Raptured: One Hell of a Nice Wallet

Jake von Slatt — Thu, 07/31/2008 - 16:29

A couple of week ago I received a note from Connor Ferster of Braithwaite Wallets wondering if I would be interested in doing a product review of a wallet that had a somewhat Steampunk aesthetic. My wallet was falling apart so i replied "Sure! love too!" A few days later the 'Raptured' (for that is the slightly pretentious name of this wallet) arrived in the mail.

One of the things that appealed to me about the company was their open solicitation for designers. Braithwaite is one of a growing number of companies that is using manufacture on demand techniques to increase the variety and style of it's product line.

Part of the mission of Braithwaite Wallets is to allow designers the ability to make a living doing what they do best, designing. Too often, designers will find themselves having developed incredible design talent but may lack the resources to do business and finance their own production.

Designs are licensed from the designer and pay the designer a royalty based off of a percentage of revenue. Currently, the royalty is set at 10%. The vision is to have a designer be able to sell multiple wallet runs in a year and be able to make a decent living.

Braithwaite makes only 275 wallets of each design, ensuring that you'll end up with something beautiful and rare.

Nice things should come in nice packages. "Raptured" came wrapped in a scrim of raw cotton duck and a laser-cut folder of black card stock sealed with red sealing wax. I felt slightly naughty peeling away it's coverings.

Inside I found a very well made and supple leather wallet, laser etched and with a gold brocade lining, quite lovely!

I carry a bag for all of my stuff. In this day and age where one must have a phone, camera, MP3 player, and GPS, along with the traditional car keys and wallet, a bag or 'purse' (as I refer to mine) is quite necessary. The traditional men's wallet I use to have was a big pain. It made a lump in my purse and was always disgorging its contents as well as being difficult to fish out when needed.

In contrast 'Raptured' fits perfectly and stays put for easy access. It's also very comfortable in a pants pocket or the breast pocket of a frock coat or suit jacket.

When traveling in the U.K. I've often been embarrassed by the state of the Pound notes I would pull from my American wallet. It just seemed a bit dis-respectful to crumple and crush the top of the Her Majesty's head like that. No worries with 'Raptured' though, it accommodates notes of various sizes and nations with ease.

ZOMG! I love this freaking wallet! It even smells good. I would likely never have purchased one for myself--as it lists for the price of a good set of high-speed cobalt-steel drill bits--but I can heartily recommend it to anyone willing to part with the lucre.