What Is Patina?

People can easily be misled with terms, patina is one of them, people often confuse it with antique leather, they are two totally different things.

Patina is something that happens to leather over a period of time, it’s the natural ageing process leather goes through, some wear takes place and some slight cracking may appear, this is very common in older cars and older furniture, this is genuine true characteristics.

Patina = a thin surface layer that develops on something because of use, age, or chemical action.

When it comes to classic cars patina is something that can add great value to the classic car, as buyers can see how genuine the vehicle is by the characteristics of the leather, this adds value as it shows how original the classic car is.

Antique = is generally something that’s 100 years old or older.

People are mistaken with these two terms, they call leather with this type of characteristics, antique.

Patina is where there are colour differences and light signs of wear and tear and slight general cracking appearing.

This helicopter seat has patina.

This classic MG car seat has both damaged areas and classic character

The MG seat above on this Classic Car is more than just age, it’s a mixture of both the base section is mainly patina, but the back on the left side upper is damaged and can’t’ be classed as character.



This classic Jaguar Etype seat has patina.

These worn Rolls Royce Seats have wear & damage that’s beyond character.

This type of ageing needs to be understood for what it actually is, it’s only light surface discolouration and cracking that can be classed as Patina anything more than this is damaged.

This Mercedes Seat and this Leather Sofa cushion are damaged this is not Patina.

Chesterfield sofas and older antique furniture with type of look to them can give you a much greater valuable item than something that looks brand new, the character some of these style of furniture gain over the years adds great character and value to them.

Tanneries try many ways to re create this look by adding crackle finishes to modern leather or an antique finish on the hope it replicates this traditional ageing look and style, but nothing comes close to the genuine aged look.