Case review: Noreve Tradition E for Blackberry KEYone

You have to hand it to the guys at Noreve. Eschewing 'same day shipping', plastic and 'faux' everything, they go all out when they make phone cases:

• real, high quality leather
• metal inner/frame
• deluxe packaging
• each case made to order (they don't even have sample cases to send out for review!)

Put it all together and you get a sumptuous experience, here exemplified in the fabulous Tradition E for the new Blackberry KEYone. Noreve do a big line in folio (wrap around) cases, but in the KEYone's case I think an in-situ wrap-around design works best.

The finish of the leather is stunning and, unusually, there's no sign of stitching - the leather panelling is moulded neatly around the metal inner so that the seams are hidden behind the glued-in folds of material.

The phone is gripped very securely, with the metal angles of the case doing their job. The KEYone already includes some material, some texture, but only on the back - this gives an all-leather, all-the-time feel to the device, along with quite a bit of protection from every day knocks.

Although the KEYone only comes in black, I wanted to showcase here the colours that the leather produced for Noreve comes in - and the (Ferrari) red here is the height of decadence and luxury.

The right hand edge has just the one big cut-out for the KEYone's buttons, but this proves the best arrangement and there's no impediment to operation. Ditto at the bottom, with the bottom edge cut out so that you never feel like the case is getting in the way of your fingers or thumbs on the keyboard or sensor/space bar.

At 45 Euros (£40), this isn't cheap. In fact, it's downright expensive. AND you have to wait a couple of weeks while it's made to order and shipped. But it's worth it, if you want the best.

PS. Bonus, more generic link to Noreve's KEYone case range.