Bond & Knight - The Original Origami Wallet

Bond & Knight

You think you know all you need to know about wallets, then a wallet comes along to shake all the certainties you held dear. I had such an experience when I clapped my peepers on this incredible wallet from Derbyshire-based Bond & Knight (as stocked by our very good chums at Lombres).

Consider this: the wallet is made from a single folded piece of high-grade, naturally-tanned Italian leather. Yes, a single piece. I have no probable need to point out that this means there are no stitches or seams — though there is some glue involved — this wallet is intrinsically smooth and slim.

The leather compounds the smoothness to a level not seen since Roger Moore picked up a Walther PPK. Popping this wallet in and out of your jacket pocket is like sliding metal on ice.

The wallet performs well on function, accommodating cards and bank notes neatly amongst its folds. The 'origami' design is actually a bygone approach to wallet-making. Bond & Knight tell me the design was popularised in the 1940s, and a result of the make-do-and-mend mentality of war time — less materials were used. Bond & Knight has updated such a clever idea with contemporary colour contrasts, making the design their own.

Bond & Knight Folded Wallet in Chestnut and Yellow 

The one I have (below) is in chestnut and yellow. Glory at the lovely packaging in which it arrived. See how it glides friction-free into the jacket pocket of my vintage Maurice Sedwell hopsack jacket (the tailoring of which is second to none — so many tiny hand-stitches).

I'm so taken with the wallet that I've invited it to come on a trip with me next week. My longstanding peccary travel wallet has had a jolly good run. I won't forget you, old chum.

If you're looking for an 'origami wallet', insist on an original Bond & Knight. Made in England.