Origins & Craft
The Mbali Seal
Every piece carries one mark. The seal is sand-cast in solid brass with a 24-carat gold-plated finish, so it holds the softened edges and fine surface grain that only a casting gives. Within a plain polished rim, the Mbali flower is cut clean through the metal — seven leaves and a raised bud, with open voids between each one. Those gaps are not ornament: they let the seal lie flat, saddle-stitched into a hand-cut recess in the leather.
All MBALI hardware — seals, chains, rings, buckles and feet — is solid-brass hardware with a 24-carat gold-plated finish. No component is solid gold.
Authenticated by the seal
The seal is also the record. Each one is struck on the reverse with the piece serial, which is linked to the Hide Origin ID of the material it was cut from. Both numbers appear on your certificate and are held in the MBALI Origin Register in Cape Town. Send us the serial, or a photograph of the reverse of your seal, and we will confirm the hide origin, the tannery, the maker and the date the piece left the bench.
- Record — Piece serial struck on the reverse of the seal and linked to its Hide Origin ID
- Setting — saddle-stitched into a hand-cut recess, never glued or riveted through.
- Finish — Solid-brass hardware with a 24-carat gold-plated finish. No component is solid gold.