Paydirt – a leather collection from the world of gold mining

Volume I-C – an original leather collection.

A September study.

Paydirt is the miner's word for ground that pays for the digging. This small collection comes up from that world – the vein and the pan, the lamp and the pattern shop – pressed into leather that keeps a record of its working life.

First, the vein. We cut the ground open along the length of a luggage tag – a thin surface line, and beneath it a seam of gold wandering through the rock, climbing almost to daylight before it thins away. Underneath runs the verdict of every mine and most luggage: DEEPER THAN IT LOOKS.

The black tag carries the seam in gold foil – for once, the vein shows on the surface.

Black-and-white die artwork of an ore vein and the words DEEPER THAN IT LOOKS for the Paydirt leather collection.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

A black leather luggage tag stamped in gold with the vein design from the Paydirt collection.

A dark espresso leather luggage tag blind stamped with the vein design from the Paydirt collection.

A caramel leather luggage tag blind stamped with the vein design from the Paydirt collection.

Next, the headframe – the tower that winds the cages up and down a shaft. The deep gold mines have a second life now; science runs its quietest experiments far underground, where deep rock shields them from the noise above. So the wheel keeps turning. STILL DIGGING.

It goes on a two-bag stack – honeyed russet over dark espresso, machine yellow over mine shadow.

Black-and-white die artwork of a mine headframe and the words STILL DIGGING for the Paydirt leather collection.

Honeyed russet and dark espresso leather toiletry bags blind stamped with the headframe design from the Paydirt collection.

Then, the lamp. Underground, light was personal equipment – every miner carried their own. We set a cap lamp with its fan of light over the words CARRY YOUR OWN LIGHT, sized for the object that goes everywhere you do.

The black fob takes the gold pass – this is, after all, a collection about gold.

Black-and-white die artwork of a miner's lamp and the words CARRY YOUR OWN LIGHT for the Paydirt leather collection.

Keychains with the lamp stamp look just awesome too.

A black leather keychain stamped in gold with the miner's lamp design from the Paydirt collection.

An arizona leather keychain blind stamped with the miner's lamp design from the Paydirt collection.

For the tray, the pan. A catchall works the way panning does – the day washes through it, and the heavy little things worth keeping settle at the bottom. Around the rim it reads WHAT STAYS IN THE PAN.

Black-and-white die artwork of a gold pan and the words WHAT STAYS IN THE PAN for the Paydirt leather collection.

It sits at the center of the golden tan tray, pressed at a generous size.

An arizona leather catchall tray blind stamped with the gold-pan design from the Paydirt collection.

And finally, the pattern shop. Before a machine part existed in iron, a patternmaker shaped it in wood, and the casting followed the wood. FIRST THE PATTERN THEN THE PART – on the corner of a journal, because that is exactly what a journal is for.

Black-and-white die artwork of a foundry wheel pattern and the words FIRST THE PATTERN THEN THE PART for the Paydirt leather collection.

It looks genuinely beautiful – one journal in chestnut with real pull-up character, one in a quiet pale greige.

A sicilian-brown leather journal blind stamped with the foundry-pattern design from the Paydirt collection.

A gray-sand leather journal blind stamped with the foundry-pattern design from the Paydirt collection.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.