Sometimes I really love my work, and this week has been one of those times where the love of good craftsmanship has made my job a lot of fun. First, I highlighted the latest in a series of amazing iPad cases from the folks at DODOcase, and now I get to tell you about the handmade leather Alano iPad cases now available from Portenzo.

These cases start at US$124.95, and the pricing goes up depending on the finish and options that you select. As such, the Portenzo Alano iPad cases are really in a class of their own -- they're the Lexus of iPad cases.

Design

As I mentioned, there are options that you can request when ordering your Alano. Those options are what make the case so unique. For example, you can start out with just a plain-Jane black leather cover at no extra cost. If you'd prefer the awesome Tesoro design, which features an old map of the Mediterranean tooled into the leather, you'll pay a premium of $29.95.

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There are six finishes available, three of which are showing a status of "sold out" right now. The three available finishes are the Midnight Black, Black Widow Wingtip, and Tesoro. For the elastic band that holds the case closed in transit, there's a choice of nine different colors.

If you'd like to have the case personally embossed in one of four styles, that's an additional $14.95 charge. Get the IntelliStand feature, which I'll discuss shortly, and you'll add another $19.95. Want an opening for the rear-facing camera? Add $4.95. A stylus and a stylus compartment can be added for another $9.95 each, and you can even have the stylus personalized for another $4.95.

Adding options to a Portenzo Alano case is just like adding options to a car. You can start out with a fairly reasonable price tag that suddenly balloons to a lot of money. In the case