Leather Messenger Bags for Men and Women Laptop 15 Inch Briefcase

It is not easy to rate this product, except with reference to my expectations. A bag like this made of real leather typically costs four to eight times as much, so I was not expecting the perfection of prime Italian craftsmanship, for example. Not surprisingly, this is a rustic product, obviously made by hand. The leather itself is also pretty rustic, and was slightly moist on arrival from residual natural or applied oil. This was easily dried off. There is also a slight smell, as mentioned by some other reviewers, but in my case it was neither overpowering nor offensive. The color of the leather is close to that in the promotional photos - at least mine was - a little darker on the back and a touch lighter on a patch on the front. As other reviewers have also mentioned, the strap could have been better designed, but I have found an arrangement that works for me. The sewing is not perfect, but is generally quite good. My only cause for concern is that some of the brass fittings may require replacement or maintenance in the future: some of the rivets (e.g. attaching the handle) might need additional reinforcement of the leather at their attachment points and some of the studs are too stiff to open and close easily. This latter is an issue that might work itself out with time. The buckles do not appear to be terribly strong but show no signs of failure so far. Overall, the product looks attractive (to me), although obviously not top first-world quality when you look closely. If it stands up to future use reasonably well without needing too much maintenance I shall think of it as $200 - $400 well saved. In this connection I might mention that a US name-brand soft leather briefcase that I bought some years ago very quickly needed major reinforcement to the attachment points of the rear handle. These are tiresome issues when they arise, but can usually be solved quite easily by a good cobbler, if you can find one.

I'm just ridiculously happy with this bag. It's smaller than my prior shoulder bag. It holds my 15" ASUS but it's so close that I remove a small dongle that's usually on the side for a wireless mouse. After that, it will fit several legal or standard-size papers and/or files. So in terms of what to use this bag for, it's not big enough if you're a full-scale road warrior who carries chargers and cords and a billion brochures and all that. But it's a perfect size for a day bag or if you're a lighter-carrying traveler.The bag I received was exactly the color in the pictures. It has a neat distressed look to it and everyone who has seen it has complimented me on it -- in fact I think I may have sold one or two. The shoulder strap pad is a nice touch, and of course where the excess strap lies depends on how far you tighten it.One caveat: As you can see, this bag uses buckles as fasteners as opposed to magnets or snaps or whatever. Which means that this is not the bag for very fast opening and closing. It's a little inconvenient at the airport. Outside of there, it depends on your personality and what you're trying to convey. This is more the "I'm a careful thinker, deliberate in my statements and actions" message than the "I'm a trader and we have to do that NOW!" kind of message. Also on the subject of the buckles, I wish the buckle prongs were just a little more substantial, particularly the main ones. But that's a quibble.I used to really like my old shoulder bag and I was sad when it finally gave up the ghost. But after using this one for a few weeks I'm glad the other one gave me a reason to get this one. I hope this one lasts me as long.

This is a really good bag. It does smell really bad for the fist week from the leather treatment, but the more you use it in that time, the quicker the smell goes away. It is actual leather, not the leather product that is shredded up leather pressed and glued back together into a fabric, my bag wasn't entirely stripped of the hair so I have a few tiny hairs on the strap. When you first get the bag I would recommend cleaning it with a good glycerin leather soap because from my experience there was quite a bit of residue from the leather treatment left over making the bag kind of sticky. You also want to get that residue off of the buckles because it doesn't react and oxidize the metal. There is plenty of conditioner in the leather so there is no need to condition it, although Effax Lederbalsm will give it a good waterproofing layer. After I gave it a good cleaning it was really nice. The leather suppled up pretty quickly and even with it being fairly thin, it's very strong. The more you use it, the better it will be.

