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Neo Nouveau by Andrew Diba Geometric Wallet Review – $605

be·spoke [ bi-ˈspōk ] – made to order: made to a customer’s specifications

Half-British. Half-Iranian. All Canadian. Andrew Diba is a British Columbian luxury bespoke leather designer who will personally meet with each of his customers to create any design that both he and the customer would be proud to own. No kits, instruction manual, or YouTube videos here – Andrew Diba has spent over five years in self-motivated learning through his own trial and error, an apprenticeship with a Budapest shoemaker, and designing and producing his own goods for house brands. To break through the limitations of price point and quantity, he has more recently branched out on his own, creating Neo Nouveau by Andrew Diba to focus on the essentials of crafting instead of business.

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CONSTRUCTION

The Geometric Wallet is one of Andrew Diba’s flagship innovative designs. The design incorporates more pocket space while keeping it slim and interesting. This particular custom wallet is made with only two pieces from a single pristine high-grade juvenile American alligator skin chrome-tanned in Italy. The cutting of the skin is thoughtfully designed to maximize scale placement. The inner triangle is cut out from the (eh-hem) genital area where the scales coalesce into smaller rings for an attractive viewing window. There is lining even in the hidden slots, made from Australian kangaroo tanned in Italy and for good reason. Kangaroo provides the strongest leather for any given thickness, insuring lifelong durability and hold to the wallet’s shape. The inner leather is a terracotta vegetable-tanned Sokoto goatskin from Nigeria using unique tanning agents from the Bagaruwa tree (a.k.a. Acacia Arabica) which is then tanned again in the UK with Sumac. All imported exotic skins are sustainable leather sources and CITES-labelled and approved.


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Everything at Neo Nouveau is 100% hand-stitched to 10 stitches/inch by Andrew Diba with traditional saddle-making techniques and French linen threads. Because exotic leathers are frequently chrome-tanned, the edges cannot simply be burnished. This particular finish is hand-sanded and melted, re-sanded, and repeated several times using special French waxy edge paint with a six-month shelf-life. After six months, even if only a drop has been used, the rest is thrown away. No cutting corners here. This extra effort to find the optimal edge paint is to maximize the range of available colors while providing much more durability and water resistance. Finishing can take up to several days but the waxy edge doesn’t have the typical unnatural or plastic look and is much less likely to separate at folded edges due to increased wear.

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Tools, paint, thread, leather – quality is essential to this wallet’s construction.

For final confirmation and quality control, Andrew Diba e-mails multiple photographs of the custom item prior to any shipment to guarantee a satisfied customer. If it isn’t right, it’s thrown away.

FUNCTION

The sheer amount of details and construction of this particular wallet makes it so that it no longer functions as a wallet. Instead, it is a showpiece. I can’t bring myself to stuff too many things into it for fear of ruining its stunningly fluid look. Should I stuff an old Costco receipt and my five coffee stamp cards into it? Probably not. Will it hold everything if I wanted to? Of course. The wallet is thin enough to fit comfortably into both back and front pockets and the alligator is surprisingly soft and light. The leathers are expected to self-condition with oils from the hands which is good since you will find yourself not wanting to let go of this wallet. Andrew Diba recommends Saphir Reptan conditioner for all his exotic skins.

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AESTHETIC

Text doesn’t do this wallet justice. It is beautiful, well-crafted, and screams luxury. Why waste time on describing the wallet when I can just post photos. The best part? No eyesore of a brand or label. It is better matched for formal or chic apparel but with something at this level you can wear it with anything and no one will dare criticize you.

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BESTLEATHER CONCLUSION

The Neo Nouveau by Andrew Diba Geometric Wallet is a standout leather creation. At $605 with free international shipping for this combination of materials, you get a personally constructed heirloom quality product without breaking the bank. This is a bespoke good and as such, the entire construction can be customized online or in person, from color of edging and stitching to leather combinations ranging from Horween to shark. It may be an ambitious investment for some people, but once you have one in your hands, you won’t regret it.

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Hungant Peccary Leather Gloves Review – $140

Do you need a pair of gloves for touching nice things in nice clothes? We are talking about driving, holding your wife’s hand in the cold, or driving an Aston Martin. These may be for you. These are sartorial gloves. These are fancy gloves. They are not for weeding the garden or splitting firewood.

