Quality Sporrans for less money

[kilted2000]

When looking on eBay for sporrans, what do you look for? How do you know you are looking at a quality sporran instead of something cheaply made?

[Miller6582]

When looking on eBay for sporrans, what do you look for? How do you know you are looking at a quality sporran instead of something cheaply made?

I find that most of the sporrans listed on eBay (UK) are cheaply made imports, the sellers all have names like House/Heritage of Scotland and are usually based in London. Filtering the search results to show only preowned/used sporrans will screen out most of the cheap imports, I did this on ebay.com today and filtering the 600 sporran results left me with just 30 to look through.

A good indication you are looking at a quality vintage sporran is the gold oval 'made in Scotland stamp', I have an example a few posts back in this thread (not all makers stamped made in Scotland, my WE Scott day sporran came with a sticker).

If you are looking at new sporrans with a buy it now price, the price will be an indicator too, you're unlikely to find a good quality new sporran for £50/$50.

A number of sporran cantle designs have been copied from Scottish made sporrans, you can usually see that the finish on the cantle is less defined and a rougher finish.

I would suggest looking through this thread and looking at OC Richard's many fine catalogue pages and photos of the actual sporrans. You'll soon develop an eye and be able to separate the gems from the lemons.

[OC Richard]

When looking on eBay for sporrans, what do you look for? How do you know you are looking at a quality sporran instead of something cheaply made?

I know this is a long thread (48 pages!!) and it would take some time to go back to Page 1 and read all the way through.

But your question is answered in a large number of different ways throughout these pages, with numerous examples to view, and I encourage at least skimming through the whole thread.

The easy sporrans to tell are the ones with the gold oval stamp Made In Scotland Real Leather which several different makers used over a half-century period, and some still use.



Plus the fact that many cantles have Made In Scotland stamped in tiny letters on one side.



Many sporrans are stamped giving the specific maker, usually on the back of the leather body, but Nicoll Brothers stamped the sides of some of their cantles as well.

Pakistani sporrans are almost never stamped. I don't know if I've ever seen it.

But a vast number of legitimate Scottish-made sporrans have no markings whatever! Then the experienced eye comes in.

One thing to be aware of is the various styles that the Scottish makers made in the c1930-c1970 period. See anything that looks out-of-place and it's most likely modern (post-Kilt Hire) or Pakistani. You get a feel for the vintage styles, a feel that comes from looking at thousands of old sporrans and dozens of vintage catalogues.

The Pakistani makers also make close-looking copies of many legit Scottish-made sporrans, and these can sometimes be hard to tell apart from photos. Oftentimes the front of a Pakistani sporran looks legit but the back has something not-quite-right about it.

All of these things are why on Ebay you need to see the backs of the sporrans!

Here are a couple catalogues from various periods giving some impression of Scottish-made sporran styles

[OC Richard]

For more details about many of the styles which have been in production for many years by several Scottish makers check out this thread

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...talogue-93593/

[OC Richard]

Here's an example of a sporran with no stamp which I'm sure is Scottish-made.

Why? It just "looks right". All the proportions are right, all the details are right. The construction throughout seems of high quality.

The tab on the back looks right. Many Pakistani sporrans that look 99% right on the front have this tab oddly shaped and/or oddly placed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/22475556635...kAAOSw51VhwyAR

[OC Richard]

You don't see this every day, a Janet Eagleton sporran for well under $100

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17508818637...IAAOSwlYRhzeQf

From the same seller, a very nice example of a traditional brown Day style that's been around since the 1930s.

You can just make out the gold oval Made In Scotland Real Leather stamp. I'm guessing the maker was W. E. Scott & Son Edinburgh.

Scottish spooran | eBay

Here it is in the Rowan's 1938 catalogue, #55

[California Highlander]

You don't see this every day, a Janet Eagleton sporran for well under $100

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17508818637...IAAOSwlYRhzeQf

Thanks for the tip OC Richard, I just got it

[KennethSime]

I was chatting with a friend in another forum about buying second-hand sporrans, and I realized something interesting - I don't think I've ever seen a hunting sporran come up on the second-hand market. Beyond my selfish reasons, I wonder - why that is?

I have two thoughts.
1) Hunting sporrans must be less popular.
2) Because hunting sporrans are so versatile, most folks only ever buy one. When it comes time to thin the herd, so to speak, they hold on to their one hunting sporran where they might get rid of a duplicate day or dress sporran.

I wonder, Richard, if you might have some insight into the popularity of hunting sporrans over the years? Or perhaps another explanation.