TROVE wallet review

The TROVE Wallet began life back in 2014 with a very successful kickstarter campaign. Designed and produced in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, which is in the heart of Britain, the TROVE brand has continued to grow. Since launch, several new colour options have been added, and it has picked up a fairly committed following in the every day carry community.

Read on for our review. Alternatively skip down to the bottom of this page to see our unboxing and video review of the TROVE wallet.

Overview

The concept behind the TROVE is to be extremely stylish and slim, whilst being flexible enough for anyway you want to use it. When I say flexible, I mean it in every sense of the word. The TROVE is flippable, and reversible, meaning you can do just about anything you want with it. This lends to some really cool features, such as being able to use it as a phone stand, a secret protected pocket (see our video review for these in action) and the ability to slide it onto a belt.

Material

The TROVE wallet consists of a durable, woven elastic band with a single band of top grain leather attached. The elastic used is clearly high quality, and is showing no signs of fraying, despite extended use and some fairly deliberate attempts to abuse it by me to test it's strength. The leather is vegetable tanned and is the finest Italian leather. The leather in the TROVE really is top notch. The feel look of it just reeks of quality. This is important, as to be so flexible without cracking or wearing away, the very best top-grain leather is necessary.

Design

The band of leather wraps around the elastic to form a bottom, to stop cards being pushed straight through when loading the wallet. It also serves to create pockets for cash. The minimalist design of TROVE belies it's many functions. At first glance, the TROVE looks very simple, but it actually offers a lot more than the simple design gives away.

The TROVE logo is embossed onto the leather on the front of the wallet, and a embroidered label is stitched into the inner elastic. This label is not visible in normal use, but is pretty eye catching when you reverse the wallet.

The TROVE is clearly very stylish, and with such a wide range of colours, there is bound to be a style to suit everyone.

Capacity

Each TROVE can hold up to 10 cards inside the main elastic part of the wallet. There are then two pockets between the elastic and leather on either side of the wallet, accessible from the underside of the wallet. These can be used to store notes, or anything else of a similar size that you want. The elastic means that this is always tight enough that your belongings will not fall out.

There is also a secret pocket that can only be accessed by reversing the wallet. This is perfect for storing something like an SD or SIM card, as it is very secure, and is totally inaccessible unless the wallet is flipped inside out.

Durability

TROVE is made of the highest quality materials, and with such a simple design of only elastic and leather, there isn't that much that can go wrong. In my use, the leather seems to simply be getting better with age, and I have seen no sign of the elastic fraying or wearing. 

I have deliberately given my TROVE a bit of a beating to try and test it, and have to say I'm impressed with how it has held up. It still looks as good today as when I first got it.

Ease of use

The TROVE is very straightforward for everyday use. There is very easy access to your two main cards (the two cards on the outsides) I've even got this down to one-handed use now, though that has taken some time. The cards in the middle are slightly more difficult to get at, but because of the flexibility of the elastic, can be easily fanned out and flicked through with your thumbs.

Cash is easily accessed in the two underside pockets, and having two of these pockets means you can organise it into a way you like. The embossed logo on the front side means you can tell which pocket is which (without even needing to look, as you can feel for the lettering). This gives the opportunity to organise your way, such as £5 notes one side, £10's the other, or notes one side, receipts the other (if you insist on still carrying receipts).

Size

The TROVE has a very minimal profile because it is so simple. The leather element means it is never going to be as slim as some of the pure elastic options, but the increase in style and functionality offered by this will offset the relatively small increase in profile for many.

When filled with seven cards and three notes, I measure the TROVE at around: 81 x 54 x 7 mm. The beauty of a wallet like TROVE is that the wallet only gets thicker by the exact amount of what you put in, as there is no fabric or pockets adding bulk to it. This means it fits to your needs, nothing more and nothing less.

RFID Protection

No. The TROVE wallet does not offer any RFID protection.

Price

The TROVE wallet costs £30, which for a wallet containing such high quality leather, is a pretty good deal by anyone's standards.

Summary

The TROVE wallet looks at first glance like a straightforward elastic offering with an exciting bit of style added by the leather strip. Whilst that may well be the case, the leather adds even more in functionality than it does in style, and creates a truly impressive minimal wallet. High in style, and high in features, whilst being very reasonably priced makes the TROVE a very good option. It's also the reason why it is currently my own personal wallet of choice.

The full TROVE wallet range is now available in our online shop.

The TROVE is one of those wallets that is sort of hard to explain, so in this case, seeing is believing. That's why you should check out our video review: