Quality Sporrans for less money

[FossilHunter]

I have to thank Richard for this thread. I have been trying to get a seal-skin dress sporran for a while and I managed to snag this one for significantly less than a new non-seal sporran would have cost.

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[OC Richard]

Thanks!

This one just came up, no bids, around $65US including shipping from the UK, a nice Evening style that compliments many tartans

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-Leath...temCondition=4

(As an aside, it's interesting how in the Pipe Band Fashion world regional styles will develop. Here in Southern California the type of sporran in the listing was worn by four or five different pipe bands for a time.)

Now this is strange, a vintage child's sporran stuck onto the front of a larger sporran

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SPO...temCondition=4

[OC Richard]

I haven't posted in a while because there's been a lack of the very sort of sporran I view as the target of this thread: top-quality Made In Scotland sporrans for under $50.

A hair over this amount, $54 and you also have to pay for shipping (but still quite a bargain) is this sporran, the type I call the Pipe Band Sporran.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Scottish-Ki...temCondition=4

Originally Hunting Sporrans (and all Day Dress sporrans) were brown, but around 1960 they started offering them in black. And they started sticking the silver/nickel/chrome cantles from Evening Dress sporrans on the Hunting Sporrans to dress them up a bit.

For whatever reason, in the 1990s this exact style became the standard sporran for Pipe Bands the world over. You could see a competition with 20 bands in it and sometimes all 20 were wearing this style. It became the mark of the piper.

Here is SFU wearing them



and here, in a vintage sporran catalogue, oddly enough on the page of Evening Dress sporrans



So pipers, here it is! This style, made in Scotland, sells for around $300 nowadays, and here it is for $54.

[Father Bill]

I have to thank Richard for this thread. I have been trying to get a seal-skin dress sporran for a while and I managed to snag this one for significantly less than a new non-seal sporran would have cost.

I think from the style of stitching in the pictures, that's L & M Highland, so the quality will be very high.

[FossilHunter]

I think from the style of stitching in the pictures, that's L & M Highland, so the quality will be very high.

The sticker says “made in Scotland” but who knows? It’s not embossed in gold as one often sees.

[Highland Logan]

I think from the style of stitching in the pictures, that's L & M Highland, so the quality will be very high.

That's not L&M. No markings, and the clasp does not match their style.

Frank

[Highland Logan]

I have to thank Richard for this thread. I have been trying to get a seal-skin dress sporran for a while and I managed to snag this one for significantly less than a new non-seal sporran would have cost.

IMG_0634 - Copy.JPG

IMG_0639 - Copy.JPG

https://www.highlandstore.com/shop/k...-chrome-cantle

This company sells sporrans with the same sticker, and style choices. If you need more info on where they get their stock, drop them a line.

Frank

[FossilHunter]

https://www.highlandstore.com/shop/k...-chrome-cantle

This company sells sporrans with the same sticker, and style choices. If you need more info on where they get their stock, drop them a line.

Frank

I wonder what makes Greenland seal so special that they advertise it on the sporran?

[Highland Logan]

I wonder what makes Greenland seal so special that they advertise it on the sporran?

Also known as the harp seal in Canada. The scientific name from Latin translates as "ice lover from Greenland" and the taxon translates as "Greenlandic Seal".

Beyond that, I suppose it's no different than one type of pelt is considered more traditional, and therefore more sought after than another.

Seal is very soft, but was never on my must-have short list.

Frank

[imbrius]

I wonder what makes Greenland seal so special that they advertise it on the sporran?

Not sure about the advertising but it sure helps those of us in the 'states since that particular species is protected here, meaning you can't import anything containing it.