Edit: there ARE clasps, don't know how I missed that. Also, I LOVE the smell of this bag.I just got mine and having read other reviews, I anticipated a few things:1. Yes there is a tanning smell, this is hand treated leather and honestly, the smell on my bag wasn't terrible. It can be unpleasant if you aren't expecting it.2. There is some assembly required. There are no clasps on this bag, it's all leather straps. My handle had to be put together but it looks great!3. Mine is a bit more Orange than the picture. This will fade to a more natural brown over time so I'm not worried about it. The Orange isn't bad, just more than the picture.I have a 15.4" computer that fits into the bag. It's a bit snug but there are three internal pockets so it still has plenty of room for notebooks or whatever else you need to carry with you.All that being said, this is an incredible bag for the money. This is real leather and if you apriciate that, you will love this bag. Buy it.

This purchase was fraught with disappointment - my first experience as such through Amazon. Maybe the fact that the same bag is listed under various names from the same company should have been an early indicator, - I don't know...It took longer to arrive than stated, which was fine because I was not in a hurry. When it did arrive, it did so with Customs Fees I did not expect. So after getting the time to go and pay and pick it up I finally got it home (and then the shipping company misplaced it - but that's not the seller's fault). The packaging was okay and protected it the bag adequately.When I pulled out the bag, I must admit I was disappointed with the satchel. The metal parts looked very rusty and unstable. I know that the 'aging' is done for effect and did notice it on the zoom before I bought, but they looked more like something retrieved from an old abandoned warehouse than 'artificially aged' buckles, snaps and grommets used on a new item. It was also missing a buckle. They actually snap on the bag and it is the snap, not the the buckle, which keeps things shut. This is a definite advantage in that it far more efficient snapping open a snap than constantly fooling with buckles and straps. But if the snaps don't hold, or if the buckle is missing, you're kind of out of luck. As for those snaps, the two front flaps will not snap shut properly - when I do get them to fasten the snap does not hold. Since this bag was purchased to carry my laptop and school work, it made me nervous (in fact, I am currently using an adidas carry-on and it's perfect). There sre some black tar-like markings on it I cannot remove, but I guess that is in keeping with the weathered/rustic look. While I did not expect a quality-grain leather, the bag I received does not look like the one in the picture. After I oiled it down it gained that supple lustre the picture shows.On some positive notes - the inside is neatly lined and separated into two spacious convenient compartments. There are slots for writing utensils and pass cards, as well as a zippered pouch. The lining is not dark (despite what the pic shows) so it makes it easier to find things. And the leather does soften with use, losing its awkward stiffness and gaining that weathered in look over a relatively short period of time.So, after paying $70 (by the time shipping was included) an an additional $30 odd dollars in customs fees, I'd suggest you dish out a bit more on the front end and be completely happy with your purchase.

This poorly designed bag deserves zero stars..I bought this bag for my husband as a birthday gift.. And I just recieved it.. It looks very unprofessionally made and such a poor quality.. I am ready to send this bag back ASAP and need a full refund.. Please don't fall for the picture here.. It looks nothing like it.. The stitching looks like its ready to ripp off ans the lining of the bag is not even straight.. One of the buckles wasn't even installed properly!

Lets take a minute to appreciate the price point of this bag. A comparable (which I almost purchased) was close to 350$. It's a beautiful rugged bag and thats what you get, rugged beauty. I did notice a strange glue or something which was in certain spots, maybe just a factory spill or something. I did also have to take it in to a leather man to have stronger snaps put (carrying it by the handle would cause the buttons to pop open) All in All this is a VERY good buy, you just have to do a bit of work at your end to ensure the quality is right where you want it to be.

The thread wasn't trimmed after stitching in a few places. In shipping it gets flattened and it's hard to get it to reshape. I filled it with heavy binders and let it hang by the strap. One of the straps is ripping off. Straps should have been supplied with snaps so you can detach it if you want. Looks rustic I like that.

For the price, good. Quality in product little disappointing. Rivets in shoulder strap came apart, had it for only 2 weeks. Delivery was extremely slow. Ordered July 25, Delivery date was between August 5 - 12. Received it August 26. 2 weeks later.