The Wingback Winston Cardholder Review

Wingback is a company that time and time again always seems to exceed my expectations. Founded in 2014 in London Wingback begun life as a Kickstarter campaign raising money for its original wallet – The Wingback Cash Wallet. From here, Wingback has had many different successful crowdfunding campaigns that have raised over £400,000 in capital across all their projects. Along with wallets, Wingback also produces and sells a variety of other everyday carry goods including pens and key accessories. 

Wingback exists in many ways to combat the trend in ‘fast fashion’ culture and the development of products on mass with little regard to the quality or environmental impact in mind. Each wallet is handmade to order and uses on the finest materials. Today we’re going to be looking at wingback’s latest Kickstarter project – The Wingback Winston Cardholder. This unusual wallet caught my attention thanks to its innovative leaf spring system. 

Look & Design

If there’s one thing I can never fault Wingback for it’s their premium, high quality, and exemplary design and craftsmanship. All Wingback Wallets are made from environmentally certified Full Grain Tuscan Leather. Tuscany are renowned for their skills in producing some of the most wonderful leathers in the world using traditional techniques and opting for vegetable tanning (this means it uses natural tannin from tree barks) as opposed to the commonly used chrome tanned which is less sustainable and more harmful to the environment. 

In terms of the properties of the leather, they stand as some of the best on the market. At 1.4 mm thick it’s definitely one of the thicker leathers I’ve used in any wallet which adds to its durability and potential to last longer. As with any high-quality leather, the potential for it to develop a wonderful Patina over time is also increased, and as the wear and tear of daily life transforms the leather collecting markings and changing color in a unique way. 

Due to the handmade nature of each and every wallet from Wingback you also get a great choice and range of customization options to choose from. This allows you to really tailor the wallet to your own needs creating a unique ‘one-off’ wallet for you. Each cardholder can be personalized with a choice of thread colors, and laser engraved with initials, a quote on the front and inside, or a phone number to help its owner track down their wallet if it ever goes missing (costs an extra £10.00+). The Winston is available in a small but attractive array of color offerings charcoal (black), chestnut (dark brown), and whiskey (light brown or tan).

Functionality & Utility 

Wingback have really gone back to the drawing board when it comes to redesigning what we’ve come to know as a traditional leather cardholder. On the surface, the wallet looks like any typical cardholder-style leather wallet. But it’s what’s happening internally where wingback really innovative. 

A pair of 0.3mm stainless steel leaf springs hidden inside the Winston Card Holder secure its contents in place. You can increase or decrease its capacity and your cards and cash will always be held tight, even as the leather ages. Usually, with many wallets, as the wallet ages, card slots can become loose and credit/debit cards began to naturally fall out. This innovative system prevents this from happening. 

So how does this mechanism work in practice? I’d say pretty damn well. When you insert and remove cards you can feel the leaf spring hug your cards, but not in a negative way and not in one where it becomes overly difficult to gain access to them. Over time, as I use the Winston Card Holder more, it’ll become more stretched and I’ll be able to gauge the true effectiveness of the steel leaf spring.  The Spring also helps protect against the potential crime of ‘card skimming’ although the wallet itself doesn’t come with in-built RFID Protection. 

Capacity wise the wallet can hold between 1 to 10 credit/debit cards between the wallet two dual symmetrical pockets/cardslots. The wallet is definitely aimed at the more minimalist man and less in more when it comes to the Winston Cardholder. The more you carry the bulker it gets and the harder it can be to quickly and easily get access to your cards. That being said, compared to other similar style wallets the Winston outperforms them all thanks to the leaf spring mechanism. 

Final Verdict

Overall, I was highly impressed with my time using the Winston Cardholder. Its innovation can not be understated and its ability to last a lifetime, without compromising the functionality of the wallet, is fantastic. Wingback is truly a pioneer in the wallet space and continuously is reinventing what we thought was normal. All things, and the fantastic prices, quality, and their lifetime warranty with complimentary repairs if their work ever fails. 

Currently, the Winston Cardholder is still be funded through Kickstarter, although it already smashed its funding goal has currently raised over $20,000 in funding. If you’re interested in getting your hands on the Winston Cardholder from Kickstarter it can be yours at the discounted ‘backer’ price of £55.00 (or $76.00). This is a reduction from its eventual Retail price which comes in at £75.00 (or $102.00). For more information on the Wingback Winston Cardholder check out their Kickstarter page using the link below.