Tin as a material: why Bluno works with leather and tin by hand

Hello.

This is Uno.

Today, a little about tin.

Tin is one of the materials at the heart of Bluno’s work.

When people think of Bluno, they often think of small goods made from Italian leather. But if you look closely at our wallets and key cases, you will find metal parts here and there with a rather unusual character.

That metal is tin.

Today I would like to introduce tin as a material and share how we work with it at Bluno.

What kind of material is tin?

Tin is a metal that has long been used for tableware and crafted objects.

It has a quiet, silvery color and is notably soft compared with metals such as iron.

Metal may suggest something hard and impersonal, but tin has a certain softness about it.

Even when new, it is not overly bright or shiny. It has a distinctive, slightly muted texture.

That also makes it a wonderful companion for leather.

Leather changes in color and sheen with use, while every piece of tin has a subtly different character.

They are different materials, but at Bluno we like that neither is perfectly uniform.

All our tin parts are made by us

The tin parts used at Bluno are not finished fittings that we buy and attach.

We melt the tin, pour it into molds, shape it and finish each piece individually.

We carry out this whole process ourselves.

This also means we can repair the tin parts.

Why would a leather goods brand make the metal parts as well?

We did not start the brand with the intention of working with tin.

“If only there were a fitting in this shape.”

We would look for one, but could never quite find what we had in mind.

So we decided to try making it ourselves.

That is how it began.

We cut, sew and finish the leather.

And we make the metal parts it needs ourselves, too.

If efficiency were our only concern, using ready-made parts might be much easier.

Even so, we want the shapes we imagine to become the actual products.

That desire has led to the way we make things at Bluno today.

Tin and Toyama

As you learn about tin and continue making things with it, you naturally find your way to Toyama.

Takaoka City in Toyama Prefecture is known for its long history of metal casting.

Casting skills passed down over many years now produce a wide variety of metal goods, and tin tableware and everyday objects have become widely known.

Traditional skills are preserved while the forms evolve to suit contemporary life.

As a fellow maker, I find something deeply appealing in Toyama’s approach to making.

Discovering, through tin, a world I did not know when I worked only with leather has also been one of the pleasures of making things.

Leather and tin are both a little different every time

Bluno’s products are not identical down to the smallest detail in the way industrially manufactured goods can be.

Every hide has its own character, and pouring tin creates slight differences from one piece to the next.

That is what gives each piece its individuality.

From the day you begin using it, it continues to develop a character of its own with you.

Neither leather alone, nor metal alone.

Italian leather and tin that we cast ourselves.

At Bluno, we want to continue working with materials that move us, making each piece with our own hands.

When you look at our products, we hope you will notice not only the leather but the little tin parts, too.