Caring for a Leather Cigar Case
The best thing about a well-made leather case is how little it asks of you. A Jemar body is naturally tanned hide, stitched and finished by hand in Bilbao, and it was designed to be carried every day for years without any particular ceremony. But "little" is not "nothing," and the few things that do matter are worth knowing, because they are the difference between a case that looks better at ten years than it did at one and a case that cracks at the fold and goes stiff at the cap.
What naturally tanned leather wants
Jemar's leather is tanned without the chemical treatments that give cheap hides their uniform, sealed surface. That is why it feels the way it does, and it is also why it behaves differently from the coated leather on a mass-market case. A natural hide breathes. It absorbs a little of the oils from your hands, gives up a little moisture in dry air, and slowly settles into a surface that is entirely its own. Care, properly understood, is simply helping that process along and not interrupting it.
The routine
Most weeks, do nothing. When the case looks dusty, wipe it with a dry, soft cloth — an old cotton T-shirt is ideal — and stop. Once or twice a year, or whenever the leather begins to look dry and matte in a way it did not before, apply a very small amount of a neutral, wax-free leather conditioner. Warm it between your fingers, work it into the hide in small circles, let it sit for a few minutes, and buff off the excess with a clean cloth. The case should look nourished, not greasy; if it looks greasy you have used too much.
That is the entire regime. Owners who do more usually do harm.
What to keep away from it
A short list of things that damage natural leather, in the order we see them cause trouble:
- Sunlight and heat. A case left on a dashboard or a windowsill will fade and dry out faster than anything else you can do to it. Keep it in a pocket, a bag or a drawer.
- Keys, coins and pens. Anything hard in the same pocket will score a smooth Classic hide. Bull Shoulder and Oscaria forgive more, but not indefinitely. Give the case its own pocket.
- Household cleaners, alcohol and solvents. These strip the tannins and oils from the surface and leave it chalky. Never use them, even on a stubborn mark.
- Silicone sprays and saddle soap. The first seals the leather so it cannot breathe; the second is too alkaline for a fine hide and dulls the finish.
- Water in quantity. A few drops wiped off do no harm. A soaking will stiffen the leather as it dries. If the case gets wet, blot it, let it dry slowly at room temperature away from any heat source, and condition it lightly once it is dry.
The cigar inside
A leather case is for carrying cigars, not for keeping them. It has no humidification and, being leather, it breathes, so a cigar left inside for weeks will dry out — and a very moist cigar left inside can, over time, leave a trace on the lining. Load the case on the day, or the night before, and return anything unsmoked to the humidor. If you travel for longer than a few days, a small Boveda pack in your luggage alongside the case does the job a case was never meant to.
Telescoping tubes and caps
The sliding tube of a telescoping case should move with a light, even resistance. If it starts to catch, the cause is almost always a little grit at the mouth of the tube; wipe both surfaces with a dry cloth and it will free up. Do not oil or wax the tube — the leather-on-leather fit is designed to work dry, and a lubricant will attract more dust than it displaces. The same applies to the cap.
Marks to keep
Some changes are not damage and should be left alone. The tube darkening where your fingers hold it; the cap taking on a soft sheen; a natural or tan Classic hide slowly turning the colour of honey; the recesses of a tooled pattern holding more colour than the ridges — these are a full-grain hide doing what it was chosen for. A Jemar case that has been carried for a decade looks like it has been carried for a decade, and that is exactly what its owner paid for.
When something does go wrong
Stitching on a Jemar case is done by hand and is rarely the problem, but if a thread ever works loose, do not pull it; bring the case in, or send us a photograph, and we will advise. El Laguito Cigars supplies Jemar as an authorized retailer, and we would rather help you keep a case in service for another twenty years than sell you a new one.