Hermes Kelly 40 Bag Handmade In Togo Calfskin Leather Silver Hardware 0L Gris Meyer

Grey is the colour people choose when they cannot choose, and then they carry it every day for years. Gris Meyer is a true, level mid-grey with no blue cast and no brown in it, and on the Kelly 40, in pebbled Togo with silver hardware, it produces the most quietly practical bag in the range. It went with every coat I own during a wet month of testing, and it never once looked wrong.

The size earns its keep. At 40 by 28 by 16 cm the bag handles a laptop and a folio, or a change of clothes and a book on a weekend away, and Togo’s soft grain lets the flap close over a bit more than the tape measure suggests. The silver hardware matches the coolness of the grey; the turn-lock, straps and clochette are full size and confident. Carried on the shoulder with the strap, the bag sits close and does not swing.

Its real talent is camouflage. Grey hides scuffs, dust and rain flecks better than any colour in the range, and Togo hides them in texture on top of that. Gris Meyer also sits perfectly between a navy overcoat and a camel raincoat, which few colours manage.

One honest caveat: mid-grey can look flat in photographs and even slightly anonymous on a shelf, so if you want a bag that makes an entrance, look at the paler and darker ends of the range. If you want a bag that never asks your outfits for permission, nothing here does it better. Mine has taken over my working weeks.