Compact cork wallet

What fits inside this compact cork wallet

Open it out and the lining is plain beige, finished with a fine cross-hatch grain that cards slide over rather than catch on. The left leaf takes two vertical card slots, the centre panel three horizontal card slots, and the right leaf a clear window and its press stud, for the card you show without pulling it out. The two leaves fold in over the centre, so nothing sits proud of the edge once the wallet is shut.

Five slots and a window is the whole capacity: two bank cards, a travel pass, a loyalty card and a folded note, and the wallet is full. Vertical slots suit the cards you reach for by feel; the horizontal row is easier to scan when you are after one in particular. If this one becomes the going-out wallet and the everyday one needs to hold more, roomier wallet shapes in the same aisle have room for receipts and a second set of cards.

In the hand and in a coat pocket

The front flap folds down over the body and the print carries straight across it, so the fold shows up only where the topstitching runs. Closed, the wallet is small enough to hold in one palm, and the metal frame gives it a straight top line instead of the soft curve a zip leaves. A strip of plain cork, left unprinted, carries that frame and separates the metal from the pattern.

Coins are the awkward part of any wallet this size. Keep them separate and pouches built just for change come in deeper shapes and with closures this frame does not offer.

Spec at a glance

Keeping the print crisp

Dust settles in the grain of the cork and a barely damp cloth lifts it. Wipe rather than scrub: the black outlines sit on the surface of the cork, so heavy rubbing is the one thing to avoid. The frame wants a dry cloth now and then, particularly around the two levers where grit collects. Stored flat rather than forced into a back pocket, the wallet keeps its shape.