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New Schott Perfecto 618 Horsehide peeling... :(

FineMister

New in Town
Messages
4
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.

618 HH peel.jpeg
618HH scuff.jpeg
 

Marc mndt

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,224
That's still pretty poor for a barely or unworn jacket.
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.
22A2CC84-EF07-4168-8A63-0C9A11F8CB52.jpeg

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.
 

Carlos840

I'll Lock Up
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4,944
Location
London
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...
 

Marc mndt

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,224
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.

I agree but a fingernail scratch is different from chunks of topcoat peeling off.
 

Harris HTM

One Too Many
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1,864
Location
In the Depths of R'lyeh
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.
20200705_113948.jpg 20200705_113924.jpg 20200705_114027.jpg 20200705_114010.jpg
 

Carlos840

I'll Lock Up
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4,944
Location
London
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".
 
Messages
16,712
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.
 
Messages
16,712
Is the top layer of leather supposed to come off like that when scratched? I

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.
 

FineMister

New in Town
Messages
4
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?
 

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