Hermes Birkin 40 Bag Handmade In Togo Calfskin Leather Silver Hardware R2 Blue Agate

Blue Agate has a secret: indoors it is nearly black, and then sun hits it and the bag turns sapphire with a violet edge. I fell for it at noon and learned to live with it at night.

Forty wide, thirty tall, twenty-one deep, in Togo with silver hardware. Laptop, folio, an overnight kit; it is the bag for trips where I want to carry one thing and look finished doing it. I took it on a flight to Lisbon and the passport, notebook and charger all found their corners without a word.

In use the grain is the usual Togo comfort: matte, forgiving, quietly slouching into shape. Silver hardware picks up the blue cast in daylight and disappears at night, which suits the bag’s double life; in lamplight I forget it is blue at all, which is its own kind of comfort.

Honest notes: this is a moody color, and that is a fact, not a flaw. In a fluorescent office it is functionally black; you may go days without seeing the blue you bought it for, and some people find that deeply satisfying while others find it a disappointment. Decide which you are before you commit. Also, the 40 is heavy full and slouches empty, as ever.

For evening work dinners it is impeccable; for noon terraces it is a surprise. It is the bag for people who like a color that keeps its own hours, and on the right afternoon terrace it is the best color I have carried.