The Crossway Heirloom Omega in Horween Leather
Horween leather is still holding strong in the Bible world! It’s very different from goatskin, but at the same time it’s completely awesome in a different kind of way. Even more awesome has been seeing rebinders get ahold of this coveted leather and go wild. Crossway, however, started this whole Horween craze and they are the pioneers of this Bible cover movement, which is why I’m excited to be reviewing the Horween Heirloom Omega from Crossway.
This Bible comes in the signature Crossway Heirloom black and gold box. It’s wrapped in that velvet-like material that just screams premium when you open that box. This certainly is a premium Bible.
What’s amazing about Horween is how it behaves over time. This Bible is the chocolate brown Horween color. I’d love to see Crossway start doing some black, grey, or natural Horween Bibles as well! The Horween will age and show wear with use. It comes out the box smooth like a calf skin, but will develop character, wrinkles, and even grain the more you use it. Some have even been “breaking in” and working the leather on their Horween Bibles to create that grain from the get go. It’s amazing to see the character that this leather develops.
In speaking specifically about the Omega, this Bible just feels like it was built for the Horween treatment. The thin nature of the Bible makes the hand feel of this Bible so smooth. The spine with it’s raised hubs and blind stamping looks so clean. It really is a thing of beauty.
The red under gold art gilt of the page edges compliments the dark brown of the Horween nicely. The only real room for improvement is with the bookmarks. Many have complained and rightly so. There are four double sided satin ribbon bookmarks, but they are narrow and short. They just don’t look like they fit the other luxurious components of this Bible. Crossway really needs to take some steps to improve their ribbons!
Inside you’ll find a matching brown calfskin (I believe?) liner with brown vinyl endsheets. This Bible is edge-lined and Smyth-sewn for durability (plus that Horween cover is durable and ready to take a beating!)
I’m not sure the gsm of the paper, but Crossway calls it high quality Bible paper and I’d agree with that sentiment. Ghosting is almost non-existent. This is a double column layout with an all black text.
I didn’t think the Omega could get any better, but Crossway has increased the font size to a 10.5 Lexicon type from a 10. The bigger the better is always my opinion on fonts so I applaud them here!
What could use a bit more work is the references. They are in the bottom right corner of each page and they’re a 5.8-point Trade Gothic LT Std type. They are small and very hard to read. I’m not sure the point with them being so small.
The back features a three column concordance, which is much more helpful. It also features eight pages of full color maps, which I could do without in a thinline, but that’s simply my preference.
The Omega is an iconic Bible! I think it has become even more so with the addition of the Horween cover. It’s got this clean look that can’t be surpassed. If you get ahold of one of these I know you’ll love it!
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this Bible from Crossway in exchange for a fair and honest review.
