OUR WORKSHOP
Located in the beautiful southwest of France, in Basque county. Our workshop is filled with heritage and passion.
At Arion Sellier, we showcase French saddlery expertise by crafting custom and semi-custom saddles in partnership with a renowned workshop in southwest France. With over 40 years of experience, this family- run atelier combines traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation, using French materials to create elegant, high-performance saddles. Its close proximity to our offices ensures continuous innovation and rigorous quality control.
In this Basque workshop, skilled leatherworkers carefully select, cut, and assemble each piece. Advanced tools—such as digital cutting for precision, 3D printing for prototyping, and laser engraving—support, rather than replace, artisanal know-how. Every saddle requires more than 75 components, sewn and assembled by hand over 40 hours, resulting in a unique, numbered creation. The workshop also embraces a strong CSR commitment, promoting gender balance, local employment, leather recycling, and 100% renewable energy through solar power.
Because we favor short supply circuits and companies committed to limiting their environmental impact, our leathers are sublimated in French tanneries that have a unique traditional know-how passed down from generation to generation.
Our grained leathers are treated with vegetable tanning based on chestnut or mimosa. This technique allows us to reduce our ecological footprint on the one hand. But also to obtain deeper colors and a nice patina. The mineral tanning is only used for the back straps to ensure the leather's rigidity and therefore the saddle's stability.
Our soft leathers, with a waxy touch, come from a family tannery. This leather is produced made-to- order and is used to supply the most beautiful luxury houses in France. As for the buffalo leather, its velvety finish comes from a full grain leather, carefully tanned, and finely polished.