Santoni Tumbled Leather Credit Card Case

Tumbled leather gets its grain from a drum rather than from a plate. The hide goes into a rotating vessel and is worked against itself until it creases, folds, and lifts its own grain, so the pebble that comes out is uneven in the way a hide is uneven, with some areas pronounced and some barely there. An embossed grain is stamped under heat and is therefore regular everywhere. On an object measured in centimeters there is no cut and no silhouette to carry anything, so that difference is most of what you are looking at. Three card slots on each side, a pocket down the middle, and made in Italy.

Why we selected it

A card case is a small enough problem that there is nowhere for a maker to hide. We wanted one that had been chosen for the hide rather than for the hardware, and this is that.

Santoni is a Corridonia house that finishes its leather by hand, and on an object this small the finish is not a feature of the thing, it is the thing.

Materials and construction

Tumbled leather, in Black, Gold, and Orange. A central pocket with three card slots on each side of it. Made in Italy. We do not hold a leather type, a tannage, or a lining for this piece, and we do not describe what Gold is on it.

Sizing and dimensions

Ten centimeters by eight, which is a footprint that takes cards in either orientation and folded notes besides. We are not giving you a depth. A case like this one is as deep as what you put in it, and a rounded guess is worse than a phone call. Call the store and someone will measure it with cards in it.

Styling

Black is the one that disappears into a pocket. Gold and Orange are the ones you find in a bag without looking. It is the same object in every one of them, which is the argument for buying the colorway you actually want rather than the safe one.

Care

Santoni’s own instruction is the one to follow: use creams made for its leathers and its hand-applied colors, and do not substitute a general product, because a hand-applied color is not a sealed one. Beyond that, a tumbled hide takes marks into its grain rather than across it, so it needs conditioning rarely rather than often. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Tumbled Leather Document Holder is the same finish at the size that carries papers, the Small Chapelier with Zipper Closure is a tumbled leather purse with a top zip, and the Fringe Marta Bag is the same house with fringe across it. Everything we carry from Santoni is listed together.