What is the difference between Cat 10 & Cat 27 leather?

20 Apr, 2017

The term genuine leather means that its real leather and not faux leather, meaning its not fake leather. Telling the obvious, I know right. So basically, there are 3 types of leather in general and genuine leather is but the lowest grade of leather. Don't go looking down on them just yet even though they are not as lasting, cos the belt on your waist might just be made of genuine leather.

The leather types we offer for our sofas are Cat 10 and Cat 27. The burning question we often get asked will be what is the difference between this 2. Cat 10 is top-grain leather and Cat 27 is full-grain leather. Both are more atas than genuine leather.

Top-grain leather with artificial grain stamped on

Top-grain leather is the mid range quality leather that most branded handbags use. Made by splitting a piece of full-grain leather and sanding away any imperfections in the hide and stamping an artificial grain on it. It is treated and coloured to give a uniformed look. Next time you look at your hangbags, take a closer look and see if you can identify if its made from top-grain leather or not.

Premium looking full-grain leather

As for full-grain leather, it takes in the entirety of leather hide; the grain, the imperfections and the toughness. The full package. With that, the look of the leather is more natural. The natural imperfection adds to the authenticity of the look. It also has a soft and buttery feel. Like wine, usually this type of leather age gracefully, adding patina as it ages. As such, it becomes more beautiful as time passes. Which is why there is a price premium to this type of leather.

Top (brown): full-grain / Bottom (black): top-grain

Between Cat 10 and Cat 27, Cat 10 will be more pocket friendly. With proper care, Cat 27 will last a longer time and feels softer.

If you are wondering which leather grade should you choose, here are some links that might help:

https://www.nookandcranny.com/blogs/news/which-leather-should-i-choose

Still puzzled about which to pick when ordering online with us? Why not pop by our showroom to solve your puzzle by feeling and sitting on our sofas today?

Do check out view our sofa collection. Also view our full collection of Furniture for Singapore.