The Workshop is the place where ideas are conceived, tools are picked up and pieces of leather are cut, split, skived and sewn together. Mass production is unheard of here. Most of the work here is done by hand. In the Workshop, some tools are still used that few people can identify these days (never mind use).
The Workshop exists in the name of quality.
Quality of design.
Quality of materials.
Quality of workmanship.
Few leather manufacturers aspire to this; even fewer are willing to customize. In the Workshop, custom work is a daily occurrence.
At Aquarian, designs are developed with clients through trial and error. Patterns are worked out on paper, the leather is hand cut on our large tables, and prototypes are constructed to work out any adjustments.
All of the design is original and custom; working by hand right from the start is the only method possible. It ultimately leads to products that cannot be reproduced easily or inexpensively. It also leads to items that look and work like they should.
Hides of leather are delivered to the Workshop. They take up space in almost every corner. Looking through the bundles of leather is similar to flipping the pages of a story, telling the tale of Aquarian Leather and the projects we’ve taken on.
The hand tools we use every day are rarely seen in manufacturing any more. Moon knives allow for the most skilled cutting of leather. Of course, they can also lead to lost figures if used incorrectly or by the inexperienced. Compasses, awls, thread so thick it’s considered cable, precision machinery to work with thinning the leather for ease of use and a better formed finished product–we’re surrounded by it all here in the Workshop.
Nothing is cookie cutter; everything is tailored to the exact needs of the client.