Hermes Picotin Lock 18 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Silver Hardware P9 Anemone

Take the anemone and cut it with moonlight — that is what silver hardware does to this purple. The shade is the same saturated, blue-leaning violet, but the cool metal pulls it toward midnight, and the bag ends up reading more modern than romantic. Same flower, different lighting.

The build is standard issue and all the better for it: a purse-sized eighteen centimetres, the Picotin’s rolled handle and rounded base, the strap ends gathered through the little lock at the top. Taurillon Clemence gives the violet its depth — thick, pebbled, matte — and the softness that lets the bucket melt into whatever carry position the day demands.

What I carry: phone, keys, a cardholder and a lipstick, plus a slim sketchbook on museum days because this is exactly the bag for museum days. It is the colour I reach for when the rest of the outfit is denim, white or charcoal, all of which it flatters back.

Pair it with black for a gallery, white for lunch, and more purple only if the occasion has been warned. The silver keeps every version colder and cleaner than I expect.

Choosing between this and the same shade with gold hardware is really a temperature question: gold runs warm and vintage, silver runs cool and sharp. There is no wrong answer, only the one that suits your jewellery drawer. One constant either way: Clemence slouches beautifully and photographs small, so see it in person before deciding it is too much purple.