Hermes Picotin Lock 18 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Gold Hardware 7P Blue Presse

Think of the blue in a painter’s tube rather than the blue in a summer sky. Blue Presse is dense, saturated and slightly inky, and it does something most bright colours cannot: it works with grey tailoring. I wore it through an entire week of meetings, and it never once fought my suits.

The bag is the 18 cm Picotin in Taurillon Clemence — a shade over seven inches across, bucket-shaped, with the rolled handle and the twist of the lock at the top. Clemence gives it that dense, pebbled surface that absorbs light rather than reflecting it, so the blue feels deep instead of glossy, and the gold hardware adds one warm pin of contrast.

Inside, I keep a compact wallet, my phone, a key pouch and a pair of wired headphones in a small case; the soft walls mean nothing rattles. It carries by hand or on the wrist, and it is small enough to sit on a restaurant chair beside me rather than behind it.

Its best trick is against grey flannel, where the saturation finally meets its match, though I have also worn it with camel knits when I wanted the colour to carry the conversation.

Honest caveat: this is a colour with opinions. It will not blend into a beige wardrobe, and Clemence is soft enough that the bag eases into a slouch with use — if you want architecture, look elsewhere. If you want a blue that looks like it was mixed by hand, this is it.