Berkshire is decent if you want a 'pebbly' texture leather, its no where near as soft in the hand as some of the other hides, but it certainly is durable.

Equestrian is Italian if I'm not mistaken, and one of my top picks for your criteria (again, you have to not mind the noise it makes when sitting on the cushions). Kipling is a great choice (its from an company that has tannery in both Italy and China, so it can come from either tannery) but its more prone to sun fade and slightly less durable than the ones listed above. But it has a great hand and look to it.

No quality control issue that I've seen. What do you mean specifically by the footrest is difficult to operate? How so?