Caring for your album.

Wipe it with a soft, dry cloth. Nothing else: no creams, no solvents, no leather conditioners. The pebbled grain cleans itself of most of what a shelf can do to it.

Over the years the leather will darken slightly where hands hold it. That patina is the material keeping a record of you, not wear to be treated.

Keep the album away from direct sunlight and radiators. Leather is skin: long light fades it, dry heat stiffens it. Normal room light is what it was made for.

Turn pages from the corner, with dry hands. The boards lie flat on their own; they never need to be pressed.

Dab the spot dry immediately with a soft cloth and let the album rest open until fully dry. No hairdryer, no sun: heat sets water marks, patience removes them.

The presentation box it arrived in is its home: lay the album flat inside, in ordinary room humidity. An album that lives in its box will outlive the shelf it sits on.