Water Buffalo Leather
Earthy, Semi-Veg-Tanned, With a Story

Plant-based tannins combined with mineral ones — that's semi-vegetable tanning, and it makes the leather robust yet supple. At werktat, it's the leather we started with.

Looks like something from way back when — and that's exactly how it feels: heavy, deep, primal. No grain you can feel, just folds you can see, and a matte, slightly porous surface that already shines in places: patina, workshop-fitted. This leather doesn't start from zero. It comes with a story of its own.

How the Buffalo Came to werktat

The first time we saw this leather, there was just a big grin, goosebumps — and one thought: this is it. That first hide then sat around for quite a while … back then still in the atelier of our home. Cut into it? A piece like that? At some point, we dared.

It paid off: from the buffalo leather came our first successes in leather — the FACHWERK laptop sleeve and the CHARAKTERSTÜCK bag, sold on Etsy and DaWanda back in the day. This is the leather that taught werktat how to do leather.

And it wasn't just our customers who took notice: one day, the marketing department of a world-famous sandal maker invited us over — under the pretense of a collaboration. What they really wanted to talk about was one question: where this leather comes from. We didn't tell. The collaboration never happened — but they did buy a bag. We still have the invoice. And the source? Stays right where it is: with us.