My favorite case for any device was an M-Edge brown leather Go cover for my K2. But when I decided to try out the Kindle Fire, I ended up gifting that cover (and device) to a relative, and ever since I've regretted it. Now that I am back with the e-ink Kindle family and my new Paperwhite, I decided to go looking for a similar case. But M-Edge has gone down in quality quite a bit from back when I purchased that first Go case, and they no longer offer anything in real brown leather, and most of their products use a sub-par leather called "corrected grain" which generally has a plastic feel.
So where does one turn for a really quality product built to spec? Etsy of course. That's where I found
Hidden Mountain Curriers, a leather shop specializing in device cases (as well as some packs and pouches). They had cases for the Kindle Touch and other readers, but nothing for the Paperwhite yet, so I wrote to the owner Josh Jessup and he told me he could do a case for the KPW - it would be his first.
I ordered mine custom in brown stone-oiled leather, with a elastic strap rather than a button flap as some of his other Kindle cases have. I've never liked having that flap closure since it tends to get in the way, and the elastic works pretty well. I also figured if I wanted to get rid of the elastic it would be pretty easy to just cut away, but for now I'm keeping it in place.
The leather Jeff uses is a oiled and waxed full-grain leather from the Horween Leather company in Chicago. It's really top-grade stuff, and I expect that it will be outlast my kindle by a few decades. There really is no substitute for a full-grain leather case in either the feel or the smell. Over time, I expect that the case will gain more character and develop a patina, which will only make it look better.
The Kindle is held in place by three leather straps and one elastic straps. This system works very well, and on my case the Kindle is very securely in place. The straps on my case were not perfect though - two were a little on the tight side, and one was a little loose. The tightness of the straps does cause some pulling on the case in other places, so the lower edges of the case "warp" up a bit. Over time I expect the leather will stretch a bit and everything will fall in to place - this is just the nature of working with natural materials.
The rest of the case is also very well made, and it's very comfortable to hold. There is a little bit of extra material all around the device, which makes gripping it pretty easy and makes the case pretty protective in case of a fall on the edge, though I do think that it could be trimmed up a bit to provide a tighter and lighter package. The cuts on the leather and the sewing is all very nicely done, though it is clear that it is handmade - once again, if you're looking for something manufactured in China, this isn't the case for you.
The front and back flaps of the case are each two layers of leather, sewn together on three sides so that there is a pouch formed on both sides. Neither side is reinforced with other materials as some other cases are, though it would be possible to insert any material of your choice (i.e. cardboard, foam, cheese) in those pouches to make them more protective. I prefer my cases without extra padding so I'm just using those pouches to store a few business cards and notes.
The cost of most of Josh's cases is around $70 shipped. While this is a little high, the quality and workmanship of it justify the expense in my opinion, as does supporting local business. Jeff was great to work with and was both accomodating and speedy in completing the case - just a week from order to doorstep, despite this being his first KPW case. I'd definitely recommend Hidden Mountain Curriers to anyone looking for a good case for their e-reader or other device.