Right then. Let's get down to some serious nuts and bolts. "One never knows when one might need a good spanner", as my old Grandmother, the venerable Lady gadgetshop, used to put it. And how right she was. For, unlike a screwdriver, the absence of which can be compensated for by a knife or other implement, the absence of a spanner can leave one reeling. So it helps, particularly when travelling, to have a compact set on standby. But who, in this day and age, has the wherewithal to carry a set of tungsten spanners on their person 24/7? Not I, nor even my more fastidious colleagues Geoff and Simon. The answer, it seems, comes in the shape of a credit card. This is more an act of convenience than a reference to mammon, for in the shape of a humble rectangle of solid, brushed stainless steel comes no fewer than nine fully metric spanner-shaped holes, in sizes M6 to M14, ready to spring to action at a second's notice. Just store in your wallet or gentleman's man bag and hey presto.

This Wallet Essential comes from a range of such tools from the cutting-edge design gurus at Touch of Ginger (although whether this is an indication of the disproportionate genius of redheads is unclear). Whatever the root of their name, one simply cannot question their design credentials - and this spanner is living proof.