BOSTANTEN Women's Genuine Leather Laptop Tote Bag - 15.6 Inch Vintage Office Shoulder Handbag & Work Briefcase Purse for Business, Travel, and Daily Commute

I am not affiliated with the manufacturer or seller of this product or a competitor's product, and I was not compensated for this review.I purchased this computer bag 2 years ago. My 15" laptop fits perfectly with plenty of room to spare for a wallet, keys, notebooks, and water bottle. For short trips, I use the integrated handles, but for longer trips, eg, flying or riding the train, I use the bag's dee rings to attach a crossbody strap. (I don't use the crossbody strap that came with the bag because it's too narrow and cuts into my shoulder.) This bag is a real workhorse; it carries everything I stuff into it and holds up to dirt, rain, and snow. The zipper still works beautifully, although I do lubricate it with silicone every few months.And now for the most important question: is it REAL leather? For 2 years, I have been wondering, although I have used leather conditioner on it, just in case. It has been incredibly durable, which made me think it must be leather. High-quality coated leather can look and feel like synthetic leather, but real leather wears far better and can last a lifetime. When the bag arrived, it smelled like a saddle, so at least some portion of it must be leather.Today, I decided to find out, once and for all.My bag is stamped with a "leather" texture, and all the edges are finished. The surface is coated, which is great for repelling rain/snow, but high-end synthetic leather could look and feel the same. The material is thick and stiff, so again, it could be high-quality synthetic leather with an interfacing layer.I attached a photo that shows the wear pattern around the top of my bag, and it does look like a leather wear pattern, not a synthetic "pleather" wear pattern. I wondered if the manufacturer specified leather for just the portion around the zipper, which is a little thinner than the rest of the bag, but saved money by using synthetic leather elsewhere. All of the seams are so well-finished that I struggled to find a raw surface.For a definitive answer, I pushed open the zipper end tab and visualized the raw underside. In the photo, you can see a rough surface, which proves this bag is genuine, full-grain leather. (I confirmed that the end tab is the same thickness, pattern, and color as the main body of the bag.) It does make sense that this is a genuine, full-grain leather item; it's much heavier than one might expect. (It's a lot heavier than leather totes from department stores.)I have bought a lot of leather goods over the years, both as an equestrian and as a general consumer, and this is legitimately the highest-quality, hardest-wearing consumer leather product I have ever purchased. I had wondered if I was the victim of a scam because the price was so low (just over $100 at the time), but in retrospect, this bag was, and still is, an incredible value!