Crafted with quality, made to be worn.
Why choose a Carrion leather belt?
It’s all in the making of. Every Carrion belt has the same fine handcrafted features and has been lovingly hand finished in a way that makes the very best of leather’s unique natural qualities. Leather is a gift from nature, all we have to do is craft it with love and care to celebrate its intrinsic beauty and character. From its enduring strength and softness, to the distinctiveness of its grain.
The way we make our belts is unique. Our helm as a nation was built on quality that lasts and Carrion Belts was forged to honour this heritage – for a new era of sustainability and craftsmanship.
Responsibly Sourced
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Locally Made
How are belts are made and why they’re so good…
Our belts are made using natural materials and traditional techniques in our Yorkshire workshop, along with some good old fashioned elbow grease.
We want the humbleness of our craft to be our products’ exclusiveness. Everything we do comes from a deeper desire to make things that are not only sustainable and long-lasting, but beautiful things that are made to be worn, things that get better with age.
How we choose our leather
Our belts are simply handcrafted from the highest quality British and Irish full grain, 100% vegetable tanned leather – leather made by nature. The only thing we add is a little pure beeswax to care for and enhance the leather’s natural beauty. That’s why our belts are made to last and age beautifully for a lifetime.
Many products marked genuine leather or real leather aren’t actually full grain leather with all three of the grain layers as nature intended. They’re made using split hides or ground scrap leather combined with synthetic materials. Without the unique strength and durability of leather made by nature, these products will never age as beautifully as the real thing. They aren’t biodegradable either, because of the synthetic fabrics and finishes they include.
Our hand selected, full grain leather comes from JE Sedgwick & Co, a world-renowned British leather company, and has a proven provenance to British and Irish farms.
100% Natural Vegetable Tanned
Full Grain Leather
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Solid Brass Fittings
Solid Brass Buckles By Royal Appointment
All our solid brass buckles are made in the UK by Abbey England, a maker who shares our passion for honouring the heritage of British craftsmanship. The buckles are made in Abbey England’s foundry using the traditional method of sandcasting, before being lovingly hand-finished to create buckles each with their own subtle individuality, imbued with the spirit of the maker. Abbey England have been crafting high quality brass since 1832 and hold a Royal Warrant by appointment to Her Majesty The Queen.
Features & Finishes
Our belts are made using natural materials, techniques and finishes in our Yorkshire workshop, along with some good old fashioned elbow grease. Every Carrion belt has the same fine handcrafted features and has been finished in a way that makes the very best of leather’s beautiful natural qualities.
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Leather is tanned so it’s preserved and ready to stand the test of time. Our belts are made from 100% traditional vegetable tanned leather using only plant-based tannins and water for natural strength, suppleness and durability, before being conditioned with natural oils for exceptional softness.
Natural vegetable tanned leather has been around for thousands of years and the process is completely harmless to the environment. Vegetable tanning also enhances the natural beauty of the leather, accentuating the unique grain pattern of each individual piece, for a beautiful natural patina over time. Only 10%-20% of the world’s leather is vegetable tanned, most is chrome tanned creating waste which is harmful to the environment.
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We are one of the only belt makers in the UK to hand dye our leather using traditional dyes created especially for vegetable tanned leather. Many others use pre-dyed bridle leather, which can be heavily dyed and finished. We hand dye our leather to preserve the unique natural grain and characteristics of vegetable tanned leather. Each piece is hand dyed bespoke to its individual qualities, ensuring a rich, deep, lustral colour and distinctive grain perfectly suited for belts made to age beautifully for a lifetime.
Please note: Leather is a natural material and the grain pattern naturally varies from piece to piece. It can also include natural marks and variations, adding to the unique character of our belts.
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Our belts are handcrafted with traditional oval holes, rather than round holes. The beautifully formed shape gives the buckle room to move as the belt is worn, enabling the leather to relax and keep its shape, without being forced to stretch.
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Skiving is a natural technique used in leather crafting to gently thin the leather in places where it needs to fold. Our belts are carefully hand skived at the buckle for the perfect fit and finish, ensuring the leather isn’t double the thickness as it wraps around the buckle.
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A burnished edge is special because it allows your belt to age beautifully, without anything in the way to hinder the natural process. Many makers use coloured acrylic paint for burnishing. The only thing we add to our high quality British and Irish 100% natural vegetable tanned leather belts is a little pure beeswax to naturally burnish the hand pressed edges. Rubbed in briskly by hand, natural beeswax softens and smooths the leather and enhances the intrinsic colour and grain of each piece.
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Our belts are lovingly hand saddle stitched with waxed Tiger thread, recognised as one of the finest threads in leatherwork for its imperishable strength. We never use adhesives in our craft, which means the leather in our belts is truly free to flex and move, naturally sculpting to your shape.
What is saddle stitched?
Handsewn Saddle Stitch
The saddle stitch remains intact even if the thread breaks.
Machine-sewn Lock Stitch
The lock stitch will unravel if a thread breaks.
Our dedication to the environment
At Carrion we have a firm view on the impact we all make as a society on our environment.
All of our Carrion leather belts are made with great care for our environment. Our belts are made completely by hand using no power other than light.
A Carrion belt will endure for a lifetime and is naturally biodegradable at the end of it. Carrion belts are full grain leather and vegetable tanned . They are well made products that will develop character over the years. They are robust and crafted for a purpose. They are made to last not to throw away.
Most of the world's hides are preserved using heavy metals, which is called chrome tanning. It is a rapid process that can produce a preserved hide in a few days, but it is a process that can be harmful and toxic to the environment. At Carrion we only use vegetable tanned hides, and these from reputable UK sources. Vegetable tanning is a much slower process but far less harmful to the environment, only using water and plant life to preserve the hide, hence the name vegetable tanned. It produces a leather that will soften and develop character as it is worn.
The decision of which leather belt to buy is of course your own. But if we may offer a few tips. Beware of belts marked Real Leather as they are strips of thin leather encasing a nylon strap. Likewise, Genuine Leather belts are not what you might think. Yes, it is leather, but mulched up scraps of leather glued together which does not possess the strength and durability of leathers natural grain. We would also like to mention Vegan leather, which can be made from petrochemical products as well as other materials, but please be aware none of these materials will last, and the petrochemical industry is the worst polluter in our world .
At Carrion we only ever use natural vegetable tanned full grain hide that has never been split or altered. It is a completely natural product and we believe a truly ethical choice in these days of increased environmental awareness.
