Wallets

[Navin323i]

Because the wallet is made from the hide that spreads across the horse's butt. That can be quite a large piece of leather.
Cordovan is not made from the top layers of the skin but from a rather small but very dense and strong piece of connecting tissue that is located just between skin and muscle. This is called "Fascia" in Latin.
Every muscle needs a certain amount of connecting tissue to move freely under the skin. At some horse breed's croup or butt the connecting tissue is thick enough and therefore suitable to be made into cordovan. Strange stuff and the better, lighter coloured shells (caramel, whisky, cognac) cost a fortune, whereas black and oxblood remain affordable. Cordovan doesn't have a grain side...what you see is always the flesh side. But it's so heavily polished and finished (Horween calls it "smeared") that nobody notices.

Hope that helps.

Fascia basically encloses the muscles. When you have a true separation or tear of the fascia this results in what is known as a hernia. In my case my abdominal fascia is very weak so I'm prone to getting abdominal hernias which is why ultimately I went with Aero for my jacket so they could custom make me a jacket that could hide my belly bulge caused by the hernia. Basically, parts of my abdominal fascia have been reinforced with Gore-tex material held on with titanium tacks making my abdominal belly area a high tech one.

 

[Hankh]

Great wallet Jan! Congrats.
Fast delivery, about half a year ago waiting period was 3-4 weeks as Scott was inundated with orders.
After having bought a pair of Crockett&Jones shoes in shell cordovan 10+ years ago, a pair of HH gloves and more recently 2 Alpha-2 jackets (Aero and Eastman) in HH I became interested in Horse leather and using google found Scott.
Very friendly and stand up guy sharing his wealth on HH info.
http://horween.com/index.php/main/
is a must read for those interested in HH.
My wallet before Scott oiled and conditioned it with his favorite stuff, Pekards and R.M. Williams.

And after:

The decision to order 2 belts and a coin purse was easily made. -)
The belt at left is quite supple, interior chrome tanned, outside veg. tanned, oiled and conditioned. (Scott sent it for free due to my pos. feedback on several fora)
The belt at right is a double thick veg. tanned, untreated in natural color.
Stiff but not too stiff, my favorite we’re going to be companions for a long time.
The coin purse is in a very soft and supple conditioned HH.

I’d like to have some HH watchbands as well, going to be my next order.

Best regards, Henk

 

[Tony No-Toes]

Great resource here Jan, thanks very much!

 

[bil_maxx]

In the summer I simply use a credit card holder that folds in half. It's very small, not much bigger than the cards it holds, and yet it carries everything I need. I don't need much more than my license and a couple of credit cards. I use a moneyclip for my cash summer or winter. In the winter I carry a breast pocket wallet in my suit.

 

[Oktobr]

A few of my friends and I were recently having a discussion about wallets, and the biggest debate we had going was on bi-fold or tri-fold. What do you guys think?

 

[KenDale]

When wearing a suit (everyday for work), I carry my wallet in my suit jacket pocket. Have always found Bosca to be very nice. They are a bit pricey but tend to last.

 

[Edward]

A few of my friends and I were recently having a discussion about wallets, and the biggest debate we had going was on bi-fold or tri-fold. What do you guys think?

I used to carry a trifold, but nowadays I prefer a smallish bifold. As long as I have enough room for a few business cards, the payment cards I need to carry regularly, and some cash, I'm happy. I find wallets are like spare bedrooms - the bigger they are, the more unnecessary bumph there is filling them up!

 

[fuzzyearlobe]

I have a Saddleback Leather wallet. handmade, and will out last you.

 

[Edward]

I have a Saddleback Leather wallet. handmade, and will out last you.

I very nearly bought one of those today; unfortunately the postage was as much again, which put me off. I'd still really like one, but...[huh]

 

[fuzzyearlobe]

I very nearly bought one of those today; unfortunately the postage was as much again, which put me off. I'd still really like one, but...[huh]

Thats too bad. I had a Ghurka wallet for 12 years, and it finally fell apart. Much to my surprise, between the leather was sewn nylon. This wallet was $150 over a decade ago. My Saddleback was $45, and is made from far superior leather than anything I have ever seen, including all the high end boutique brands.

 

[DesertDan]

Mine is a Dockers branded thin brown leather bi-fold. I has held up very well for many years. I try to keep it a thin as possible.

There are days (especially in the summer) when I want to travel as cool and light as possible. On those days I transfer just the absolute necessities to a business card holder and roll with that.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I was cleaning out my closet today to remodel it & I came across an old wallet that I bought off of my friendly neighbourhood shoe repair man that I bought between 10 - 15 years ago. He custom made it out of Elephant hide! He recieved the skin from a local man who went on a African hunting safari & bagged the Elephant. The shoe man made the wallet from some leftover scraps of leather.

 

[fluteplayer07]

Can you post some pictures, please? I'm curious to see what elephant hide looks like.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Can you post some pictures, please? I'm curious to see what elephant hide looks like.

 

[fluteplayer07]

Interesting! For some reason I didn't think it would actually be grey... Thanks for sharing! Do you plan on actually using it? I'd imagine it would be very hard wearing.

 

[Deckburner]

This thread lead me to look into Unlucky's leather a little more. I just put an order in with Scott "Unlucky" Willis for a belt and a bag. He has been friendly and easy to deal with thus far in our email exchanges as he has informed me of the options. I'm really looking forward to seeing his work! Hopefully will post more good news soon!

 

[trill-bee]

looking 4 wallet

I am looking for a "special" wallet. I had a 1960's black crocodile wallet for many years and it has recently fallen apart an is beyond repair;(

As much as I loved my croc wallet I feel like a change but would like something unusual and beautiful. I don't mind if it's a used classic or new does anyone have any recommendations for trustworthy websites?

My price range would be somewhere between $50-150.

 

[Edward]

Saddleback leather make some very nice wallets in horsehide.

 

[schitzo]

Foster and son make a good one in bridle, search 'foster and son shirt wallet' to view it. I like it because it's small and the bridle is great leather

 

[schitzo]

From England I recommend tanner bates of Devon, or Foster and Son of London