MorganLeatherWorks Shell Cordovan custom wallet - first look

 

Thursday March 24th 2022. The notification said I were to receive my package today. It did not say who the sender was, but I recognized the tracking number to be from USPS. In late February, I had commissioned a custom wallet from MorganLeatherWorks. I was looking for a high quality shell cordovan wallet to celebrate some good things that have been happening in my life, yet to also take note of an important moment -- turning 30.

MorganLeatherWorks
MorganLeatherWorks (Jonah Morgan) is a one-man business based in San Diego, California (CA) in the US. Jonah sources the materials and does all the work himself. Everything is handmade, even the stitching. Judging from his posts on Instagram, Jonah has only started this business a bit more than half a year ago. His goal is to one day completely master the craft.

What motivates me is my passion for all things leather, a love of creativity and being able to make functional art that you can carry in your pocket.

Jonah Morgan from MorganLeatherWorks

Shell Cordovan is an expensive leather. In my search for the right seller (for me), I've seen many great pieces of leather not truly being utilized or brought to its potential. Though new to the business, Jonah has shown some impressive works as of late. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm very particular about my purchases. What pushed me over to purchase from Jonah was the attention to detail, the fair price and most of all his passion for leather making. More on that later, as will be shown in the pictures below. Jonah (as far as I know) only works on a commission basis.

Jonah has been very accommodating as I was going back and forth on the design and color leathers. Initially, he did not have the natural in stock, but I knew I wanted it the moment it was available. I love the ever changing patina on leather and knew the natural color was the perfect candidate for that. We decided on a design that I had in mind for a while. 

Full back view of the wallet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shell Cordovan
Shell Cordovan is leather that is made from the connective tissue underneath the full grain leather from a horse's rump (horse butt hehe). It is known to patina well, but also to be very durable as it's naturally resistant to stretching. Ashland Leather has some dramatic patina shown in their videos.

From the moment I opened up the package, I was hit with an amazing leather smell. The leather smell on this is much more prominent and deeper than, let's say, Horween leather. The natural color reminds me of my aged Midori goat leather cover, but much deeper in color and sporting an amazing luster. My first time handling shell cordovan, I didn't know what to really expect. I thought I might hate it (but I didn't). The leather is oddly smooth and feels very luxurious in the hand. It is stiffer than any leather I've had and has a little bounce to it as I held the wallet closed. This particular piece has some of the tissue texture visible, but of course unlike other leathers, you don't really feel those. I love the swirl-like affect of it. It's incredibly smooth. Because of the nature of the leather, shell cordovan doesn't have the pebbled or grain texture of 'normal' leathers. The pores are simply to small to see with the naked eye. 

 

Wallet
The wallet is incredibly well-made, in particular the attention to detail. The inside is not shell cordovan, although there is the option to choose a full shell cordovan wallet. From what I've seen, shell cordovan doesn't age as nicely on the inside of wallets usually, as the leather is simply to abrasive. I went all out on patina potential, so chose natural veg tan leather instead. The wallet is nice and elegant, nothing that stands out too much but is stunning once you take a closer look. Stitching was done by hand and is even. Edges are well-burnished. It will take a while for the leather to break in, as it's still stiff. MorganLeatherWorks' logo is simple and tasteful, pressed on the lower right side on the inside of the wallet.

Details
Wallet specifications
Leather outside: natural shell cordovan
Leather inside: natural veg tan
Height: 11,50 cm
Width: 8,50 cm
Length when opened: 17,50 cm
Tall billfold style with open tops for quick access

 

The shell cordovan is quite thick, though not overly so. The natural veg tan is definitely thinner, but as it's layered for the card slots and well glued and stitched together, it does not feel cheap. In my opinion, being a good leather worker is also knowing what types of leathers are best suit for what jobs. The card slots will need to stay slim for quick and easy use and not bulk up the wallet too much. I can fit about two in each, though with my use I only have one card in each. I currently have 7 cards in mine, some cash and one token.



Jonah was given the choice to choose the color of my linings. Here is where Jonah is different from other leather workers and truly makes his pieces shine. This particular design that I want is nothing really new. I've seen it around before in different variations. None of them have lining to reinforce the leather.

My biggest fear was that the leather would fray over time where the leather is not burnished, which is usually where the leather is not stitched down. It is an easy decision to make to just leave the leather as it is, but just a small piece of leather along the edge like this makes the wallet ten times more luxurious to me. Jonah also surprised me with the brown lining on the back of the card slots.

 

Last thoughts
The purchase was done easy enough and MorganLeatherWorks listened to all my needs and tried to accommodate me as much as possible. It took one month from our first contact to me receiving the wallet, but this is with some delay as I changed my mind a couple of times throughout our exchanges and I live in Europe.

The wallet is incredible and it speaks of great craftsmanship. The leather is thick and strong and overall just of great quality. The wallet itself is functional and fits my needs well. If I were to change anything, it would be to make the wallet even smaller in width or just more compact overall. My intention was to have a smaller EDC, just big enough to fit a 20 euro bill. As it is right now, even bigger bills fit and I'll have to see if this wallet would not be too big in the long run. A centimeter or two off would've been perfect. I believe that's just something that you have to deal with when purchasing custom made items. I'd never really know until I've got it in my hands even if the measurements were known. Even so, I'm very happy with it. It's a great bigger (main) EDC that fits my needs in most situations and I'll sure to have a lot of use out of it. I'll check in every once in a while to show how the leather is aging.

MorganLeatherWorks: https://www.instagram.com/morganleatherworks/
The wallet: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca98mnXruk0/

 Originally posted on April 5th 2022.

 

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