VISCONTILeather Shoulder Bag - Medium Crossbody Messenger Bag - Work Bag For Men - Fits Tablet And A5 Notebooks - 18410 Jasper

The Visconti Big Leather Organiser Messenger Bag 18410 Jasper (Oil Tan)Appearance:This is a very nicely made, very thick leather exterior and leather/suede interior with “Visconti” and a Knight on a Charger logo rayon material backing throughout all the pockets. It is a very high quality "Messenger Bag" and beautifully designed and ruggedly constructed. It is eye-catching and quite unique. I live in Central London and I have yet to see anyone with the same bag so that states its niche exclusivity. It is a very attractive body-worn item and very handy to carry about all those items we own and need in order to fulfil and enjoy every aspect of our everyday life.These essential items being our Smartphone, keys, wallet, headphones, charging cable(s), Oyster Card, lunch and our documents and essential similar items whether for work or day-to-day use or a trip to visit friends. Not a vast amount but really troublesome and no matter how one tries these items are just too cumbersome to stuff into pockets and quite impossible when one is in the hot weather and wearing shorts and a t-shirt. So, I decided to get this and make my life a lot more trouble-free. I carefully researched it and after reading all the smaller and less detailed or comprehensive reviews decided to buy it.Detailed Review:Although the bag itself is of good quality it is not well designed. Whoever designed it missed the point of its intended use completely. Its dimensions are woefully inadequate for today's items. Let me start with the most expensive, fragile and essential item we possess today: our Smartphone.The Mobile Phone Compartment:The mobile phone compartment is conveniently placed directly under the front flap to the right hand side thus allowing quick access should a call be made to oneself. An ideal place to put your precious Smartphone so it’s out of the way, safe from accidents such as being dropped or bumps from careless people knocking it from ones grasp. It is also handy to hide it from thieves on a bike or scooter who may snatch it from you as you answer a call or change tracks you are listening to. You could have it tucked away there and have a headphone lead coming out and use the headphone control to change tracks or answer calls-and the phone is safely tucked away. But the phone compartment is not at all adequate to actually house the majority of today's phones. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It's not an unusually huge phone as there are many others much larger. My Note 8 is always in its specifically dimensioned leather case (a “Torro” sold on Amazon) and is 8 cm (3 1/8 inches) wide by 16.7 cm (6 1/2 inches) height by 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick. The magnetic (obviously thickly padded) leather catch adds to that final measurement. That means the phone compartment should have at least 9 cm x 16 cm x 3 cm dimensions. Ideally this would also allow the leather strap that attaches to the magnetic catch to close over the end of the Note 8 so ensuring it was snugly contained.The Smartphone Compartment actually only has dimensions of 7 cm x 15 cm x 3 cm. The crucial factor being the lack of width and height that ensures the phone compartment is useless to me. Instead I can only use it to store my key wallet or spectacle case and the key wallet I'd have preferred to store in the second compartment on the left (the Wallet Compartment.)The Wallet Compartment:This would have been acceptable as a Smartphone Compartment alternative as it has dimensions of 10 cm wide x 15 cm height x 3 cm. However, the Wallet Compartment is exactly the same height as the Mobile Phone Compartment. That both are fitted with rather heavy and sharp brass magnetic catches on the inside of the flaps (and the front flap too) easily scratching the necessarily exposed rear camera glass makes the Wallet Compartment unusable too as the strengthened heavy folding flap would have to be kept flat against the back of the case and the tension could crack it if the bag was impacted by an errant member of the public stumbling into oneself.That effectively means my Smartphone must either be tucked away inside the Messenger Bag thus inaccessible (one now needs a Smartwatch) or carried in my pocket thus open to being damaged or stolen and defeating the main reason I bought the Messenger Bag in the first place.If Visconti made the compartments of a size that one wished then the small inconvenience to them would make their bags all the more appealing. One could state one wanted a Note 8 Smartphone pocket or an iPhone X or whatever else and they could have a small stock of such bags made and ready to dispatch on demand aside from the standard bags. Not a hard option to create and quite a minimal extra cost of adding a few inches of leather to the design. The attraction would be outweighed by an off-the-shelf but somewhat bespoke appeal.I am seriously considering taking my Messenger Bag to a leather alterations specialist who, for quite a reasonable cost, can modify it. The Smartphone part needs the flap raising a few inches upwards to accommodate my spectacle/sunglasses case instead and the Wallet Compartment needs the flap totally redesigned to allow the Note 8 to fit and have the new flap contain it. Annoying but not too hard to have done so I can have the bag I wanted in the first place.A word of warning from the metadata from other reviewers experiences:This bag is an “oiled” finish. That means they use oil to stain the bare leather so the oil makes up 15% of the leather weight and this has the advantage of making it water resistant, stronger and more durable. But this oil finish will undoubtedly stain light clothing.My advice is to treat the leather with what is recommended for oiled finishes: Dubbin.Do not use any other waxes or polishes or you will unduly soften the leather and clog the pores thus ruining its finish. After you have applied the Dubbin as per advice from leather treatment specialist websites use a soft brush after an hour of the Dubbin soaking in and the leather will come up beautifully. It should also, over time, stop staining light clothes so until then don’t wear or put the bag down on light finishes, even leather ones, or you will have staining.Conclusion:I am giving the Visconti Messenger Bag 4 stars for the quality of workmanship and its undoubted style. If it were not for the inadequacy of their measurements regarding the Smartphone compartment this would have been 5 Stars.As always, I will re-visit and amend my review if needed so you can be certain to have real-world experience and any further insights I gain.

