Can you give any more detail about the quality of this case? It looks very nice in the photos, but sometimes looks are deceiving. You have to be careful about leather products, because a lot is not real leather. Some of the cheap leather cases on ebay are actually "PU Leather" or another term for it "Bicast Leather". Those are not real leather, but a split leather with polyurethane coating and a fake grain surface added to it to give it a distinctively look. Of course fake leather is good for people that are against using animals for products. But be careful not to pay full price for a cheap imitation.
The leather on the Gariz case looks to be rather thin in the pictures. I suppose the bottom of the case is plastic?
I paid more for my Olympus original full case and it is leather like you described, "cheap". One scrape with a long sharp fingernail and the very thin "leather" is scraped off. Still, not too bad, but Aki-Asahi or Gariz cases are higher quality cases. I'd like a Leicatime, but looks like the maker has no interest for Olympus.
So far, all leather items I've got from Korea are good, like the Matin handgrip I use for my E-PL1, the LX3 leather case.
Bottom of the Gariz is hard plastic, although finished to have a gunmetal look.
End of the day, it's the Gariz design that appealed to me. Went out for a long shooting and it was great to easily change the battery. My Matin handgrip is also screwed onto the tripod hole, and I don't have to unscrew it anymore. Basically, I never have to remove the case now, it is permanent.
I can do without a case, but it adds volume and gives me a better grip for the E-PL1, which is too small for my hands as is. And the Gariz E-PL1 case is designed well where the leather was cut to shape for the grip. Not as well done on the Olympus.
Also, having to use a memory card reader now rather than the USB cable is more efficient, faster downloading of images.
P.S. it is cheaper direct, also see more pics
etc : XS-CHEPL1 ?? ????
http://www.gariz.com/index.php?doc=bbs/eng_order.php - their email