San Francisco

Ancient fabrication techniques still have a place in our modern world -- take the swordsmithing that produces Japanese kitchen knives, now optimized to slice sushi instead of faces. Put that thought in your pocket, and fill it with money, with güs wallets.

Based in San Francisco and Portland, güs harnesses time-honored methods to produce limited-edition billfolds perfectly suited for your Johnny-come-lately life. The magic happens at a Tuscan workshop, where wizened old men use an all-vegetable tanning process for a lüsh, lived-in patina, and run the material through terrifying spiked rollers for a shotgun perforation pattern: the "Dick Cheney" (though the pattern has never drank the blood of orphans). All the models -- Passport Folio, Horizontal and Vertical wallets, Card Case, and Card Case w/ Clip -- have cut-outs to easily thumb-out your plastic and hand-stitched corners to combat wear; the Folio even includes dual SIM-card slots, for the globetrotter, or the man with way too many friends. Seriously. Stop calling.

For the minimalist, güs also makes a stainless-steel moneyclip, brushed for texture and augmented with ordered perforations -- because while Dick can stipple tender Harry Whittington flesh, he's no match for cold, hard metal.