Two Hand-Stitched Vegetable-Tanned Leather Card Wallets, Saddle-Stitched in Teal and Russet, Contemporary
Viridian Eclection
The Piece Two small leather card wallets, both made by hand. The first is deep teal, a slim folded card case sewn with thread dyed to match, with a russet leather retaining strap crossing the spi...
The Piece
Two small leather card wallets, both made by hand.
The first is deep teal, a slim folded card case sewn with thread dyed to match, with a russet leather retaining strap crossing the spine to hold the fold closed and cards in place. Open it and the inside face is tan suede, the flesh side of the hide left exactly as it came off the skin.
The second is russet tan throughout, a plain two-pocket card sleeve sewn in dark thread, with the same suede interior and a shaped scoop cut into the front panel so a card can be pushed up with a thumb.
Look closely at either seam and the stitches lean — each one sits at a slight angle to the line, and the angle alternates. That is the signature of hand work, and it is not something a machine produces.
The edges are cut clean and burnished, the corners are rounded, and both are unlined, unstiffened and completely free of hardware.
History & Provenance
The slanted stitches mean these are saddle-stitched, and that is worth understanding because it is the reason to buy a handmade wallet at all.
A saddle stitch is made with one length of thread and a needle tied to each end. Both needles pass through the same hole from opposite sides, then the maker moves to the next hole and does it again, by hand, the whole length of the seam. It is slow. A short card wallet is a hundred passes.
What you get for that is a seam that cannot run. A sewing machine makes a lockstitch: two separate threads that loop around one another inside the leather. Cut one, and the rest can pull free — the line unzips. A saddle stitch has no locking loop and no second thread to fail, so cutting a stitch costs you that stitch and nothing else. The seam stays shut, and it can be repaired by hand where a machine seam usually cannot.
The leather is vegetable-tanned, which is the other half of the argument. Veg-tan is finished with tannins from bark rather than chrome salts, it starts stiff and pale, and it does something chrome leather does not: it takes a patina. The colour deepens where hands touch it, the surface picks up a shine at the corners, and within a year a wallet carried daily is a different object from the one that came off the bench.
Leaving the flesh side exposed as suede rather than lining it is a deliberate choice too — it keeps the wallet thin enough to sit in a front pocket, and it grips the cards so they do not slide out.
These are contemporary work, not antiques, and they are described that way. Both are clean, unworn and unmarked — there is no maker's stamp, brand, logo or label anywhere inside or out — and they are offered unattributed as the work of an unidentified hand.
Product Details
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Object | Two hand-stitched leather card wallets, sold together |
| Form | One folded card case in teal with a russet retaining strap across the spine; one flat two-pocket card sleeve in russet tan with a thumb scoop to the front panel. Both unlined and unstiffened, with no hardware. |
| Construction | Saddle-stitched by hand — one thread, two needles, every hole worked from both sides, producing the slanted alternating stitch line visible along each seam. Edges cut, sanded and burnished; corners rounded. |
| Material | Vegetable-tanned leather with the flesh side left as raw suede inside; thread colour-matched on the teal wallet and contrasting dark on the tan |
| Marks | None. No maker's stamp, brand, logo or label on either piece. Offered unattributed. |
| Era | Contemporary. These are modern hand-made pieces and are not represented as vintage or antique. |
| Condition | Excellent and unused. Both are clean and sound with no creasing, cracking, scuffing or edge wear; every stitch is intact and evenly tensioned with no loose, skipped or broken thread; the burnished edges are smooth and unmarked; the russet strap is firmly set and holds under tension. The leather is still stiff and pale-toned, as new veg-tan is, and will darken and soften with carrying. Condition Guaranteed. |
| Availability | One of a Kind — 1 Available |
Why It Belongs in Your Home
Most people carry a wallet far bigger than what is actually in it, and a card case fixes that in a day.
Four or five cards, a folded note, a key card — that is the whole modern wallet, and either of these holds it in something that disappears in a front pocket instead of wrecking the line of a jacket. The teal one closes under its strap for anyone who wants the cards held; the tan one is faster to get into.
Two is the useful number. One goes in daily rotation and one stays for travel, for a suit pocket, or for keeping business cards separate — or one is carried and one is given away.
The colours are the pleasure. Deep teal is an unusual thing to own in leather, and it reads as a choice rather than a default; russet tan is the colour veg-tan wants to be, and it is the one that will change most visibly with use.
That change is the point. In six months these will be darker at the corners, shinier where thumbs go, and marked by what they have been carried against. A machine-made wallet in coated leather looks the same on day five hundred as on day one.
A note on care, and with new veg-tan the first months matter most. Carry it before you condition it. Let the leather take its own shape and colour first; conditioner applied to a pale new hide darkens it immediately and permanently, and you lose the patina you would otherwise have earned.
Keep it dry. Vegetable-tanned leather water-spots badly, and a drop that dries on the surface leaves a ring. If it gets wet, blot it and dry it slowly at room temperature — never near a radiator or a heat vent, which makes leather hard and cracks it.
After the first season, feed it once or twice a year with a neutral leather conditioner applied thinly and buffed off. Use no saddle soap on the burnished edges, no silicone spray and no shoe polish, all of which build a film. Do not overstuff it — an unlined card case is meant to stay slim, and forcing ten cards in will stretch the pockets permanently.
Every piece is packed with professional-grade materials: multiple foam layers, double-boxing, directional and fragile handling labels. For large furniture we use custom timber crating. We photograph packing before dispatch and can provide images on request.
White-glove delivery is complimentary within 100 miles of Reno, NV. National shipping quotes provided at checkout. All shipments are photographed and documented. Damage claims must be filed with the carrier; we provide all documentation needed to support your claim.
Local pickup is available at Viridian HQ (Reno, NV) with 2–4 days notice. Contact us to arrange. Private viewings also available.
All antique and vintage items are sold as described and all sales are final. Each listing includes detailed condition notes and photographs so you can make a fully informed decision. We encourage buyers to ask questions — about condition, dimensions, finish, provenance — before purchasing.
Antiques are irreplaceable and one-of-a-kind. Carrier handling is outside our control once a piece has left our facility, and major carriers including FedEx do not insure antiques. We do everything within our power to ensure safe transit, but cannot accept liability for carrier damage. If damage occurs in transit, we will provide full documentation to support your carrier claim.
Have a question? — we're happy to provide additional photos, condition detail, or discuss the piece directly.
