H&M # 072 Campaign Ottoman in Tuscany Harness leather

Probably the most popular of all of H&M's cocktail ottomans, I sell about three or four of these a month in various leathers. This one is in the current 2012 Town and Country promo in Tuscany Harness (normally a GR 3 leather from Italy) and this is what we in the trade refer to as 'REAL LEATHER'. Its a heavy pull up hide, and will show lots of markings and pressure stretching (shown as light spots). If you like your leather hides pure and perfect, this is not the one for you - but if you can appreciate a natural hide that shows marks of the trail and will age beautifully - this is one of the great hides to get. And the fact that its in the T&C program means a reduced price point, too! Shown in front of a H&M 9503 Kodiak sofa.

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Tuscany Harness is beautiful. How would it be for a sofa or chair, soft and comfortable to sit on?

A lot of folks buy it for chairs and sofas. Its not a super soft luxury hide, more of a saddle type of leather that will make a sit a bit firmer and age to the use.

Hi Duane,

Is the Kodiak sofa in the photo done in T&C Document leather?

Document Chestnut. There are photos of that same sofa here in the PHOTO LIBRARY taken not too long ago.

Are there any comparable hides to Tuscany with dramatic pull-ups and marks in Grade 4 or Grade 5?

Keep in mind that grades are about PRICE, not quality. There's no point in paying more for something if you can get what you want at a lesser price. Most pull-ups fall into price category 2 or 3, and luxury supersofts go into 4 /5 s as well as specialty leathers.

Thanks for the clarification about Tuscany and other pull-up hides. It helps me to appreciate the hides and not feel the need to jump to higher grades just for the sake of quality.

I keep struggling with wanting a pull-up with scars and markings and all the look of a natural hide, but also wanting a comfortable seating surface. I don't want a dramatically two-tone look, so I have been trying to find a hide for the cushion parts to coordinate with the use of Tuscany on the sides and back of the Journal sofa.

I think the combination of Sahara Mocha burnished for the cushions would coordinate with Tuscany Harness but still provide a textural and gloss difference that would not look like a bad mismatch. Other options would be Equestrian Walnut or Capri Tobacco instead of Sahara.

Would you have an opinion on using combinations of hides such as I am considering? Have you seen anyone else trying to coordinate hides to get the best of both worlds?

Somewhere on this forum Duane has a great primer on leathers explaining terms and grades and stuff. You may want to give it a read - it's very helpful. I think you may be operating under some misconceptions here. For example, "pull-up" refers to an appearance, not something that would really impact seating comfort one way or the other. Also, the natural markings are a feature of unprotected leathers, which may or may not show any degree of pull-up.

I see you have a Kodiak sofa, what your price be on the one show here?