Antique patina, rubbed by hand

Some clients want the opposite of decoration. This one asked for a long wallet that looked like it had been in a jacket pocket for a decade on the day he got it.

That is finish work, not carving: a light base coat, antique paste worked into the grain with a sponge, then wiped back panel by panel so the cloudy pattern never repeats. Every stitch line and every crease holds the darker tone.

Construction is plain and strong — eight card slots, two note bays, a brass zip on the coin pocket, and a snap tab cut from the same shoulder so the colour matches on the day and will keep matching.