Gfeller - Profoundly Functional Leather

Cool Stuff: this section offers some non-traditional items. They, like all our products, are Profoundly Functional, provide needed care or organization, are fun to use and are just plain cool.

We began this part of our adventure with a needed leather notebook cover. A second skin for your Large Moleskine® Notebook (5 x 8 ¼”) that itself will become an elegant heirloom. It is an excellent value and will provide exceptional service. We used our regular English kip, a thin very tight-grained leather that is exceedingly durable. This hand cut cover features extended inside cover flaps to completely eliminate the "Cover Bump" normally encountered with slip on covers. The rear inside flap has been slit to allow use of the elastic closure Moleskine® made famous. Both front and rear inside pockets are sewn far enough to be secure, but allow wide opening to provide additional storage for loose papers and easy access to the pocket at the rear hard cover. Our cover also features an inside trim strip along top and bottom edges for stability and extra durability. Our thread is spun in the US from Egyptian Giza Cotton, the finest in the world. This glazed finish thread is a perfect compliment in size, strength and durability to the lightweight leathers chosen for the Moleskine covers. The stitch line is tapped down to close the needle holes, "setting" the stitch for extra security. We apply a light coat of pure Neatsfoot oil to lubricate the leather fibers and hand-burnish the rounded edge to reduce fraying. Our wax based finish is applied last. This seals the surface to repel dirt and allows buffing out of light scratches. A lightly dampened towel will remove common surface dirt. We recommend moderation in the use of any cleaning product. Avoid anything that smells of petroleum byproducts.

When you have a few minutes, we invite you to view our You Tube video showing how we hand craft these covers You Tube Video.

The use of this cover will provide excellent protection to the Moleskine® and gain character through a useful life of many years. Initial production will include serial numbers stamped inside the front cover next to our well-known Gfeller Casemakers cartouche. This mark has denoted items of exceptional quality and rugged durability since 1946. We are indeed proud to offer this addition to our line of no nonsense products for professional and other discriminating users of leather goods.

Please check there for the latest news on this and our other fine leather products. We specialize in short run (25-500 units typically) production of high quality leather goods. If you or anyone you know has needs at this level, kindly forward our name to them. We appreciate all the help we can get.

Many Thanks to Paul Saffo for introducing us to this project.

Best Regards,
Steve Derricott

Cool Stuff Items:
If your notebook cover needs are not met with our standard line-up, you may want to contact us for a true one-off custom cover. Pictured is such a cover, for an A4 size notebook. This was built for one of our Swiss customers. We are happy to discuss your needs at any time. To assure correct fit it may be necessary to ship us a sample of your specific volume. Prices are quoted before work begins and a 50% deposit is required. You may want to consider having us personalize such items. We can deboss three initials on most any item. This requires a $10 set-up fee.

Our Idaho Professional Field Folio is offered in response to requests for a no frills, high quality leather folio. It is constructed, inside and out of our signature Natural English Kip leather. Standard sizes accept either top bound A4 or 8-1/2” x 11” pads and include pockets for calling cards, 3 x 5 note cards and a scale pocket as well as a quantity of loose sheets and/or notes in the larger open pocket. We offer this with or without loops for tools on the front cover panel. These are built to order only and may require a 50% deposit…if you need a custom variation from our stock configuration, we need a deposit.

Notebook Covers hand built using our signature English Kip leather are functional protection offered in a range of popular sizes. These products are a natural extension of our line of Geoscience related field equipment items. We design and build leather goods to protect and or assist with the use of many tools. The popularity of these notebook covers is a testament to the need for them and the fact that we “got it right” when we designed them and chose the right leather for them. Each is stamped with a serial number as a measure of identification and further adds to the uniqueness of every cover. We are pleased and humbled by the reviews that these covers have received in numerous blogs, online comments and customer testimonies. If you have not already done so, we suggest that you spend a few minutes learning about the process by which we hand build these covers…You Tube Video… Many thanks to Dave Bogie for this work.

Our Diamond Creek Satchel is easily the last item of this type that you will need to purchase. Built of sturdy saddle skirting leather with solid brass hardware, this satchel of field brief case handily carries needed files, notebooks and tools. With a double compartment design and hand formed accordion gussets it provides easy access to all your necessary stuff. Inside dimensions are 11” x 14” and approx. 3” in each compartment. With several holes for adjustment in the billet even larger items can be carried easily. When Steve needed a briefcase after purchasing Gfeller Casemakers in 1985 he designed this satchel to cover his personal needs. The satchel he built sees daily use and after 25 years is still going strong. The design has proven to be “profoundly functional” and still looks and performs great. Base price includes a removable shoulder strap with wool stuffed pad and the owners name stamped under the handle. We invite you to discuss your needs. Each one is a true custom piece of functional leather art. Custom variations quoted on request. *Base price on Cool Stuff Price List