This pair arrived from the ever prestigious LeatherGloves4U on Etsy with Hungant Leather branding. Now I know what you are thinking. I was thinking the same thing. With a name that prestigious and classy these must be incredible gloves. Or not. Yes, the name and shopping venue is somewhat of a disappointment. You shouldn’t easily imagine buying gloves appropriate for driving your AMG Mercedes on Etsy from what easily sounds like the dollar store for gloves. This time, however, it is permissible because these are good gloves.

What in the world is Peccary?

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It’s pigskin. I know, more prestige right? This funny looking piggy’s hide is prized for it’s softness so it is actually very desirable. The softness makes these gloves much more suitable to fancy wear rather than work wear. Splitting a cord of firewood wearing these would reduce them to shreds of nice soft peccary leather.

The hair follicle marks are very apparent, as you can see. From a distance this gives the leather a textured look. For those wanting the smooth texture of cowhide, maybe look at cowhide gloves. These have an attraction all their own in my opinion. For more information about peccary leather click here.

construction

While the construction is simple, it is certainly well done. There are two components, leather and thread. So how good is the stitching? The below picture of the stitching on the backhand The stitching is not very noticeable so I magnified it using a macro lens. It is impressively precise stitching.

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Upon first seeing the gloves laying flat I was underwhelmed by the external seams. The glove seemed chunky. However, once you slip them on the complete smoothness of the slide onto your hand brings it all into a better perspective. It’s really smooth slide onto your hand. The cashmere wool lining feels warm (won’t really be able to know until winter). It may not have tucked seams but it does feel seamless inside and I think that is an appropriate compromise.

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I have no doubt that with care these gloves will last a long time – but a lot of emphasis on WITH CARE. Any usage with constant chafing will not be suitable for this kind of soft leather. You will wear through it. These are for gentle use. Driving, walking, breathing, looking fancy, etc. Light work only. They are not wimpy gloves but have an ideal range of use that they are designed for. Want something tougher?

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The fit of these gloves is very good. I followed the supplied instructions and found my hands to be a size eight. The gloves are fitted nicely without any looseness around the palm or at the end of the fingertips. With this kind of fit you tug gently at each fingertip to remove the gloves.

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Which color would you like?

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aesthetic

These gloves look really good worn with any classic material like wool, leather, or cotton. I think they are particularly fetching with a good watch. In this case it is a Seiko 007.

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functionality

It’s not cold enough yet this fall to know the cold weather suitability of these gloves. I can speculate that they will be fine for the dash to the car in the ten degree weather we get here in the pacific northwest but I won’t be taking them skiing. The other functionality factor is that the waterproofness of these gloves is similar to that of a sponge. The softness makes for comfortable gloves but they also soak up water easily. Constantly getting these gloves wet is going to shrink them, make them brittle, and generally ruin them. Don’t get them wet. Remember, these are fancy gloves for doing fancy things.

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BestLeather conclusion

The peccary leather gloves from Hungat Leather are expensive high quality gloves, no doubt about it. Though expensive for gloves that you cannot use rigorously, if you compare them to cashmere lined Dents gloves (very famous english glove maker) these are relatively affordable. You must use them appropriately (lightly) to fully enjoy them.

Check them out here.

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This is the most accurate color representation.

What do you think?

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Anthology Gear Wear “The Reckoner” Laptop Bag Review – $539

For those of us needing a refresher on music terminology, Google defines anthology as a published collection of songs typically issued in one album.  With such a word as the name of your company, it is obvious that music related gear is a central focus.  Enter Anthology Gear Wear, based in Greenwood, Missouri, a maker of some of the finest music related leather goods on the planet.  Anthology focuses on designing and crafting gear that will last a lifetime and then some.  After receiving their “The Reckoner” Laptop Bag to review, I became a believer in how they could offer a 100 year warranty on all of their goods.

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CONSTRUCTION

After just a few minutes of perusing The Reckoner it was obvious that the bag was built and constructing to exacting standards by skilled craftsman, who reside in the heart of Mexico’s high end leather goods region.  The bag’s primary purpose is to protect sensitive gear and it is built well to accomplish that.  To open the bag, you must first unlatch the strap connected to the distressed nickel buckle.  The distressed hardware on the bag, by the way, looks fantastic especially when married to the Aged Steel color of the bag, which is a dark grey.  The bag also comes in a beautiful Black Whiskey (see picture at the bottom of the article).

