The Lowdown
The Carved Alloy Wallet isn’t something that I can use every day, as I need to carry a bulky keycard for work; if I didn’t keep that keycard in my wallet, I’d be perpetually forgetting it and getting locked out of my office! But on weekends, or when I’m going out, the Carved wallet is beyond perfect. It’s eye-catching and slim, and it keeps everything grouped together nicely.
Overall
Pros
- Really cool design that’s one of a kind
- Fantastic build quality
- Lots of color and pattern options
- Fits nicely in a front pocket
Cons
- This minimalistic wallet only fits up to five ID or credit cards, so it might not work if you have to carry a bulky keycard
- There are no replacement o-rings included
Sometimes we check out items that bring our tech to the cutting edge. Other times, we look at things that turn simplicity into art. We were offered the opportunity to check out a Carved Alloy Wallet, and it’s safe to say they’ve set a new bar for functional art!
A quick confession: I’m guilty of always carrying too much stuff in my wallet. I’ll tuck receipts, business cards, coupons, and other random items in it and then clean it out six months later and wonder whether I still need $2 off at Great Clips.
Using the Carved Alloy Wallet meant seriously considering what I actually needed to bring when I went out instead of carrying every single item “just in case.”
The tradeoff, and the reason I was willing to learn to downsize my wallet, is because the Carved Alloy Wallet is gorgeous. It feels great in your hand, and the metal sides and back are smooth and well-machined.
Each one-of-a-kind metal wallet is machined from a single block of aluminum; it’s then anodized, laser etched, and then finished with a one-of-a-kind slice of Carved’s unique wood+resin designs on the back.
The Carved Alloy Wallet is held together with an o-ring; it is made to hold one to five ID or credit cards securely, and you can feel the precision that went into the design.
The Carved Alloy Wallet’s real showstopper is the wood burl and resin design on the front. Carved combines various wood burls with different resin colors to make blocks that they will then slice to create the various colorful wallet backs; the result is that each wallet will have a unique design.
Even if you specifically got two Carved Alloy Wallets with similar colors, each would have a different pattern and style every time.
I chose a swirly pattern with metallic green and black resin, and I love it. It’s really unlike absolutely anything else! Honestly, I kept staring at it after unboxing it because I noticed new patterns and details every time I looked.
Carved says the wallet can hold five cards and some folded cash, and I think that’s about right. I do have an issue where my debit card is made of metal, so it’s thicker than my other cards; if I include my debit card in the wallet, it makes things a bit tighter.
Even so, it’s perfect if you’re looking for a way to easily carry an ID, some cash, and one or two cards.
The Carved wallet seems designed to be worn in your front pocket because a metal wallet will not be comfy for sitting. I wear pants with reasonably roomy front pockets and found the wallet sat nicely in them; even so, smaller pockets should be fine because the wallet is barely larger than the cards it holds!
Carved says their wallets are RFID-blocking, and while the actual risk of someone zapping your wallet to get your card info might be slim, it’s good to know that you’re protected.
Carved mentions that the Alloy Wallet has been redesigned to use an o-ring instead of an elastic strap, which they say will increase the lifetime of the wallet and make it much easier to change out the o-ring to adjust.
The wallet is certainly sturdy looking, and I don’t think it would snap from everyday use, but the o-ring is also the one weak point in an otherwise super sturdy design, so it stands out.
Honestly, there’s very little to criticize the Carved Alloy Wallet for, although my one quibble is that they don’t include a replacement o-ring since it looks like it would be an easy replacement to perform if the o-ring were to snap.
At $59.00, the Carved wallet is in line with other slim metal wallet offerings, although no other wallet offers such a cool design!
The Carved Alloy Wallet isn’t something that I can use every day, as I need to carry a bulky keycard for work; if I didn’t keep that keycard in my wallet, I’d be perpetually forgetting it and getting locked out of my office! But on weekends, or when I’m going out, the Carved wallet is beyond perfect. It’s eye-catching and slim, and it keeps everything grouped together nicely.
The Carved Alloy Wallet sells for $59; it is available directly from the manufacturer.
Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample
What I Like: Really cool design that’s one of a kind; Fantastic build quality; Lots of color and pattern options; Fits nicely in a front pocket
What Needs Improvement: This minimalistic wallet only fits up to five ID or credit cards, so it might not work if you have to carry a bulky keycard; There are no replacement o-rings included