The Brown Buffalo

For the first time in my life, I went shopping for a wallet yesterday. I have been rather fortunate all these years, never having to buy myself an 'urban necessity' such as a wallet, watch or mobile phone as I received them either as gifts or hand-me-downs. My last wallet was a black leather wallet received as a farewell gift from my music student 6 years ago and was wanting replacement.

After browsing online and at the retail outlets of some reputable leather goods brands and comparing their design, functionality, quality and price, I settled for a Braun Buffel Depp leather wallet with embossed reptile hide prints. It must have been its exotic, out-of-the-ordinary looks that appealed to me. The pebbly texture of the raised scale-like patterns and deep mottled brown colouration gave an almost primal feel to the wallet. I felt both fear and excitement oozing while imagining myself caressing the skin of some long dead wild animal from deep within the untamed tropical jungles of the Amazon in South America. Perhaps it was the skin of a bone-crushing anaconda or that of a fearsome flesh-eating caiman with rows of pointy teeth!



Alas, my wild imagination reluctantly drifted back to reality after having been enlightened by the sales assistant that the wallet is made of cattlehide leather only, hence Braun Büffel, which literally translates to "Brown Buffalo".