INTRODUCTION

   Even though currently the highest selling mouse pads/mats are the RGB illuminated ones we always must keep in mind that gamers are not the only target audience out there. For example, i know many professionals outside the electronics industry (like doctors and lawyers) who are looking for elegant and high quality products for their offices and is there anything more luxurious than real/genuine leather? Of course, products based on genuine leather can be found everywhere not just offices and this is also why I’ve always wanted to see how real leather is applied to mouse pads/mats. For that reason, last year i reached out to the top 5 manufacturers in that field and after quite a bit of time i finally received products from 3 of them, initially for a quick comparison (which in the end took a couple of months since i wanted to spend as much time as possible with each product).

   For more than 80 years, Laufer and Gutenberg have been leading the manufacture and market of high-quality products in the stationery industry.

   Founded in 2014, at Burkley Case we are true artisans of leather. We are dedicated to adding superior quality for all of our long lasting items. We have always cherished the strong traditions of handcraftsmanship. Every stitch is done with exact precision and extreme attention to detail. We offer only the highest quality items to our clients, with carefully engineered cases that not only have that classic genuine feel of leather, but also have a modern look and design. Burkley Case is a lifestyle and a conscious choice, where we ingrain luxury and class into everything that we do. Strong quality. Strong ambition. Strong leather.

   Lucrin Geneva is a dynamic and innovative 25 year old Swiss luxury leather company that captivates the attention of thousands of leathercraft connoisseurs and customers across the world through its unique designs, colors and styles. Its ability to customize each product with utmost perfection, makes each Lucrin creation unique. Heavily influenced by the prestigious watch industry, it pays tribute to high quality and sublime craftsmanship in every piece it produces.

   As you can all tell from the above paragraphs, we received several mouse pads/mats from Laufer, Burkley Case and Lucrin Geneva, all of which are made by real/genuine leather. All 3 manufacturers send us their best-selling lines, the Laufer models arrived in red, black and white colors whereas Burkley Case send us their distressed antique coffee and grey colors and Lucrin Geneva send us theirs in blue, red and brown (different shapes, types of leather and production methods however between manufacturers). These are considered as some of the best brand name real leather mouse pads/mats one can buy today so without further delay let's check them out and see if they could secure a spot In your home or office.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

LAUFER / GUTENBERG MOUSEPADS

Laufer was kind enough to send us not one but 5 of their real/genuine leather mouse pads/mats all of which arrived inside plastic bags.

Even though at first glance the red and black models look identical they are not, they sport different color stitching (all are roughly 260mm long, 210mm wide and 6.5mm thick). The white one is of a different line and doesn’t feature any visible stitching at the top however.

All 5 pads/mats have the company name embossed on the lower right corner.

Taking a look at the rear we see that all of the pads/mats feature synthetic material (very much like suede) undersides which are quite soft and of course anti-slip.

Two stickers located at the underside inform you about the real leather used for these models and that they are also hand made.

BURKLEY CASE MOUSEPADS

Burkley Case send us two of their mouse pads/mats both of which are shipped inside cloth covers (one also arrived inside a plastic bag so the other probably also had one but somehow got lost along the way).

These mouse pads/mats (Distressed Antique Coffee color on the left and Grey on the right) are medium-sized ones and so they measure 30cm in length, 28cm in width and roughly 1.7mm in thickness.

Both pads/mats are made out of full-grain leather and feature the company logo on them (notice the different type of surface of these two models, we'll explain the why later on).

The suede "belly" of the pads/mats may not be as soft as the one used in the Lucrin models found on the next page but it's almost identical to the ones used with the Laufer models.

LUCRIN GENEVA MOUSEPADS

Lucrin Geneva send 3 of their models all of which arrived in thin cardboard boxes.

We actually got all three of their mouse pads/mats for this comparison which as you can all see are different both in design and thickness.

The rectangular mouse pad/mat measures 264mm in length, 233mm in width and roughly 7mm in thickness and available in 21 color selections with full-grain smooth calf leather (that's what we have here), 5 colors with bonded/recycled leather (cheaper too) and 6 colors with premium vegetable-tanned leather (no chemicals used).

The same apply for the round mouse pad/mat since it's also roughly 7mm thick (248mm in diameter) and available in the same color and leather configurations as the rectangular version.

Things change slightly when it comes to the soft mouse pad/mat model since it measures 238mm in length, 200mm in width and just 1.9mm in thickness and is available in 22 color selections with full-grain calf leather and 6 color selections with premium vegetable-tanned leather.

Lucrin Geneva has used the softest suede material of all three brands for their rectangular and round mouse pads/mats (the soft model has the same surface on both sides).

CONCLUSION

   After spending almost two months with these mouse pads/mats i feel i need to talk about two things, first which i liked using most and second which i feel has the best overall quality/value. Let's not forget that even though i also used all of them for gaming most people opting for one such mouse pad/mat (real leather one that is) will not do so to play games but rather for much less demanding every day office use. However, some real leather mouse pads/mats seem to be somewhat incompatible with certain optical mice sensors. So even though i really enjoyed using the Burkley Case distressed antique coffee model (very good gliding and feeling overall) I found that both the FK1/2 gaming mice by Zowie (Pixart 3310/3360 sensors) would hardly work on the grey model. This probably has to do with the textured surface of the grey model something which I also experienced with the red and black Laufer models (in this case both the FK1/2 didn’t work at all – they did work on the white model, not optimally however). On the other hand, the Pulsefire Dart gaming mouse by HyperX (Pixart 3389 - review soon) did work relatively well on the grey model by Burkley Case and well enough on all the Laufer models so do keep in mind that you should verify that your mouse works well with a real leather mouse pad/mat prior to purchasing it. That being said we had no issues with any of the models by Lucrin Geneva (however the round model can’t really be used for gaming – still we’re talking about normal office use) and that along with the extras you can get (customizations, vegetable paint and bonded leather versions) place them on top (Burkley Case also offers some customizations for their products but not nearly as many in comparison).

  Currently the Laufer mousepads retail for 31.05Euros/35.50Euros inside the EU from Amazon Germany whereas the Burkley Case models can be purchased directly from their online store (USD39/35.10Euros) and the same applies for Lucrin Geneva (USD79/59Euros, USD119/69Euros and USD95/69Euros) with clearly the most expensive models in our comparison (also their sole drawback). That being said the purpose of a comparison is to choose a winner and even though in terms of quality I’d say that all 3 brands are more or less equal overall Lucrin Geneva takes the lead and for that they also take our Golden Award.

PROS

Laufer / Gutenberg
- Overall Quality
- Available Colors

Burkley Case
- Overall Quality
- Looks / Design
- Customizations (Limited)

Lucrin Geneva
- Overall Quality
- Available Shapes
- Available Colors
- Extras (Customization / Bonded Models / Vegetable Paint)

CONS

Laufer / Gutenberg
- Sensor Incompatibility

Burkley Case
- Sensor Incompatibility (Grey Model)
- Only 2 Available Colors

Lucrin Geneva
- Price (For Some)