Egyptian tourist wallet

[esteban68]

Couldn't find where to put this? had it ages and it belonged to a great uncle who served in North Africa during WWII, the same guy I am led to believe who 'owned' the Leonidas pocket watch on the PW thread.
It's always irked me that this was in a state, with loose and poorly redone stitching,closure tab and cracked photo celluloid, so I decided it was time to re do it, here's the before photos;

Overall the leather was in very good supple condition so I unpicked all the stitching which was a real pain and then found several areas of extra holes in the wrong places and an extra row that wasn't straight on the closure tab.
I'll post the after pictures soon, hopefully it will look better?

 

[Feraud]

That's an interesting item. Looking forward to seeing the after pics!

 

[esteban68]

ok here's the after pics, I finished a few days ago but forgot to post pics... it's not perfect but due to several of the original holes being deformed and new holes badly put in by previous owner it was/is the best I could achieve...however it is strong and should prove durable for many years to come;

 

[m0nk]

I can see a definite difference. That's a really cool item, too! Great job restoring it!

 

[esteban68]

the new 'celluloid' picture cover came from my new Sony earphone packaging and was just the right width and thickness....never throw anything away!

 

[Feraud]

Nice job on the stitching. I can see the improvement. Did the leather need conditioning or was it fine as is?
The wallet should give you a lifetime of use.

 

[esteban68]

Leather was pretty decent supple with just a few scuffs/scratches....curiously a very similar item has recently sold on Ebay UK marked English make.....made in Egypt copying English items???
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150910515477?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649