Have been dithering as to whether to buy this bag or not. I wasn’t sure if it would fit my iPad, AirPods max and other bits a pieces when travelling about. So glad I decided to give it a go. It’s a a great size (not overly big) brilliant quality and not garish at all. The plain look it perfect. I get why people say the phone holder isn’t big enough for certain smartphones. I always go for the iPhone max so it doesn’t fit in - but hey - there’s loads of pockets and zip compartments that are easily accessible and big enough for the phone, leaving that pouch for other things so I don’t see it as a big deal, even my wallet would fit in there. Personally I think it’s great and am happy I decided to purchase. I think it’s great value for money. I have bought some leather colour sealant to give it a few coats to prevent colour run onto my clothes so I can’t even see that being an issue. Well done - am chuffed.

This is a very fine real leather bag. It's price is a little high but it is worth each penny.The fabrication is very good as well as the packaging that comes with, which protects even the zippers of the bag from scratches.It has to main compaments for papers or a tablet/netbook. There are also two small pockets in the front with magnetic latches as well as two zipper pockets in the front and the back. Also at the inside of the bag you can find three small pockets (one with zipper) where you can put earphones, coins, passport or a small wallet. It has also a long adjustable strap so you can hang it diagonally if liked. The pad for your shoulder could be a little softer in my opinion, if you wear light clothes it kind of feels if you have the bag full.Have in mind that the zipper pockets will not hold A4 papers unless folded. The two main compartments will fit them but only if you have something that will press the bottom part of the bag to its extend (an iPad with case for me). Beware that A4 is the maximum not folded paper size that will fit these compartments. I don't like the fact that the case has no handle. It is because of the big flap design however which also closes by magnet that would not stand the weight if there was a handle. Minor issue for my use. When opening you will find a clear plastic strap that will keep the big leather strap folded. It could be handy to keep and use when you want to hold that bag by the strap folded in your hand instead of hanged on your shoulder. I threw it away and regretted it. The magnets will need some time and stretch during first use so that they click easily. Last thing I would want is a position to put a pen or two between the two front pockets, I wonder why they omitted one. The small pocket will just fit an iPhone 4 with a case. If ur phone is taller (Samsung Galaxy S ii eg) you will not be able to close the magnet latch. The bigger front pocket can fit a phone charger and cables or a wallet (square size).I use it every day going to work and i think it is very elegant but distinctive (I got the mud brown color). If you want a more business like look try the full black one. Highly recommended.Update: as seen elsewhere you have to have in mind that because of the leather the bag may leave stains in light coloured clothing. I was kind of frustrated about it, but you can find some sprays for leather items that seal the colour for not leaving stains. You should know however before buying.