Burnishing is a method of polishing the edges that uses friction to compress and give shine to the leather. The nicest burnishing will have glassy looking edges. The process and outcome is not dissimilar to painting the edges. And like painted edges, they can easily be repaired if need be.
2. Full leather lining
Mass produced leather wallets are typically mostly synthetic, with the exterior and pockets wrapped in leather. While obviously keeping the thickness of wallets down, cloth by itself can wear poorly and have issues like fraying.
If cloth is used, it should be out of sight, providing strength (i.e. stretch resistance) to the leather, which is where it shines.
3. Good quality leather
The bad news is, unless you’re an enthusiast, this is very difficult to ascertain. The industry is chock full of jargon and misinformation. And wading through the BS can be challenging, to say the least.
The good news is cheap leather is really something that’s found on the assembly line. Most smaller makers are using the good stuff. The reason is simple. For small items like wallets, labor takes the lion’s share of the production cost, and therefore, to skimp on materials only offers negligible savings.
It is often more important to buy a wallet made with a leather that’s to your taste. For more information about leather characteristics, take a look at my Leather Guide.