My current wallet was purchased in Peru for $8. Soft leather and stitched so well that it has lasted forever. I bought a nice one in Italy last year for around 50 euros, but am saving it until the other one dies. Both of them were made by a random leather worker by hand and are top notch.
I would not waste money on a branded wallet. From experience, most of the brands are not high quality unless you get into the $300+ range, which is stupid.
Why don’t you buy one on your next trip to the mainland?
I agree that I am not super impressed by my Fossil wallet. It’s better than my last one (Perry Ellis), but only because that one was falling apart. Neither of them were very expensive. Mostly I just wait until one is falling apart, then look for something that works.
I’ve seen the Bellroy series of wallets and like the slim designs, but I’m not sure if I really would benefit from them because I keep too many things in my wallet. I think I need to find a better organizing principle. My ID, two credit cards, a few business cards, and cash should be it. Anything else I need should be plannable (though my IB card and maybe a museum card are ‘maybes’)
I saw a nicer “Dockers” branded thing that was a sort of magnetic money clip with four slots for cards and a window for an ID. I don’t think the money clip would hold my zillions of $1 bills but I liked the idea of something slim for the cards, and maybe I put cash elsewhere (a la Kramer?). Not sure. I’m not normally into Dockers branded stuff, but the leather felt nice and the design seemed intelligent. (It was something like this: http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-2088425/dockers-slim-black-card-case-wallet-men.jsp)
My current wallet which is now falling apart I got from ebay for £10 around 1yr ago…it got a money clip and space for 5 cards which is all i need it for. I think bellroy is actually good quality though…it’s not a branded fashion wallet for me to prance around with.
I just want something that looks good, is highly practical and that will last a few years.