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Upon opening the top flap, you then unzipper the black, oversized YKK zipper which reveals a large pocket on each side of the bag and an open space in the middle.  One end of the bag is clearly designed for a laptop as big as 15″, as its sleeve is padded between a layer of pigskin and a layer of finely ground suede. The other side of this sleeve is also padded, as is the bottom of the bag.  This bag is clearly meant to protect your laptop, which is refreshing in the world of leather goods where much of the time your sensitive electronic equipment has no more padding than a single layer of leather.

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Brian, Anthology’s proprietor, determined to layer the bag with a softer material where all electronic items would rest, this to prevent scratching and marring. The other end of the bag’s inside has a pigskin sleeve, where you can stash your music, chargers, or other miscellaneous gear.  The bag’s size is somewhat misleading.  At 12″ high, by 16″ wide, by 4″ deep, the bag is similar in size to many other briefcases on the market, but it seems to hold so much more.  Other than holding my 15″ Macbook Pro and my Ipad, you can comfortably add some books, chargers and accessories to the bag with room to spare.  When speaking to Brian about the bag he indicated that he carries most of his music gear in this bag when traveling to gigs.  It fits a lot without feeling like a large bag.  Anthology does offer the same bag in a larger size, for laptops up to 17″, in case you need to carry some additional space.

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After opening the top flap you will find a smaller storage compartment meant for smaller gadgets and accessories.  This compartment has some additional sleeves where you can secure your Ipad mini or similar sized tablet, your phone, and some pens (or really short guitar sticks).  It also has a zipper that runs the length of the bag, revealing yet another compartment for separating some of your items.  This compartment pulls out about four inches or so, providing additional storage space.  The front of the bag also reveals a small, vertical zipper for stashing tickets, passes, or equivalent.  The back of the bag has an open sleeve for adding your favorite sheet music or magazine while on the go.

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We have established that the bag has a compartment or sleeve for just about anything you would need one for.  The bag is also built so tough that you could probably throw it out of your car at freeway speeds and your laptop would still be just fine.  It really feels that tough.  I counted no less than 38 rivets on the body of the bag, as well as the strap, that help hold this bag together.  That is on top of the tough as nails polyester thread used to stitch the bag together. The handle is also secured to the top flap by being riveted to a steal plate, that is covered with pigskin (the bag’s main liner).

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The bottom of the bag is supported by what feels like an indestructible sheet of polycarbonate.  It has a diamond embedded design and gives the bag an added degree of ruggedness, as well as helps the bag to stand upright easily.  Tough Tough Tough.

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DESIGN

Adding to a very robust design, this bag does not skimp on aesthetic appeal.  It is not just extremely functional, but it looks great too.  That is in part to the two strips of leather that wrap around the top and front of the bag.  One is approximately 4″ wide and the other about 1/2″ wide.  They are purposefully slightly off center and give the bag some visual appeal and a sense of higher design.

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The majority of the bag’s edges are wrapped in either pigskin or the same leather used for the bag’s main construction.  While some may like the edges exposed, this look is more sophisticated.  It allows you to feel a little more comfortable carrying the bag to a business meeting, but still hauling your music gear to a concert.  In general, I found the bag to be a mix of high end fashion design and rugged leatherworking.  It is a bag that you can use and pull off in a variety of settings with ease.

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LEATHER

The Reckoner is made with chrome tanned full grain leather.  The outer shell of the bag, as well as the strap and front pocket, is made from cowhide leather that is approximately four ounces thick, a hearty boot leather thickness.  As mentioned, The Reckoner uses generous amounts of pigskin, of the softer variety, which helps to save on weight (the bag weighs in at six pounds), but also gives the bag a smooth interior.  The pigskin is not thick, probably one ounce thick or thereabouts, but it does not need to be.  It is one of the strongest animal skins available and is very tough. The use of the finely ground suede also provides the softness that your electronics desire.

