'Flaking' from an Aero?

[zebedee]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. In addition to a brown HH Highwayman (which, after three years, is developing serious personality), I recently received a black HH Stockman (pics soon...). Weirdly, after only a few days, a patch of the black surface coating flaked off, leaving the base hide exposed. I darkened it with a tiny bit of Renapur to make it less discordant (it's on the inside of the back of an arm, so hardly a biggie), but I wondered if anyone else had had this happen. The highwayman I like looking battered as hell; the Stockman patch seemed to flake off through normal wear. The brown underneath is a sign of a good patina in the making, I hope!

Jim.

 

[Otter]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. In addition to a brown HH Highwayman (which, after three years, is developing serious personality), I recently received a black HH Stockman (pics soon...). Weirdly, after only a few days, a patch of the black surface coating flaked off, leaving the base hide exposed. I darkened it with a tiny bit of Renapur to make it less discordant (it's on the inside of the back of an arm, so hardly a biggie), but I wondered if anyone else had had this happen. The highwayman I like looking battered as hell; the Stockman patch seemed to flake off through normal wear. The brown underneath is a sign of a good patina in the making, I hope!

Jim.

Photos?

 

[sshack]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. In addition to a brown HH Highwayman (which, after three years, is developing serious personality), I recently received a black HH Stockman (pics soon...). Weirdly, after only a few days, a patch of the black surface coating flaked off, leaving the base hide exposed. I darkened it with a tiny bit of Renapur to make it less discordant (it's on the inside of the back of an arm, so hardly a biggie), but I wondered if anyone else had had this happen. The highwayman I like looking battered as hell; the Stockman patch seemed to flake off through normal wear. The brown underneath is a sign of a good patina in the making, I hope!

Jim.

I returned a black Highwayman recently because of excessive color fading. Aero (to their credit) sent me a new jacket from a new batch of black CXL and it has much improved dye characteristics. It's a big difference-- not just in appearance, but texture and feel of the leather as well.

Unfortunately, the cuff of one sleeve seems to be made from the old "flaky" CXL. In fact, flaky is a really apt term to describe it. The color just simply flakes off.

It's a shame, as the rest of the jacket is made with the better leather. Also, Aero switched the ball and chain zipper pull to a cheap looking hollow silver ball where the top of the ball is crimped together... it used to be a solid metal ball. Now it reminds me a cheap light bulb chain.

I'll have a more thorough review in a few days... I still want to wear it a bit longer and gather my thoughts.

BTW-- The black dye flaking off is not patina, it's just dye flaking off. Patina is additive, not subtractive.

 

[Sloan1874]

Photos would help. But if it is the case, I would be in touch with Holly.The brown is the base-coat for a particular type of Horween, they can vary the 'cling' of the top coat.

 

[thor]

About 5-6 years ago I received a brand new (not from the sale page) jerky russet HH A-2 direct from Aero and after afew months of routine wear, there were afew chips of lost color/topcoat around the upper back and shoulder area. These chips (about ten or so in number) were small but noticeable. I should have notified Aero but figured I could just live with it. Ended up selling the jacket some months later. I've had numerous other Aero jackets since then and none had this chipping phenomenon.

 

[zebedee]

Will post photos of jackets as soon as pollution relents enough to go outside (soupy and good at the mo). The flaking is small, and not widespread at all (it hasn't recurred). I wouldn't return an item over something which is insignificant in the long run- it's a handmade piece and I expect inconsistencies (the durability is what counts for me, and the Stockman's a tank), but had it been a larger patch it would've looked very strange. The brown highwayman aged really well- it's got autumnal tones and reddish tints and just gets better. The stockman looks like the black will gradually fade to brown/amber tones. This is good, as black fading to grey is not something I'm a great fan of, even though I've seen nice examples.

 

[Greenbird]

I returned a black Highwayman recently because of excessive color fading. Aero (to their credit) sent me a new jacket from a new batch of black CXL and it has much improved dye characteristics. It's a big difference-- not just in appearance, but texture and feel of the leather as well.

Unfortunately, the cuff of one sleeve seems to be made from the old "flaky" CXL. In fact, flaky is a really apt term to describe it. The color just simply flakes off.

It's a shame, as the rest of the jacket is made with the better leather. Also, Aero switched the ball and chain zipper pull to a cheap looking hollow silver ball where the top of the ball is crimped together... it used to be a solid metal ball. Now it reminds me a cheap light bulb chain.

I'll have a more thorough review in a few days... I still want to wear it a bit longer and gather my thoughts.

BTW-- The black dye flaking off is not patina, it's just dye flaking off. Patina is additive, not subtractive.

Sorry to hear that. I still am waiting for Aero's evaluation of my fade problem, I don't think the jacket made it there in time for evaluation before the holiday break. It would seem that there are some quality control issues at the leather manufacturer.

 

[zebedee]

http://s922.photobucket.com/user/zebedee22/media/IMG_0018_zpse9f40347.jpg.html

Should link to the photo of the flake's previous home…

 

[Sloan1874]

Nope it's a mis-posted pic. You should click on the small tree icon on the quick reply tool bar. It'll bring up a box that will let you select the relevant file from your downloads, and then just upload them. It avoids having to set up a Photobucket account.

Tbh, looking at your pic, I would say that's very unusual patina. Have you been close to a belt-sander recently? I'd get in touch with Holly when she's back next week.

 

[Sloan1874]

About 5-6 years ago I received a brand new (not from the sale page) jerky russet HH A-2 direct from Aero and after afew months of routine wear, there were afew chips of lost color/topcoat around the upper back and shoulder area. These chips (about ten or so in number) were small but noticeable. I should have notified Aero but figured I could just live with it. Ended up selling the jacket some months later. I've had numerous other Aero jackets since then and none had this chipping phenomenon.

t's only recently that I've heard that brown is the base of black Horween - one of the reasons I avoided going for a black jacket was that one that I did own turned grey over the years.
I'm with you on the brown, I love the way my LHB has aged beautifully - the russet and light tones look fantastic, and I should post a 'year-on'
It's difficult to know the line at which you say 'gawd, this isn't what I want' because it's not yer standard leather - I'm not sure you'll find many tanneries nowadays where you've got two guys applying the top coat manually with brushes - and it's not always easy to know the point where how people's expectations of how it should behave diverges from the product itself. I never think that people are being unreasonable if they're a unhappy with something that's cost them a lot of money isn't behaving quite how they expect. It comes down to communication between maker and customer.

 

[zebedee]

I think the pic makes it look brighter than it appears normally, but it is odd, no? The Renapur that I stuck on it darkened it a bit, and I am just pleased that the problem didn't spread (and the edges of the chipped bit don't look as if they're about to peel- perhaps that part of the hide was uneven or scarred). If it had been on the back or shoulders it would've been problematic. That said, I bought the jacket primarily to avoid the cold in the winter months and the unreasonable rain in the spring ones- by the end of the cold season here it'll look as battered as the highwayman. Has anyone got any pics of a well-bashed cordovan jacket? Whilst I try to wean myself off buying another Aero (I recently bought one off the sales page- I didn't ever need three Aero's [just like I don't need a fourth] ), but these things happen, and might happen in cordovan.