David Lane Design

One of the great things about the rise of Internet-based commerce is that you no longer have to go to a department store to buy mass-produced, overly-branded products and deal with a limited selection. Sure, maybe things are cheaper — and it’s fine to be OK with that — but maybe you have an idea in your head about what you want exactly done for an item and the odds of any store stocking such a rare concept is quite slim.

That’s why I love finding small-business operations for things like leather accessories. You can talk directly to the guy (or gal) making your item and see if they’re open to making unique designs or using a certain type of leather or thread.

David Lane Design is one of those places — a one-man shop who started doing custom leather watch straps completely by hand. I hate to use hyperbole, especially after only seeing photos online, but take a look at these watch straps and tell me they’re not beautiful.

Everything is completely customizable: lug width, strap width, strap length, stitching, stitch color, leather used, etc. As you can guess, this kind of customization does come at a high cost, but if you’re the type who can buy a Rolex, then why not spring for an equally impressive strap, too?

Beyond watch straps, other custom leather items are available — including bracelets, a guitar strap cut from a Swedish Gustav K ammunition pouch and now wallets. The wallets range from $77 to $117, depending on the features you want on it. Here’s what David told me in an email about his new wallet design:

I have spent the last 5 years dismantling ammunition pouches and various pieces of military equipment, to construct watch straps for my customers. I have used the design features of these historical pieces to construct a wallet that features the same degree of craftsmanship and purpose driven design. I wanted to create a wallet that performs to the same level and ruggedness as the ammo pouches, yet still simple, aesthetically clean, and functional. I have put my personal wallet through 6 months of research and design, before landing on a final product.

Attached are all examples of the designs I have been working on. They are all completely customizable from the type of hardware and stitch color, to custom initials and edge dye.

The wallet above is David’s personal one he’s used for the past six months. If you’re interested in a wallet, then you can pre-order now by emailing David, who plans to start shipping in November. Each wallet will ship in a burlap sack, a custom crate and a written history of his work.

David also told me that in the future he plans to add other wallet designs, iPhone cases and key chains. I’ll be keeping an eye on his site for the future.

Slim card-holder wallet roundup

I’ve been looking for a new slim card-holder wallet for a while now and there’s a lot of choices out there beyond just the well-known, big-name brands (like this predictable list that Esquire UK created).

In the event that you’re looking for a slim-card holder wallet, then you should find this list fairly helpful — perhaps close to comprehensive, and suggested additions are welcome.

They’re not listed in any particular order and I’m not going to give my commentary on them — simply because I haven’t handled any of these, and we all have our different preferences. In some cases, you’ll want to click through to the company’s site to see additional colors, leather types and pricing.

Daines & Hathaway:

Bottega Venetta:

Ettinger:

Launer:

Whitehouse Cox:

Pickett:

James Purdey & Sons:

Smythson of Bond Street:

Brooks Brothers:

Asprey:

Hollows Leather:

Corter Leather:

Saddleback Leather Co.:

Swaine Adeney Brigg:

Chester Mox:

Makr:

Pineider:

Glenroyal:

Jack Spade:

Hellbrand Leatherworks:

M.L. Brown & Co.:

Mulberry:

Filson:

Bosca (via spiffydave):

Coach: (bespokenn has a review of his wallet)

Rugby (via classiclife):

Acne (via classiclife):

Moore & Giles (via classiclife):

The Vegan Collection (via Nathan C., who wanted to provide an ethical alternative):

Colonel Littleton:

David Lane Design:

Shapeshifter (Not quite a card holder, but this is a unique design that’s super-minimalistic. It’s creator, Bob, has let me know that he will ship to the U.S.):

Aspinal of London:

Ralph Lauren:

Fossil:

Tumi:

Hartmann:

Tiffany & Co.:

Martin Dingman:

Draught Dry Goods:

Kenton Sorenson:

Other companies that make slim wallets, but not in a card-holder style:

• Tipton & Co.
• Holland & Holland
• Property of… (via thatcouldwork)
• Billykirk

You can also see selections at:

• Nordstrom
• Saks Fifth Ave.

Got any others to add? Let me know.

The ‘hipster PDA’ wallet

For the longest time, I used a card holder/money clip combination wallet. I probably used that wallet for almost a decade. Nothing’s wrong with it, however, I’ve started to not carry my wallet in my pants and instead carry it in the interior pocket of my jacket. The money clip feels a bit odd in there and sometimes is so small that I have to reach quite a distance into the depth of the pocket to fish it out.

So, I’ve been looking for a new wallet for a while. I wanted something that would stack my credit cards vertically instead of horizontally and wouldn’t get too thick like a traditional bifold.

I found this handmade wallet on Etsy, customized to allow the carrying of index cards, aka “the hipster PDA,” inside via a small folded metal clip.

It folds to just over a half an inch wide with the index cards, which isn’t too bad. I’m debating ditching the cards and maybe even cutting off the fold-over flap, but I’ll carry the wallet for the next month to see how it works out. I don’t typically carry a “hipster PDA” with me, but have once in a while found myself needing some scratch paper. So, maybe this isn’t a bad idea.