This product is REAL LEATHER and no synthetic or man made in anyway. The top has a nice finish to it. The bottom is just raw leather so there is not gripping pads or anything underneath. Overall greatI was weary of order something leather on Amazon for fear that it would be fake leather and i would have to return. Well this is beautiful sweet smelling real leather and i love it!! I wish this little shop had more handbag type products with leather straps. I love it. Cant wait to order more stuff.The best mousepad I've ever had. Will probably last basically forever compared to those crappy foam and nylon ones. I think I'll get another for my work desk. Matches walnut very well. Super impressed!It's properly mousepad sized, but I realized I like a bigger mousepad! I have big hands (I'm 6'3" or so, with broad shoulders and long arms), and if I stretch my hand out, I can reach the edges of the mousepad. At full extension, my pinky to my thumb is about 10 inches.In spite of the desire for a larger size, I'm going to keep using it until I find one that's bigger and equally suitable. Hopefully H&D sees this and makes me a bigger one :) 10 or 11 inches on the vertical side (front to back) would be ideal I think. It's a bit over 8 inches that way now (and a hair over 9 wide).I do like the mouse pad, but to be honest, instead of it smelling like leather, it smells like they used chemicals to make this.After I made my purchase, I had this thought that I should have done it myself. You know, go to the local leather supply house and buy some leather and go from there. That thought quickly went away when the mouse pad arrived. While it is pretty simple, I can tell it was well made and the craftsperson spent time to cut an excellent piece of leather for the product. It is starting to develop a patina as it is a natural leather product. Bottom line, this thing is great and I got what I wanted - an attractive mouse pad made from high quality leather. Chances are, if you are reading this review you already know the difference between "Genuine leather" and "full grain leather" If not, use Google and you will never again shop at a certain mall leather goods store that is named after the 28th President of the United States.Beautiful leather. Just too thick for me. And optical mouse has skips sometimes.I have been impressed with Hide and Drink leather products since I bought their leather bookmarks. The real high quality leather that they use is highly attractive and will undoubtedly last the test of time.I have had the Hide and Drink mousepad that is smaller and have been wanting to upgrade to this full size mouse pad for some time. I can say that this is also another high quality leather product from Hide and Drink. I bought this specifically for the larger surface area of the mouse pad. It serves its purpose and is of equal quality to the previous mouse pad that I used from Hide and Drink.If you are considering this mouse pad I would not hesitate to say that it is definitely worth more than what it is being charged for.The item arrived in a plastic packing but was missing the linen bag and leather keychain advertised in the photos, it’s kind of a bummer since the accessories were one of the main reasons I bought this in the first place. I reached out and the Amazon CS were kind enough to help me sort out the issue; that being said, the original manufacturer should update their product photos to reflect what customers can expect even if they did slim down their packaging. Quality product nonetheless, but giving it a 3 out of 5 due to the missing accessories.