Orden or Sorel: which leather briefcase to choose
Both briefcases have the same face. The Orden Briefcase is 42 × 30 × 10 cm at €139. The Sorel Briefcase is 42 × 30 × 8 cm at €169. Same width, same height, 2 cm apart in depth, 30 euro apart in price.
Short answer: if you carry a laptop, a charger, a notebook and one more thing most days, take the Orden. If you carry a laptop, a charger and paper, and you want the flattest profile you can get, take the Sorel. The rest of this page is the reasoning behind that.
The two side by side
| Orden Briefcase | Sorel Briefcase | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 42 × 30 × 10 cm | 42 × 30 × 8 cm |
| Width and height | 42 × 30 cm | 42 × 30 cm |
| Depth | 10 cm | 8 cm |
| Leather | Full-Grain Nappa Leather | Full-Grain Nappa Leather |
| Price | €139 | €169 |
What 2 cm of depth actually changes
Depth is the dimension that decides whether a bag closes comfortably or bulges. Width and height decide what fits at all, and here they are identical, so both bags take the same documents and the same laptop sizes. Depth decides how much you can stack behind the laptop before the bag starts to look strained.
In ordinary daily use, a laptop and its charger take the first part of that space, a notebook takes a little more, and anything soft that comes after that, a lunch box, a folded shirt, a jumper, needs room a flat bag does not have. At 10 cm the Orden has that room. At 8 cm the Sorel does not, and that is the point of it.
The trade works in both directions, which is why this is a real decision rather than a ranking. A 10 cm bag holding four things looks like a bag doing its job. An 8 cm bag holding three things reads as a portfolio, and in a room where everyone else is carrying a phone and one folder, that reads better. Neither is more correct. They are answers to different kinds of day.
Typical daily loads, and which depth suits
| What you carry most days | Orden, 10 cm | Sorel, 8 cm |
|---|---|---|
| Laptop and charger | Fits, with space to spare | Ideal, closes flat |
| Laptop, charger, papers or a thin folder | Comfortable | Comfortable |
| Laptop, charger, notebook and pens | Comfortable | Fits, and it is full |
| Laptop, charger, notebook and lunch | Comfortable | Too tight |
| Laptop, charger and a folded shirt | Comfortable | Too tight |
| Laptop plus gym kit | No, use a backpack | No, use a backpack |
If your own day is not on that list, think in layers rather than in litres. A laptop is one layer. A charger and cables are a second. A notebook is a third. Anything soft is a fourth, and the fourth layer is where 8 cm runs out. Count your layers before you look at the price.
About the 30 euro, plainly
On the published specifications, the difference between these two bags is 2 cm of depth and 30 euro, and the deeper bag is the cheaper one. We are not going to invent a construction story to explain that gap, because we do not publish the construction details that would support one. Both are Full-Grain Nappa Leather, and that is as far as the facts go.
So do not read the Sorel as the better bag because it costs more. Read it as the flatter bag. Choose on how much you carry and how formal the rooms you walk into are, and let the price follow that decision instead of leading it.
It also means there is no upgrade path here. Neither bag is the entry model and neither is the step up. They are one footprint offered at two depths, and the 30 euro is not a quality signal to read into.
When neither of these is the right bag
If you cycle to work, if you carry gym kit alongside a laptop, or if you walk more than about twenty minutes each way, a single-shoulder briefcase is the wrong tool and the 30 euro above stops mattering. A full 10 cm bag on one shoulder is fine across a car park and unpleasant across a city, and no leather quality fixes that. Start with the backpacks instead, and read backpack or briefcase for work before you spend anything.
If you still cannot choose
Empty the bag you use now onto a table and look at the pile. Three flat things: Sorel. Four things with something soft among them: Orden. Both sit in the briefcases collection, in black and in cognac.