Money Managers: Wallets That Say You Mean Business

You’re wining and dining a big client. The wine was great and so was the grub: Score one for the home team. But now it’s time to settle the bill. You reach into your jacket pocket and pull out a decrepit, tattered piece of leather, full of bills, plastic, business cards, receipts, ticket stubs, fast-food coupons, and fortune cookie fortunes. (Remember George on Seinfeld? Well, that’s you.) As far as your lasting impression goes, you might as well have gone to White Castle.

From a client’s point of view, if you can’t manage your own wallet, why should you be allowed to manage the account? “A wallet is an extension of your personal and professional style,” says style expert Kim Gross. “The quality should be as good as your shoes, briefcase, and belt.”

In the interest of saving you from such a livelihood-threatening embarrassment, we embarked on a search for the perfect wallet—one that embodies professionalism and fashion while letting you organize all the stuff it needs to hold. Here’s what we found.

1. Coach Dress Calf Double Billfold  ($148)
For those bored with just one type of leather in their wallet, Coach offers a calfskin exterior and a vachetta leather interior. Vachetta is typical in many luggage and handbag trimmings but it isn’t treated, as is its calfskin counterpart, so the leather is vulnerable to water stains—which shouldn’t prevent you from buying this wallet.

2. Marc Jacobs Medium Patchwork Wallet ($375)
If it’s urban sophistication you’re looking for, check out this compact wallet from fashion designer and native New Yorker Marc Jacobs. The polished leather exterior is marked by a sequence of sleek triangles. With its monochromatic stitching, it might lack flash, but it shows that, sometimes, simpler is better.

3. Tod's Bi-fold Card Case ($275)
Originally an Italian shoemaking company that began in a basement in the late 1920s, Tod’s has since jumped into the wallet and handbag business. Inside, white stitching sets off the cash, coin, and card compartments. Outside, a silver-toned zipper, made by the high-end Italian firm Lampo, binds the whole thing together.

4. Cole Haan Bellwood Collection ($85)
Cole Haan recently added wallets to its portfolio, and they live up to the reputation of the company’s famous shoes. The Bellwood, made of shiny calfskin leather, provides easy access to the essentials: six slots for credit cards, two billfolds, and a flip ID attachment.

5. Tumi Helix Double Billfold Wallet ($148)
The pure sensual appeal of French calfskin leather—delicate, grainy, and velvety—is enough to make this wallet an object of desire. And its zipper case adds a utilitarian touch: You can toss it across the hotel room without anything falling out.

6. Mulberry Mini Tri-fold Wallet ($245)
A packrat’s dream, this calfskin leather wallet features nine card slots, two cash sleeves, an ID window for your driver’s license, and even two additional hidden compartments. What you put in the hidden compartments is your call, and, frankly, we don’t want to know.

For Women:

7. Hobo International Rachel ($118)
A perfect balance of organization and looks, the Rachel wallet offers tons of nooks and crannies —slots for cards, bills, and loose change. On the outside, glazed and gently tumbled Italian leather; inside, an ID window, eight credit card slots, three hidden slide pockets, and one zippered pocket. A magnetic closure keeps all your belongings secure.

8. Fendi Selleria ($310)
Soft, malleable Selleria leather is crafted using an ancient Roman leather-making technique—cow skin, tanned by minerals. But it’s the look of this wallet that’ll grab you—the beige stitching around the borders, contrasting neatly with the black leather, and the embedded silver plate in the corner.

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MBA Jungle, August 2008