You may not have heard of A-Slim but the team behind this wallet producing company has over 50 years of experience within the leather industry and it spans the entire industry from tanning to design to manufacturing. They also have a very wide and impressive range of minimalist wallets. A-Slim offered us a chance to review one of their wallets and we took this opportunity to review their Reza wallet, their version of the plate wallet but with a leather twist.
We have been impressed before by the lengths that some wallet companies take on their wallet packaging. We have taken a photo of the pouch that the A-Slim Reza comes in below. It looks very much like a cardboard envelope that is designed to look like a purse or mini satchel. But we were surprised to find out that this pouch is actually made from leather and it is stitched together. It has velcro clasps and it is just the perfect size for storing a passport and other travel documents. It is like getting a free travel wallet!
Let us get on to the main attraction here, the Reza wallet itself. We actually had a freehand to pick which slim wallet we wanted to review and we picked the Reza because we have reviewed many plate type wallets but never one that is made from leather. The plate wallet design is popular because you can’t get any slimmer than two thin plates held together with an elastic band. However, the look of a plate wallet is a huge departure from your traditional wallet.
The Reza is a hybrid between a classic leather wallet and the modern plate wallet. Instead of 2 plates, it has a single piece of leather that is folded over like a clamshell. Like most plate wallets, your cards and cash goes between the two halves and an elastic band is used to hold everything together.
The leather cover is actually made up of 2 different leather pieces that are stitched together. This allows the Reza to have a different color on the outside and the inside. You can choose from a range of colors from the usual black and browns to funkier ones like Fern Green and Volcano Orange.
One big difference between the Reza and other plate style wallets is that because of the clamshell design, there is a lower limit to how many cards and cash you can insert into the wallet. It is designed to hold up to 8 cards plus a little trifolded cash. Although this may seem like a big limitation, in reality, the whole idea of using a minimalist wallet is to just bring the essentials and eliminate the rest. An 8 card limit should be more than enough and many slim wallet users live with far less.
Functionally, the Reza works very much like any other plate wallet. You need to push out the stack of cards and then look for the one that you need. A good way to organize a plate wallet is to keep your most often used cards at the top and bottom of the stack for easier access.
Admittedly, the Reza is not the slimmest plate wallet you can find. In fact, because it uses leather, it is actually thicker than most plate wallets. However, there is something about the use of leather that gives a wallet its classy and elegant look. The Reza is made from premium leather and the workmanship is first class. If you prefer the leather look, the little extra thickness is a small sacrifice to pay.
