Differences Between Full Grain, Top Grain, and Italian Leathers

Italy is where tanning crafts are truly skillful in general. If the leather is tanned in Italy, it can be considered a great sign that the leather used is made of good quality. It is also a good badge for brands to advertise. However, it’s still important to note that there are still some exceptions and low-quality leather there. Here at PEGAI, we make sure that we’re working with tanneries that have great quality leather.

Full-grain leather is a leather type where the grain (top layer of the skin) is intact and untouched. It doesn’t have any corrective finishes and it usually means that a higher grade, clean rawhide was used to produce these. This means that the leather itself is clean (which is rare and more expensive to make).

Top-grain leather is a leather type where the grain (top layer of the skin) is slightly buffed to remove some defects in the finishing process. It’s nothing to worry about and most of the good leathers in the market are made this way because super clean hides (full-grain leather) are really hard to find.