I have seen the same thing. I have seen one half of a signature literally evaporate and the remainder of the signature is bold and strong.
My sense is it is the combination of the ink with whatever processing chemicals remain in the leather and how they interact. It does seems as if something is going to happen, it usually happens in the first 5 to 10 years. After that it should be stable.
I do not believe the dark brown spots we see are from handling as is often alleged. Unless someone hands were covered in barbeque sauce, my feeling is those brown spots are the result of chemicals in the leather. It seems unlikley to me severe dark brown spots would result from a little natural oil from someone's fingers.
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