Andrew Gene is something of a legend in the EDC community. He is also a very good friend of mine (I am not being compensated for the review nor the promotion; I am doing this because Andrew makes good stuff and is a good friend). His video knife reviews, produced on the Edge Observer website and YouTube channel, raised the form of review it something sublime. As a true polymath, Andrew built all the rigging, did all of the filming, editing, and lighting, and then wrote the copy and even composed and performed the music. Alas, for the community, it got boring and he shut down Edge Observer.

Andrew and his wife recently had a baby and the baby was born during the height of the pandemic and very premature. For weeks Andrew’s life consisted of working his paying job, then traveling into the city, and doing a shift at the hospital. A lot of that time was spent just holding the baby, and in that time, Andrew’s ever-busy mind started learning how to do leatherwork. When Andrew was making Edge Observer videos he dabbled in knife making and there is a natural overlap between knife making and leatherwork. Some of the basic tools he had from knife making allowed him to make his own leatherwork tools and slowly but surely he started making watch straps and wallets.

Andrew and I talk on a semi regular basis when our schedules (and children) allow and he mentioned he was thinking about making a wallet. I told him that I was till searching for the perfect wallet one time and then the next time we chatted he showed me what he had made—a front pocket card holder (i.e. not a bi- or tri-fold). The design was promising and the next time we chatted he had a full wallet completed, but with a twist.

Andrew also taught himself how to do 3D Printing and he captured the EDC logo and then made it into a debossing stamp. Once the wallet was finished he debossed the Everyday Commentary Crossed Knife and Torch logo into the front and back of the wallet. The end result was a beautiful bespoke wallet with my logo on it. It was gorgeous. A few weeks later it arrived at my house along with two other wallets, also with the Crossed Knife and Torch logo.

To say that Andrew is a perfectionist is to contort the English language beyond recognition. His attention to detail led him to build automated rigs for his video reviews to ensure precise, fluid movements, down to things like automating the opening of a knife with no hands. The videos weren’t so much discussions of the merits of a knife, but a visual ballet of mechanisms, which, if you are a knife Knut, is right in your wheelhouse. That level of detail is carried through on these wallets.

The leatherwork is superb with stunning edge finishing. The cuts are clean and meticulous, unlike a lot of the stuff you see in various “leather goods” places on the Internet. The edges of each later of leather are thinned to make for better seams. And the stitching, which is all done by hand, is geometrically perfect, as if it were something out of a Euclid theorem and not a one-person craft shop.

In the end, the wallets are exceptionally professional looking, miles beyond what I have seen and more like the leatherwork in a high end retailer than something you’d find in the EDC world.

The materials are top shelf too. These three wallets are designed for a minimal footprint in the pocket with two card slots on either side and a large slot in the middle. Mine comfortably carries 9 cards. The leather consists of Vegetable Tanned Buttero leather from Conceria Walpier, a premiere leather company. The thread is Ritza Tiger with 4mm hand stitching. All three include a debossed version of the Crossed Knife and Torch logo.

Andrew gave me three wallets—one to review and two to giveaway. The first giveaway will be on IG. You can go here and find the details. Follow @sonnystraps and @everydaycommentary to enter, then tag someone else. You know the drill.

All of the pictures in this post were taken by Andrew.