tone ruddy brown over a backdrop of yellow. This has been exceeding difficult to replicate, for my belief is that Roser was using top grain hides, which facilitates that beading. Cheaper leathers which have been sanded will not have the "original" type of coloration, rather appearing as one solid brown color. Some of this information may be erroneous, and I welcome a correction, but this is what I've read to this point.
In disassembling the interior of my car, I have discovered places that may have been reupholstered at least in part, and others I believe to be original, at least based on the workmanship. I was going to use the kick panels to compare the accuracy of the leather samples to the original thing, but it appears those were reupholstered, and in a very clumsy way with loads of staples everywhere. A piece of the dash, however, appears to be original. That said, while my car only was driven ~80k miles and was largely not driven since 1977 (at 77k miles), I do believe there will no doubt be some fading of the color from original -- or else darkening at common touch points.
In the photos I've attached, you can see Aeristo on the top left, veg tanned Hyde's on the top right, basic Hyde's on the bottom left, and KHM on the bottom right. On the second photo, you can see Hyde's basic and Aeristo overlain on the dash piece. On the third photo, you can see Hyde's veg. tanned and KHM likewise.
I really don't even know if my dash piece is original, so if someone has some nice pictures of a true original cognac, I'd absolutely welcome that. Every Mercedes of this era one sees online seems to have a different idea of cognac, so I'm really not so sure what is supposed to be "right," or if there even
is a "right" anymore, as Roser is long gone. Regardless, based on how these
feel to me, I'd rank them as follows:
1) Tie between Hyde's veg. tanned and KHM
2) Aeristo
3) Hyde's basic
The Hyde's vegetable-tanned sample feels quite soft and supple -- luxuriant, even, and it is in-line with what I might expect from a car of that era. Despite the sample's thickness, it's extremely pliant, and seems like it would be a pleasure to work with when stretching it over a surface. The KHM sample however looks "nicer," and if I were making a pair of shoes, I'd no doubt choose it far above everything else. It's the only truly full-grain sample of the bunch, I think, and the grain also serves to hide flaws and creases and such quite well, in my opinion.
Aeristo is renowned for their leather, and perhaps they're the best in the US overall when it comes to automotive leathers in general. However, it seems to crease easy, whereas my two top picks do not. In other words, the Aeristo sample is much stiffer. That said, it is a bit more authentic when it comes to the subtle yellow undertones. I am not so sure how comfortable it would be in the real world, though for Concours-type vehicles and other such cars that are more for looking rather than riding, it would be an excellent choice for aesthetics. But the Hyde's and KHM sample are in another world in terms of softness and texture, with the Hyde's vegetable-tanned sample being slightly softer than KHM, and KHM having a more interesting texture.
The Hyde's basic sample is both inaccurate in terms of color, appearing as a solid brown, middling in softness but slightly better than the Aeristo sample though nowhere close to the other two, and, well, it's just okay. Probably considerably better than the stuff one gets stock from GAHH and such, and it would probably satisfy most people. Indeed, it is a good value, I'd say.
As an aside, I ought to review the customer service of each. Aeristo has absolutely top-notch customer service. They're a superlative business. They also sent me samples via DHL in 2 days from their headquarters in Texas. I was very impressed -- also including a really choice handwritten postcard from Italy with a message from the salesman, Henry, who is extremely prompt with calls and overall just a pleasure to deal with. They really try to earn your business, and they deserve high regard for this. However, at nearly $30/ft, I would hope so! I have communicated with KHM exclusively through email. They are likewise very prompt, though of course since they are a German company, there is a bit of a language barrier. Nonetheless, there is a benefit to patronizing KHM, for they are the upholsters -- they also seem to have reasonable prices on their labor. GAHH has likewise been easy to deal with on this front, and they will accept any leather you send them and provide a discount for such, though they do seem to be quite expensive when it comes to the labor. I think they could do much better on the price if you're providing the material, personally. Hyde's has been slow and relatively unresponsive compared to the others, with calls or emails typically taking many days to return. Indeed, I asked for a quote on three hides of each sample, and they still have not gotten back to me or acknowledged the receipt of either my email or phone call.
Lastly, I'd like to name and shame Heritage Upholstery in Palm Springs. The owner is very rude over the phone and does not return calls. I have read other posts both here and elsewhere corroborating my experience. That's really too bad, since he seems to do very high quality work, and his videos were
extremely helpful when it came to seat disassembly as well as what to look out for in a high quality versus inferior upholstery job.
I'll likely use Hyde's vegetable tanned leather in my interior and have it sent to GAHH, but if they continue to be unresponsive, I'll likely proceed with KHM in the coming days, as though it may not be absolutely authentic in terms of texture, it is probably the best piece of leather.
