Our Carl Friedrik Palissy review and in depth test. Does the luxury briefcase live up to the hype?
Test Period: >6 months

In Short

Overall the Carl Friedrik Palissy is gorgeous, but the good just doesn’t outweigh the bad – and the price is way too high for what you get. Especially when compared to competition in the same category. Read our in-depth review below.

Material

Leather

The Carl Friedrik Palissy is made from vegetable tanned italian vachetta leather. Carl Friedrik doesn’t have much information about the material on their site, nor any certificates regarding leather or working conditions. Actually, surprising little information is available about the company’s materials and production in general. Their products are listed to be “made in either China, India, Portugal or Italy”. I’d argue that a bag made in Italy, in general, is of better workmanship and demanding of a higher price than a bag made in China – so specifics would be nice.

The leather on the briefcase looks great straight out the box. We expected a bit more natural textures, stretch-marks and similar, but the look of the leather is very plain across the entire surface. This is a matter of preference, with some preferring the natural leather look and other opting for the more “perfect” look. Carl Friedrik has opted for the latter in their bag.

The color of the leather is vibrant with a beautiful matte finish. The smell and feel of the material is also very premium.

However, the leather didn’t pass our scratch tests – to great surprise. The tanning / coating seems to be more of a surface method, compared to tanned all-the-way-through. This was quite a shock, considering the tanning method is listed as vegetable tanning and Carl Friedrik’s high price tag. Don’t get me wrong, the bag is quite durable, but once a scratch is deep enough, the damage is done and white material shines through. After the initial tests, I feared this would be a problem for long term wear – a concern which unfortunately was proved right. The exposed parts of the bag, corners and the bottom of the bag, looks very rough after 5-6 months of daily use.

Leather cream does not solve this issue because the leather is surface coated, so the white parts are still visible after treatment. Therefore the patina developed on this bag is not very appealing to the eye, unless it’s very minor damages that doesn’t penetrate the coating. Rougher wear and tear just makes the bag look old and a bit cheap.

This is a bit disappointing, and unacceptable considering the price of the bag.

Zippers

The zippers used on the Carl Friedrik Palissy briefcase are quite nice, although it’s not listed where they are from. The zippers seem very durable, and smooth to use. I haven’t had any issues with them during the testing period – the coating also still looks perfect, contrary to the leather.

Padding & Interior

The Palissy briefcase is padded with nylon. This usually has very good longevity and water resistance. It’s also super easy to wash in case something is spilled on it. The look and feel of the material is subjective; personally I think of tech-accessories when I see this material, and it doesn’t exactly scream “luxury”

However the interior of the bag still looks great after 6 months use, so it’s hard to complain. The interior laptop and zipper pocket is also decorated with leather, which looks great & also enhances the durability of these frequently used parts.

Strap

The shoulder strap is made from a mix of leather and what seems to be nylon. Again, the quality seems good, and the nylon padding is a nice to to improve the longevity of the leather strap.

Design

There’s no question that the Palissy is a beautiful briefcase. Carl Freidrik takes a very classic approach to the design, but somehow makes it their own.

The briefcase is made from leather that doesn’t collapse when the bag is empty. We love bags with this feature, simply because it looks great and feels very premium.

The briefcase has Louis Vuitton-style handles in leather. These seem to be of good quality, and after over 6 months use they still feel new, apart from the color of the leather which has been slightly damaged. These types of handles always look great.

On one side of the bag a small pocket is placed right in between the handles. Personally i’ve found this pocket to be mainly decorative as its so slim and tight that hardly anything fits inside. It’s also quite difficult to grab something in the bottom of the pocket unless you have small hands. The pocket does look good though, but a bit of a missed opportunity here.

The bottom of the bag is padded with 4 metal feet to protect the leather from the ground and make it able to stand upright. The bag does tip over quite easily, especially when empty – best to lean it on something.

The interior of the bag is pretty standard: large laptop pocket, medium sized sipper pocket and a few smaller pockets – a nice classic layout.

My main issue with the design of the Carl Friedrik Palissy is that it seems to prioritize form over function quite a bit. With my MacBook, its charger, a pen, my keys and my wallet inside the bag, it’s basically filled to the brim. Larger headsets like the AirPods Max or Bose 700 don’t fit, neither does a water bottle or a book. So unless your EDC is very minimalistic i’d go for one of the larger versions of the bag: Palissy 25 Hour or Palissy Double.

Price, Service & Conclusion

The standard Palissy briefcase is listed at €725 and comes with a limited lifetime warranty covering specific functional defects and damages. Shipping is free and the bag is available wordwide.

The British company also receives good reviews on social media and on their own website – although we always take reviews on companies own sites with a grain of salt.

Their score on TrustPilot is also good at 4,5 stars with almost 400 certified reviews.

Based on our tests and personal experience we do not recommend this briefcase, unless money is no factor for you. The quality simply doesn’t justify the price tag, which is kind of the point in these silent luxury brands – pay for premium goods without the brand cost.

Overall the bag is gorgeous, but the good just doesn’t outweigh the bad – and the price is way too high. Especially when compared to the competition in the category.