Hermes Picotin Lock 18 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Silver Hardware 0L Gris Meyer

I think of Gris Meyer as the best-dressed grey: a true medium tone with no strong undertone, which is why it looks tidier than most soft bags in a work setting. With a navy suit it recedes politely; with an oatmeal knit it glows. It is the grey that asks nothing of you and makes everything around it look organised.

No more than twenty centimetres in any direction – eighteen of width and height, thirteen of depth – this is the smallest Picotin, made in Clemence’s pebbled, yielding grain. Silver padlock and studs arrive in a cooler tone that suits the mood, and the leather’s natural drape means the bag folds into whichever seat or shelf it lands on.

Packed for a day in town: AirPods, a phone, keys, a pocket mirror and a lipstick, with the top left open for grabbing mid-commute. There is no lining to protect and no pocket to dig through, which sounds like a shortcoming until you use it for a week and stop thinking about your bag entirely.

The only complaint I have heard about this colour is the opposite of a fault: it is so balanced that nobody compliments it. If you want quiet competence, buy Meyer; if you want attention, buy one of the brights.

And a practical note for the undecided: if you can only own one grey, make it this one. It is the only colour in my rotation that has never been the wrong bag, on any day, for any meeting.