At first I thought this steel grey Ivolution GT case from Vaja was made from some new space-age material. It is textured but smooth, and has a luxurious silky feel. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize it’s made from a pretty old material — leather.
Commanding a primo price ($100), the Ivolution GT is a primo case. The more I use it, the more I like it.
Vaja’s Ivolution GT case is made in Argentina from full-grain cowhide.
It is so well made and so seamless, it’s hard to tell it’s made from an ancient material like leather. The exterior of the case is soft and silky. Hate to say it, but it’s so seamless, it looks synthetic. The interior, also made from leather, is patterned with Vaja’s name and logo stamped into the leather. It also doesn’t look like a natural material. Plus, the coloring — steel grey with a red GT stripe — are unusual colors for leather.
This shouldn’t detract from the attractiveness of the case. I was just surprised it was leather. It does’t look like my ratty old leather jacket.
The case is extremely well put together. There are no loose edges or seams. It is fairly thick and firmly-padded. Yeah, it makes a big bulge in your pants pocket, but it provides some serious protection. It hugs your iPhone very tightly. The iPhone isn’t going anywhere, even if it’s dropped.
The tight fit makes getting out of the case a real challenge. You really have to wrestle it out of the case.
It has a flip cover, which I like. The flip provides bulletproof protection for the screen, but it’s attached at the bottom, not the top. My instinct is to flip it up from the top, and I still haven’t got used to flipping it down.
Like all its cases, Vaja offers a wealth of customization options — there 32 different color choices for the case body and another 32 color choices for the GT stripe (changing them adds an extra $20). There are also options for adding belt or holster clips ($5-$20), or adding text ($10) or graphics ($30).
Changing the colors and adding a belt clip and graphics can tip the case to more than $150 — a hefty price for an iPhone case. Plus, all these options mean it takes 20 days for the handcrafting process — a long time to wait for your order.
But what a case it is. Vaja does an outstanding job. This is one posh case. It’s subtle and luxurious. It says first class, top-of-the-line, Formula One, like an expensive watch.
