Well I have been using this for two and a months now. I use it daily. It goes everywhere with me and is my planner and wallet. It also holds my travel card. Because of my job, I refer to it every fifteen minutes or so when I am not in a meeting and when I am I write in it all the time as it holds my notes. I use it on the bus, in the supermarket, at lunch, in meetings, at home.
Swedish winter is very dark and we had 2 hours of sun in November so it has darkened somewhat from handling but probably would have darkened more if I were somewhere sunny and light!
So, it is a little darker as you can see from the comparison sample. There are some more scratches on it and it has finally got a pen mark on it. There are some smudges in these photographs which I am showing, but they disappear when you wipe them with a soft baby wipe.
The flyleaf originally showed most wear but the wear patterns have remained the same now after the initial few weeks.
I have not treated this leather in any way. The only moisturizing it has received has been from the oils on my hands and the only cleaning has been from a gentle sweep with a baby wipe. At some point I will try some leather conditioner on the inside of the strap but for now I want to see how it handles not being treated at all. I never usually treat any of my leather products.
I have also not tried to remove any scratches, smudges or smears, but instead have just left them as they are.
The rings, clasps, poppers, zip, stitching and slots are all absolutely perfect after intensive use for going on three months now.
One strange thing about this is that a) I use the pen loop, which has never ever happened to me before and b) I have no desire to change binders. I usually get bored after about three weeks but I cannot imagine moving out of this one.
