Journal ·
The best full-grain leather wallet under $80
An Italian calfskin bifold for $79, a slimmer one for $49, and three leather pieces to carry everything else.
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Buy the Beckett Simonon Bennett bifold. It's $79, down from $159, in full-grain Italian calfskin from an LWG Gold tannery in Arzignano, the tanning town near Vicenza that supplies a long list of Italian shoe and bag makers. Black and brown are both in stock. Get the brown.
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Why full-grain
Leather is sold in grades, and the labels are slippery. "Genuine leather" sounds like a promise but is usually the lowest grade, split from the underside of the hide and coated to look smooth. Top-grain has its surface sanded and finished. Full-grain keeps the outer surface of the hide intact, which is the densest, strongest part. It scratches, and then the scratches fade into the patina. That's what you're paying for.
On a wallet, the difference shows within a year. A coated wallet peels at the fold. A full-grain one darkens at the edges where your thumb goes, softens at the spine, and looks better at five years than it did on day one.
Why brown
Brown calfskin shows its age the way you want a wallet to. Black looks sharp new and just looks worn later. If your belt and shoes are mostly black, or you carry it in a suit jacket more than jeans, buy the black; it's the same $79.
If you carry less
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The Taylor Stitch Minimalist Billfold is $49, down from $98, in full-grain Spanish cowhide, made in Turkey. Six card slots and a cash pocket, nothing else. If your back pocket holds three cards and a folded twenty, this is the better wallet, because a thin wallet is a wallet you actually keep in your back pocket. Cowhide is a little stiffer than calfskin at first and breaks in with use.
What to carry it in
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The Tanner Goods Canyon crossbody in the large size is $57.50, down from $115. It's 10oz waxed canvas trimmed in 5oz full-grain leather, which means rain beads up and rolls off and the corners won't fray. Wallet, phone, keys, sunglasses, a paperback. Waxed canvas creases and lightens where it folds, and like full-grain leather it looks better used.
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The Beckett Simonon Nieto dopp kit is $149, down from $215, in pull-up leather that darkens where you grab it, with a cotton twill lining and YKK zips. Brown, chocolate and walnut are all in stock. It's the piece in this list most people buy once and keep for twenty years, and it's the best gift here if you're shopping for someone else.
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For the daily commute, the Nisolo Alex backpack is $149, down from $350, in LWG-certified leather with brass hardware, and it takes a 15-inch laptop. Black is the safe pick. It also comes in caramel at the same price, which pairs with a brown wallet and brown boots.
Care, in two lines
Keep leather out of a hot car and away from radiators, and rub in a little leather conditioner once a year. Don't overstuff a wallet: a bifold forced around twelve cards stretches and never recovers. For the rest of a wardrobe built on the same idea, pay once and keep it, see welted boots and loafers under $175 and the best cashmere sweater under $160, or browse this week's steals.