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The handle of the bag is secured to riveted posts with a D ring on each side and is a combination of both leather and neoprene.  The top of the handle is leather, the bottom is a soft neoprene.  The bag was designed this way to provide a softer grip when carrying the bag for longer stretches.  I tend to be a leather purist in a number of ways and would probably prefer an all leather handle, even though the neoprene feels a bit more comfortable.  Some of the leather sleeves also contain some elastic bands that help keep things in place.  I honestly do not know how durable this elastic is, but with a 100 year warranty, there is not much to worry about.  These are small gripes though for such a ridiculously well made bag.

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BESTLEATHER CONCLUSION

Excellent design.  Visual appeal.  Sturdy as hell construction (hell is sturdy I suppose).  Thick, beautiful leather.  38 rivets.  A darn cool name.  Loads of space for your laptop and music gear, or any other gear for that matter.  The Reckoner Laptop Bag from Anthology Gear Wear has all of these features with more to boot.  Does BestLeather recommend this bag?  Oh yes, we do.

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Pact Leather 11″ Satchel Review – $500

Pact is a leather company based out of Spokane, Washington. Two friends put their creative minds together and produced an amazing concept for a leather company. Their products come from two designers who love quality and creativity. You can see this in what they have created. Their items are uniquely made 100% out of leather.

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Appearance

This satchel has a very unique appearance. There is a major difference between this bag and others. That difference is that it is made completely of leather.

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The designers at PACT design and construct items strictly out of leather. The result of that is beautifully weaved leather items. The patina of this satchel is a dark caramel color giving it a very classy look.

Design & Durability

The design of the bag is very innovative and different from anything I’ve seen. Between the weaved sides and all around design of it I get comments and questions about it every time I leave my house. The leather is strong yet soft and flexible. It scratches easily (in a good way) which adds to the patina and character of the satchel.

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Construction

The construction of this bag is what makes it so amazingly unique and special. As I said before, this bag is made completely out of leather. This means there are no clasps, buckles, stitching, glue, or anything of the sort. Simply 100% beautiful leather. The bag is cut and weaved with such precision and attention to detail that it is not loose or in danger of falling apart in any way. The sides are both weaved leather from bottom to top and end up creating the strap. The strap is an over the shoulder strap with a simple, yet elegant, fold pattern at which you can undo and change the length of it. I personally love the way that they designed this bag with the weaved pattern on the sides and strap. It makes it so that it can be very professional or very casual depending on the situation. The front of the satchel has a flap that comes from the back, covers the top, and folds under a strap in the front. The appearance from the front is simple yet practical and aesthetically pleasing. The back has a pocket that is 3/4 the length of the bag and displays the small, unique PACT symbol.

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Usage

The PACT Satchel is the perfect bag for taking your iPad, tablet, or 11 inch laptop to a business meeting. It’s also great for taking to the coffee shop with your computer and a few notebooks. It’s not the best for carrying around small items due to the lack of pockets. However, if it is used for books, notebooks, and a small computer or tablet it is very useful and classy looking.

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Conclusion

I highly recommend the PACT Satchel. It is very practical, classy, and unique. It is made well with quality leather and will last for ages. It looks fantastic as a simple bag for your small computer and notebooks or it can accentuate your classy, professional side in a business meeting. Either way, you’re awesome points go up with this satchel by your side. Overall I’m very impressed with this bag. PACT makes a great product.

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Waxhaws Leather Co. iPhone 5 Signature Design Wallet Review – $78  

The Battle of Waxhaws was a pivotal but barely talked about battle during the Revolutionary War which galvanized American Patriots to ultimately win the war. The Waxhaws Leather Company is a small quiet California-based company less than two years old, created with the goals of producing classic and timeless full-grain leather pieces against today’s trend of softer, manipulated, mass-produced leather goods targeted at the pockets of female shoppers. Its owner, John Fred, prides himself on his honesty and work ethic passed down to him by his grandfather. Originally inspired by the Coach and Hartmann of decades past, John Fred aims to create focused and practical leather goods for men and women using full grain vegetable-tanned English bridle leather carefully selected to patina and burnish gracefully.

