Review: Carl Friedrik Palissy Briefcase

Before I jump into my review of my Carl Friedrik Palissy briefcase I would like to mention some words about the company’s recent rebranding.

Oppermann London was launched in 2012 by the two brothers Niklas and Mattias Oppermann. You can read more about the brand in my previous post where I reviewed one of their wallets. Recently Oppermann London announced their rebrand to the new name ‘Carl Friedrik’. The reason being a trademark dispute for the Oppermann name, resulted in a reassessment of the brand and a new name. ‘Carl Friedrik’ is Niklas’ and Mattias’ Grandfather’s name and reflects their German and Swedish heritage. One of the large changes is that Carl Friedrik now offers lifetime warranty for all their products to reflect their belief in their quality.

Carl Friedrik also recently launched their 3rd collection of bags, designed for the urban commuter and frequent traveller. The bags feature a custom power bank that integrates  with every product in the collection. The products also feature a trolley strap, internal and external pockets and other more practical features that improve the carrying. Carl Friedrik also introduced a new material – A heavy nylon canvas fabric made with recycled fibers.

REVIEW CARL FRIEDRIK PALISSY BRIEFCASE
Disclaimer – The briefcase was received for review purpose

The briefcase subject for this review is the Carl Friedrik Palissy that is a slim leather briefcase from their core collection. I received the briefcase in March 2017 and have used it basically every working day from March to June (4 months).

Specifications:
Fits a 15-inch MacBook, notebook, documents and other daily essentials. Features a closable zip pocket for storing your smaller items and comes with a 40mm wide leather shoulder strap.

• Price – £395 (Carl Friedrik regularly offers pre-order discounts)
• Color – Chocolate (grey lining)
• Leather –  Vegetable-tanned Vachetta leather by Artigiano del Cuoio. Tuscany, Italy
• Zipper – Symmetrical, individually polished, silver-nickel-finished zippers from Raccagni. Bergamo, Italy
• Lining – 220gsm technical nylon canvas. Milan, Italy
• Rings & hooks – Custom, nickel-silver-finished hardware. Foshan, China

Size:
Width 39cm (15.4 inches)
Height 30cm (11.7 inches) excluding handles
Depth 6.5cm (2.4 inches)

Exterior: The Carl Friedrik Palissy briefcase features an all-round zipper extending around 3 sides, making it easier to access you items without having to dig inside your briefcase. It’s hard to describe but the zipper can feel a bit ‘hard’ to open but at the same time has a good quality feel to it and is nothing that I would say is negative. The exterior also features a slip pocket at the front; very convenient for putting your boarding card, passport or mobile for easy access. The design is very nice and simple with clean lines, beautiful details such as the leather shoulder-strap; the shoulder-strap hooks; metal pads at the bottom to protect from tear and last but not least the handles, that have a good length, great shape and very nice feel to them that doesn’t “cut into” your hands when you add some extra weight in the briefcase.

Interior: The interior features one main compartment for the larger belongings e.g. computer, charger; one extra compartment for the smaller belongings e.g. notebook, documents; one closable zip pocket for storing your smaller items e.g. keys, earphones; and finally 3 smaller pockets for your business cards, wallet and other daily essentials that you want to have easy access to. I really have no remarks at all on the interior, all the compartments are well planned, the lining, leather and zippers have are all made with great level of details and feel very durable.

Size: The size is perfect for your everyday business and errands. If you’re not the person who loves to have everything printed out on paper and like having loads of things with you, then this is the perfect briefcase for you. You can easily fit a computer, notebook, charger and some extras such as spectacle case, gloves or other things you may need. It can even fit a smaller foldable umbrella if needed. If you on the other hand have loads of paper, books and other things besides your computer, I would go for a larger option, because then the Carl Friedrik Palissy probably isn’t for you.

Material: The vegetable-tanned Vachetta leather has also started to age nicely over time. It has a very rich brown color and you can already see a nice patina evolving, especially around the handles. The Vachetta leather gives a “harder” briefcase, that is very business like in my opinion and which I like very much. If you like softer leathers and briefcases then once again, there are other options that may suit better.

Summary: All in all I find the Carl Friedrik Palissy to be a very well made briefcase. After using it for 4 months I would say that it offers a great value-for-money briefcase if you are willing to pay £395. Some of the things that I really like and would like to highlight a bit extra are:

• The vegetable-tanned Vachetta leather
• The design and details
• Size and well planned compartments

Some more photos of the Carl Friedrik Palissy in action:

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Best regards
AleksJJ