Hello, I am in a process of picking a new leather wallet, but I can’t decide on the colour.
I am torn between black, brown and tan/light brown.
Does anyone has any opinions/suggestions on that?
I am leaning towards a light brown one with the red lining, but my current/old wallet is black, so I am not sure, as the black looks nice when new, but now it has some blemishes so it looks cheap, and I heard that tan type colours have more character with age as opposed to looking cheap.
I’ve always gone for a brown wallet, but I think for me, it all depends on the “style” of it. For example, mine has a deer in the corner, so a brown colour suits it quite well
Well I didn’t put much value in the poll, I thought that was just purely to see what people prefer, but, the comments have engaged my confirmation bias and I have pulled the trigger on this wallet.
The reasons I chose this one are:
It isn’t as bulky as most wallets (this one is only 1 cm thick) and has a place to store coins
It is tan, so, potentially it will age better than my black wallet, and posts above seem to agree with that notion
It is leather and it is 50% off (only £22), and, you can return at no cost if it isn’t good enough
I did look at the dark brown and black versions and they just don’t look as “homey” as the tan version.
I guess I was (just like most people do ) just looking for confirmation of my initial thoughts, I will post my thoughts on the wallet when it gets here tomorrow, if anyone is interested in that (which I highly doubt).
I think it may be helpful for people to post their wallets here and tell us why they like/love/dislike/hate about them?
It’s 1 cm thick. I’ve been searching for the thinnest, most minimalist wallet for years and your description certainly grabbed my attention and forced me to do a double-take on the specifications!
I have tried minimalist wallets like trove and exentri, but I am clearly not ready to accept the trade-offs, not yet anyhow Maybe in a couple of years… Still need a couple of coins here and there
I know what you mean - it took me considerable effort to move away from the ‘pocket fillers’
But with Apple/Google pay on phones, the reducing need to carry cash and less need for physical ‘stuff’ I’ve found it liberating to carry as little as possible. I can still get by with day-to-day living without the bulk.
Well, I see where you are coming from, but I solved the issue in a different way, I never carry anything in my pockets anymore
When I am just out and about, there’s no rain and I am not expecting to carry anything, I use one of these or similar as my pocket. It fits my wallet, keys, phone and a carry bag comfortably and it also has a little pocket for receipts and stuff. Otherwise I just use a messenger type man-bag to carry lunch and stuff to work as well as essentials.
Can’t carry anything in my pockets anymore, just feels weird and ruins the pants line
So a bulky-ish wallet has no impact on my day today
P.S> I use my apple watch to pay for stuff all the time now, but, sometimes we have charity type events at work and/or birthday/wedding collections so coins still play some role in my life, for now
The hide & seek model looks promising (in camel colour especially), I will probably try and give it a go if the “Boris” model doesn’t work out, but it also £22 vs £75
I believe I am too stuck in my old ways , but it’s hard for me to accept any wallet without a clasp Even if it had magnets of some sort it would make it psychologically easier for me to accept a change
EDIT: Also it seems that bellroy is 0.5 cm thicker than the “boris” or am I missing something?
Exactly, I tried a bunch of minimalist wallets but I just couldn’t live with any of them. Too many compromises with little to none gain in extra space, some of them are actually thicker and offer less functionality to boot. Also most modern-old-fashioned wallets are not THAT bad and since I never carry a wallet in my pocket the minimalism aspect of it doesn’t affect me.
Well I have received it today and had an opportunity to test-drive it during my lunch break.
Initial impressions:
Pros:
Price - can’t go wrong with £22 for a proper leather wallet
Good quality leather, feels really premium and soft (even plush maybe?) to the touch yet firm in places where it counts (reinforced edges)
The lining is quite Monzo (colour wise) and they use cotton for lining which feels sturdy and nice to the touch as opposed to the flimsy polyester some wallets use
It’s not as light brown as in the picture, it is a tad darker, which I think adds to the character without taking anything away from that “homey” feel
Well built, well, at least that is the initial impression
Also it is only 1 cm thick when empty, but if you don’t need more than a couple of cards, a couple of notes and a few coins it stays that way too, otherwise it becomes a tad thicker for obvious reasons, mainly physics
The inside colour matches the outside (apart from the Monzoish lining that is) which I like in the light coloured wallets. I hate when the outer colour is light and the inner colour is dark, but, I do love it the other way around - dark outside and light, colourful inside - that is why some of the bellroy wallets do look really tempting
Has a few “secret” side pouch-pockets in the usual places, two on the left and one on the right side
Cons:
The notes compartment might be a bit tight, only one slit, but I guess you have to cut corners somewhere in order to reach that 1 cm thickness claim, but it can definitely fit ten £20 notes
Coin compartment is also a little small compared to the classic button design, but I guess they had to do it this way, otherwise, there would be no card slots on the right side. Side benefit is that you can access your coins without unravelling your wallet, you can just unzip it from the top coin-purse style, but I wouldn’t put more than 3-5 pounds worth of change in there and by change I mean pound coins, otherwise the wallet tends to bulk-up quite fast
Preliminary verdict:
A good all-round “classic” type affair and a steal for £22. If you are looking for a gift for someone or a no-frills safe choice and are in need of new wallet then this is something to consider.
For me, it’s a keeper , I mean .
P.S. And it smells nice too (a good leather smell) .
UPDATE: I found that the pressed stud mechanism was not made properly so it looks like the button will come out eventually, so had to send it back …
UPDATE 2: I have exchanged the faulty wallet to a different one and this one is all good
I’d agree with you on brown ‘aging well’, I quite like the patina on my extremely well worn brown cardholder, but I’ve recently stopped using it in favour of the black Tumi cardholder I got with Curve last year.
Whilst I only generally carry 2 cards in the cardholder now, the ‘big wallet’ I take from time to time is a very dark navy, appears black in most lights, with a light tan inner, similar to your point #7
, but it’s hard for me to accept any wallet without a clasp 
, I mean 
.
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