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CONSTRUCTION

This is a small family affair. John Fred designs his own concepts with the occasional nod of approval from his wife (who just happens to be a professional designer). The Signature Design Wallet is crafted using Italian full grain vegetable-tanned leather with three card slots and a full length compartment. All leather materials are imported from Italy and manufactured by an experienced Chinese production firm personally visited and chosen by John Fred. The leather is designed to wrap around the entire wallet including the interior whereas other wallets sometimes fill this space with cheaper microfiber or suede. Special attention was also given to the rubber casing holding the phone. As the area most prone to any wear and tear on the wallet, a special 3M adhesive is used to seal the casing to the wallet. On top of all this, John has a satisfaction guarantee and lifetime full replacement warranty for all his products and provides direct personal communication through e-mail. He uses and tests all his product lines himself and has a video on his website demonstrating the appearance, malleability, and durability of his own iPhone wallet case after long term use. With the upcoming release of the iPhone 6, a similar case will be released for the new dimensions.

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FUNCTION

Since this is full-grain leather, the brand new cover does not immediately lie flush with the phone screen. However, with time and natural conditioning from your hands, the leather softens and conforms around the phone. The pockets are useful but not numerous enough to function as an entire wallet. This is a good thing considering the main purpose of the wallet is a phone case and carrying tons of weight will only get in the way of making phone calls. The rubber casing has a solid attachment to the leather base and makes a snug fit with cutouts for all the speakers and cameras of the phone. The side buttons are guarded nicely but still easily pressed. For someone used to a plain silicone case, it takes time to get used to opening or bending back a cover to use a phone, but there is definite extra protection to the screen with the full grain leather padding.

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AESTHETIC

Instead of tearing away the packaging when you first receive the wallet, you will want to keep it. It comes in a handsome gift box which opens to an even nicer color and smell of full-grain whiskey (or black) veggie-tanned leather. The wallet is subdued in its appearance. There are no gimmicks or trendy style-lines. It is compact but beautiful. The leather looks like it is just begging to start building its own patina with the oil from your hands. Inside the surprisingly full leather interior adds that extra quality and luxury not found in most mass-produced leather iPhone wallets. My $3 silicone case from the mall went straight into the wastebasket. Never again.

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 BESTLEATHER CONCLUSION

The Waxhaws Leather Co. iPhone 5 Signature Design Wallet is sold on the Waxhaws, Amazon, and Etsy websites. Offered at a reasonable price with free two-day Amazon Prime shipping available, it has earned a perfect 5/5 Amazon rating and deserves it. It is simple, it is quality, and it is beautiful.

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Waxhaws Leather Co. Key Case Review – $42

Waxhaws Leather Company is a young company dedicated to producing classic and timeless full-grain leather pieces. Made of the same leather as the Waxhaws Leather Co. iPhone 5 Signature Design Wallet, the Waxhaws Leather Co. Key Case is personally designed by John Fred using Italian full grain vegetable-tanned English bridle leather carefully selected for its ability to patina and burnish gracefully.

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Each product arrives in a handsome gift box.

CONSTRUCTION

This minimalistic key case is created with durability and practicality in mind. It is comprised of a single piece of full-grain leather folded and stitched together with a looped cotton cord through the top – simple yet tough.

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FUNCTION

Unlike your standard key case with built-in key holders, this case is created as an accessory to your own keychain. Simply attach your keychain to the inside loop. When you want to cover your keys, pull the cord tight on the outside and your keys will be brought into their protective leather case. This is particularly useful in situations where you don’t want your keys jingling in your pocket or showing through your pants and ruining your sophisticated look. Most importantly, this prevents scratches to your mobile devices or in my case, a brand new leather iPhone case that had already received a large scratch from being kept next to my keys (ARGH).

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Attach keys to inside loop
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Pull up on the outer loop to bring the keys inside.

One obvious downside to this case is the additional bulk to your keychain and an extra step when using your keys. Fortunately, this case can be easily slipped off in situations when you want to minimize your pocket fill or don’t care about protecting your pocket contents.

AESTHETIC

The key case arrives in the signature Waxhaws gift box. Holding the soft yet tough leather, it is immediately obvious that it is made from the same quality leather used in all Waxhaws goods. The design is simple to minimize bulk and maximize utility but lightly accented with rounded and geometric corners and the debossed Waxhaws logo. In the whiskey color, it looks rich and classic.

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BESTLEATHER CONCLUSION

The Waxhaws Leather Co. Key Case is sold on the Waxhaws, Amazon, and Etsy websites. At $42.00 it is moderately priced and may not be a must-buy for everyone. It is otherwise perfect as a unique gift for those with discerning tastes in leather and a smart investment for anyone looking to protect their valuables from their keys.