Handmade from start to finish, the Stevenson Leather Co. Voyageur Bifold is an intricately designed classic wallet. This high capacity bifold will be able to carry everything you need, and the two-tone color scheme gives you a black formal wallet on the outside with a personal, stylish taupe touch on the inside.
ABOUT STEVENSON LEATHER CO
Stevenson Leather Co. is a young one-man-show company out of Canada. A frustration with low quality shoes led Ryan Stevenson to begin his research into the world of leather. After discovering his new obsession, this self taught artisan began making products that would shape to the needs of their user and become uniquely their own over a lifetime of use. As his original interest was in shoes, Ryan hopes to eventually bring cobblery to Stevenson Leather Co. Keep an eye on this promising company.
CONSTRUCTION
It’s hard to not notice the attention given to detail in the Voyageur Bifold’s construction. Every step is done by hand, and it’s clear none of them were rushed. The edges are all burnished through an iterative sanding and painting process, giving a smooth and flawless finish. The saddle stitching is nearly perfect and done with 532 black linen thread.
The leather is 3oz vegetable tanned leather from the Conceria Walpier tannery in Italy. Outer surfaces are finished smooth, and inner surfaces are unfinished, still showing the ironed out grain fibers. The leather is dyed through.
FUNCTION
The Voyageur Bifold features six card slots, two vertical ‘hidden’ pockets behind them, and a main cash pocket. This high capacity wallet should be able to hold everything you need, and some may prefer it in a bag over their back pocket. I can get six cards in the card slots + two cards in each of the hidden pockets without too much work, a total of 10 cards, though it feels a bit overstuffed. I found a good balance to be 1-2 cards in each hidden pocket, and four cards in the card slots, one in the top and bottom of each side. Taking out that middle card from the slots makes the remaining four cards much easier to get in and out, and the extra cards fit handily in the hidden pockets.
The edges are all sanded and painted, and the surfaces are all ironed smooth, making cards and cash easy to insert and remove. A couple months wasn’t nearly long enough to allow this tough wallet to wear in, but it’s clear that after some extensive use it will only get better as the quality materials mold to individual use.
AESTHETIC
The intricacy and skilled construction of the Voyageur Bifold are readily apparent.
The Stevenson logo is gently printed on the outside of the wallet. A thin reinforcing strip of leather on the top edge of the cash pocket rounds the top of the wallet a small amount, but this overall balances the thickness and gives added structure.
I love the dual threat of the two-tone colors. On the outside, you’ve got a black wallet–formal and great looking. Then you open it, and you’ve got taupe with black stitching, giving a unique and raw feel. I think having the alternate inner color gives the Voyageur Bifold its own secret style. The visible grain fibers on the inner surfaces add further to this effect.
I don’t think a single person that saw my Voyageur Bifold didn’t use the term “beautiful” at some point. The careful attention to detail and contrasting leather and thread colors make for a fantastic looking wallet.
CONCLUSION
The Voyageur Bifold is a pleasure to use and look at, and I’m confident it will only become better as it lasts for a lifetime. The handmade construction is very well done, and the variety of color and finish on the surfaces makes for a formal and stylish dual-threat. It’s a recommended, Buy It For Life product.
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