We got my mom a matching wallet in the colorway she originally wanted (it's a bit more palatable as a small wallet versus how much I hated it on the bag haha). LV wallets too I have always found to be a tad too expensive for what you're getting. We have gotten my mom their wallets in the past, so to be able to compare the quality to a more recent product is a good way of knowing if they've gone up or down or stayed the same in terms of quality.
The wallet is quite lightweight, which to me says there's not much leather there. Typically, big designer brands keep the aesthetic "top" part of the leather (literally the top part of the skin which has the grain or design), while shaving away (we call it skiving) the underside until only the top part remains, then they reinforce it with lighter weight synthetic or reconstructed materials such as fabric or "salpa" (which, if you've encountered this term in my other posts, is a thin, cork-like material made of leather dust that is used as a stiffener or reinforcement). That is how they make the bags or accessories lighter. Real leather has weight, and I carry that weight willingly if it means it's the legit stuff haha.
Consistent enough in terms of stitches (machine sewn) and edge finish
This is that rubberized-looking finish you see on bag edges. It's a paint we apply to protect the edges as well as to unify seams/ layers. It's more aesthetic than structural, but takes a lot of effort, skill, and time to apply.
The portion for bills and cards feels so thin that a good tug might just rip it apart
They also don't do custom gold-foil stamp of initials for this style. Do you know why? It's probably because the leather is so thin that the hot stamp will burn right through, especially if it's an in-store associate doing it and not a more experienced person at a factory.
You can see how thin the leather is. At the thinnest portion (where it's a single layer and not where there are card slots or pockets), it's less than 1mm thick. That is really really thin. For a bag, if unlined, the recommended thickness is 1.5-2mm, depending on the style. You could do 1mm with lin
In the coin purse, there is a leather lining but also very very thin
They didn't burn the zipper ends properly either, that's why you see the slight fraying
When an over-the-edge reinforcement stitch has this knot, it means it was machine-sewn. Hand-sewn reinforcement won't have a knot like that there
My mom loves it (again, mostly 80's-90's nostalgia, I think), but I do feel this is not much for nearly 500€
Compared to coated canvas wallets, it may feel a little lighter. The leather used feels thinner than before (we've gotten her a coated canvas+leather combo wallet before). Only time will tell how long this lasts, but definitely there are a lot of other things I'd rather spend that 500€ on...
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