Pad & Quill is a company known for its leather accessories, which are primarily designed with Apple devices in mind. The company offers iPhone cases, iPad sleeves, Apple Watch bands and even paper journals and full leather bags and briefcases.
Over the past week, I’ve had a chance to check out Pad & Quill’s Gladstone leather briefcase, which retails for $495.00 on the company’s website (although you can get it for 15 percent off with coupon code PQ15). The accessory is made of full-grain, American-sourced leather with herringbone fabric lining and a classic ultra-wide briefcase-style hinged opening.
In terms of space for accessories, you’ll find a pocket that can hold a 15-inch laptop, a slightly smaller zippered pocket, two accessory pockets that seem perfect for portable batteries, and two pen holders. The exterior has a slip pocket on the back that can fit a few papers, while the front has a small pouch with a secure buckle fastener.
Overall, the Gladstone leather briefcase is extremely luxurious, with a super sturdy construction and high-quality stitching on everything from the included shoulder strap to the interior accessory pocket. I’ve carried countless messenger bags and backpacks over the years, with an endless array of material constructions, but this is easily one of the best-looking and eye-catching I’ve ever owned.
Day-to-day use has been difficult so far; I found that the Gladstone’s interior compartment offered a nice balance between being roomy and compact. I was able to fit my 12-inch MacBook, iPad mini, AirPods, books, Beats Studio 3 headphones, chargers and still have some room left in the bottom of the bag.
Because it’s a briefcase-style case, the bag has a solid six-inch footprint and is 12 inches long by 16 inches wide. The leather construction, rigid paneling, and finished internal contents add up to a bag that isn’t exactly light to carry around, but it wasn’t too much of a problem for me over short distances.
The biggest issue comes with how the weight is distributed when using the shoulder strap, which tucks into the back of the briefcase rather than directly across the top of the bag’s center. This means that when it’s full, the bag becomes slightly top-heavy and leans forward away from your body, making it easier to bounce with your torso as you walk. It’s not a huge problem, but it’s something you quickly become aware of when you carry it every day.
The briefcase sports a swivel opening that uses hinged copper rivets for a sleek, easy-to-open central compartment. I found that the bag was a bit stiff to open at first, but after a few days the leather and hinges became a bit less stiff, but still held enough firmness that I felt like it would never open on its own. . If you want even more security, the main compartment also has a second line of defense with an oversized buckle and notch strap.
If you like the look of classic briefcases, you’ll quickly realize how opening the pad and quill bag takes a bit longer to get to your contents. If you prefer to be more economical with your time devoting to styling your work bags, you will probably want a simple zipper system, which will make the bag easier to access when placed on its side.
The other issue I had with the Gladstone Leather Briefcase was its overall lack of internal dividers. There are thousands of leather briefcases on the market that hit under the Pad & Quill’s $495.00 price tag and offer a bit more focus on work documents over housing electronics. It’s large enough to hold legal-sized papers and roomy enough to fit many documents inside, but without proper built-in organizational pockets, it can get messy quickly.
While it’s clear that an Apple accessory company would probably lean toward securing the placement of your MacBook or iPad (a technique that uses all pads and quill leather bags), I’d have preferred a little more balance between the two. As it stands, the Gladstone Leather Briefcase doesn’t offer any specific space for paper documents, other than those you might be able to stuff next to your MacBook in the interior compartment, or feel secure enough to keep in the exterior rear compartment (which lacks any kind of latch or security).
The briefcase is big enough to slip a few folders of your own between the MacBook slots and accessory pouches, but that’s not an uncommon problem. But people in jobs that rely on extensive organization of paper documents may find the accessories inadequate.
bottom line
Thanks to an attractive design, ample interior compartment space for electronic devices and accessories, and leather construction that will age the more you use it, Pad & Quill’s Gladstone Leather Briefcase makes a reliable and attractive laptop bag.
This has some downsides: the high price and lack of a truly roomy paper document compartment means you’ll need to look specifically for a high-quality MacBook bag with a few accessories and a small amount of space for work-related documents, but not much else.
How to buy
You can purchase the Gladstone Leather Briefcase in Chestnut and Whiskey on the Pad & Quill website for $495.00. Use code PQ15 to take 15 percent off and get the bag for $420.75
Note: Pad & Quill sent MacRumors a Gladstone leather briefcase for the purpose of this review and no other compensation was received. MacRumors is an authorized partner with Pad & Quill When you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps keep our site running.
