Hey guys! I recently bought an unworn jacket on eBay (according to the seller), a 618HH (horsehide). Yet I found a few scratches and scuff marks. Are these normal on a supposadely new jacket? Is the top layer of leather supposed to come off like that when scratched? It looks like a small piece of leather is peeling. Please see the attached images. If it were just normal scratches I wouldn't be worried but I'm wondering if this isn't a bigger defect that could ruin the jacket in the long run. Thanks guys! PS. Some backstory, I am in Europe and couldn't find the jacket new at a retailer. I would've to purchase from one directly. I got a nice discount off retail price too.
Small blemish. Won’t effect longevity. A Schott HH jacket is supposed to be treated like an off road vehicle not a Rolls Royce. Take it out and put some more character marks on it. As for what ebay sellers say, that’s a whole different thread.
As they say in Australia, "She'll be right mate"... I have a Schott 641HH 6 years old now , developing some real character AND it had similar marks to yours from brand new. I was not concerned about the marks/blemishes as I wear it as a Motorcycle riding jacket primarily.
I agree. Even if I had the jacket for a few years I would still consider the topcoat peeling off as a sign of poor quality. Here's a closeup on the wear of a coated horsehide jacket from the early 60's. As you can see, the top coat on the cuff did come off, but only in very small bits. And only in places where you would expect it to come off. No peeling anywhere on this jacket. I haven't owned a Schott jacket with a topcoat so I can't tell whether this is normal for Schott. However, if I spend $500 or more on a jacket I don't expect the topcoat to peel off.
Personally i don't have a problem with these marks. A fingernail scratch can easily leave a mark like that on a jacket, all my worn jackets have similar marks after a while, it really isn't a problem or a sign of poor quality. Now if the top coat starts peeling off like a sunburn then you have a problem, but these little scuffs are no big deal. I also think you should take "unworn' with a grain of salt, even on here i have seen "unworn" jackets that where photographed worn and showed clear signs of being worn. Everybody's jacket is "unworn" or "barely worn" if it is for sale...
To me what i see in the pictures posted in the original post are small superficial scratches, i don't see chunks of top coat peeling off. This is top coat peeling off:
And here is another one: What is your point? are we starting to name scratches differently depending if they go through the top coat or not?
My schott 618hh. Bought new 5.5 years ago, I haven't worn it that much. At points of wear and stress similar issues. I wouldn't call it peel off as in the photos of Carlos; there wasn't any top layer that I could literally pull away. It is more of a rub off of the top coat layer. In reality, compared to the photos, the grey area is far less prominent, this is due to the flash of my cell phone.
I think I see chunks of topcoat coming off at random places. Not the places of heavy wear you might expect them like one @Harris HTM jacket.
What you are seeing is a scratch created by the walking foot during stitching... There is a difference between a scratch, slow abrassion at wear points and "chunks of topcoat coming off at random places".
I think what's happening on the OP's jacket is the same as on the photos with the peeled off chunks of leather @Carlos840 posted above, something that Schott actually did admit to being an issue some years ago. The finish hasn't rubbed through but rather it seems to me it just cleanly peeled off and at random places at that, where you wouldn't normally get much wear at all. I could be wrong and I hope I'm wrong but... I don't think that should be happening. There are places on my Lost Worlds vest where the heavy, plasticy finish also disappeared but you can clearly tell it happened through heavy use due to the gradient nature of the fading.
To simplify things - The answer is no. OP, if you think that you could continue peeling the layer off with pincers or something then no, it's not what should be happening.
Thank you guys for all your replies! I really appreciate it. I paid around $650 for it. Should I return it or ask for a partial refund?
It depends on how much these scars bother you, or if you're in love with the fit. A brand new 618hh in the EU costs 1000e (https://www.schott-store.com/en/us-jackets/9-247-618hh.html#/1-couleur-black/21-taille-40), that's a lot imo.
