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When Chris Elfering at Lochby sent me their new Watch Wallet, I thought an island would be a good place to put it through the paces. This spring I headed south to the West Indies and I entrusted the Lochby Watch Wallet with the wrist wear that I took along.
What Islands Teach Us
Islands are places that teach us things. Whether by choice or by accident, time on an isolated land mass can help us understand ourselves, other living things, and how we all got to be the way we are. As a biologist, my heroes are people who went to islands to learn. Any school child knows that Charles Darwin went to the Galapagos, but so many other naturalists had less-known but equally important experiences, like Alfred Russel Wallace’s own discovery of natural selection in the Malay Archipelago, and Edward O. Wilson’s early work on mangrove islands in Florida. In these cases, islands have been fertile crucibles of evolution because of their isolation from ecological features on the mainlands.
Applying this kind of desert island treatment to gear is not a new idea, and one of my favorite episodes of the Grey NATO podcast is #102: Desert Island Picks, which explores the idea of what types of items to take if you get stranded on a desert island. I’m following their line of thought here. While a watch wallet might not be my first pick for a true stranding, I’d definitely want a watch as a companion (especially without my dogs), and in the end I’d want it to be well cared for on the trip if only to preserve it for posterity.
The Materials
The most distinctive feature of this Wallet is the waxed cotton material that is the hallmark of Lochby products. This particular part of the Lochby lineup comes in the standard brown, as well as charcoal and navy. The brown that I have employed matches the Field Journal I use regularly, but I’m intrigued by these other colors. I just happen to love to brown and how it pairs with the honeycomb yellow interior.
Regardless of the color, the softness of the external fabric, especially in the humid tropical air, is a pleasure to grip and it is not sticky or stiff. It is more like the reassuring feel of an Oxford cloth button down. I tested it on the beach, in luggage, and around the house where we stayed–admittedly not the height of physical rigor–but even in this relatively calm environment it was clear it will stand up to pretty much whatever reasonable travel you subject it to. The fabric and solid construction of the seams and sturdy YKK zipper are clearly up to the task. And the way that this fabric begins to take on a subtle patina quickly, and how it becomes richer over time, is alone reason enough to add this to your travel gear.
The Design
I have searched for better words than “svelte”, and I know that the term is over-employed–at least it is not “authentic” or “hardscrabble”–but that is just how this wallet seemed when it slipped into my suitcase. It is thin, and reinforced with a rigid spine that makes it a solid protection to the watches it contains. It easily slides in between clothing and other articles. I appreciate the design of this case because a watch roll can be more cumbersome and harder to pack. On my trip to the beach, the Wallet in its slim, waxed cotton form, slid into one of the small vertical pockets on my daypack. Overall, Lochby nailed the design here, with a product that is both effective in its execution as well as a pleasure to use.
In addition to the three slots for watches, there is a protective flap that covers the bracelets, and also two longer pockets designed to hold extra straps and a spring bar tool. I ended up using these for two writing instruments and a lint-free cloth. I liked the way the latter tucked in, almost like a silken pocket square.
The Watch Timeshare
The soft material that houses the watches is robust, but remains thin. The watches themselves slide into three slots that hold them securely. With the rigid cover to the wallet, I had no concerns that there would be damage to the watches. I actually had a hard time putting the watches in case first, because I liked looking at them in the wallet with the dials sticking out. I realize that this is simply my own projection of horological parenthood, wanting to tuck my watches into bed, as they would in a comfortable rental as we all dozed off to sleep in the air of the tropics.
Given its high-quality construction, style, and very modest price, the Lochby Watch Wallet is an unassuming yet effective piece of travel gear. If it ends up as a last companion on a desert island, too, you would at least have the satisfaction of having your watches in good shape for a great deal of time to come.
Point to Point Ratings (3 point scale)
Quality: 3.0 +
Value: 3.0
Function: 3.0
Style: 3.0 ++
Point to Point Review Key:
Quality – Made with care, lasts its lifetime.
Value – Costs an honest dollar, has meaning.
Function – Does. Its. Job.
Style – Like Jusserand’s gloves, makes no apologies for looking good.
1 = subpar. 2 = solid. 3 = exceptional.
