Hermes Kelly Pochette Handmade In Niloticus Leather from Nile Silver Hardware 2Q Vert Anglais

Nile crocodile has a finer, more rounded scale pattern than American alligator: the plates are smaller and more numerous, and they fall into a tight, symmetrical arrangement across the flap. In Vert Anglais, a deep English green, that pattern reads like fine tooling.

The Kelly Pochette itself is compact: 22 cm wide, 12 cm high and 7 cm of depth, with a single top handle and a flap over the top. Inside goes a phone, cards, keys and a lipstick, and the turn-lock closes without strain. It is small enough to hold in one hand and heavy enough to feel like something.

Niloticus is firm and structured, and it will keep this shape indefinitely: the flap stays flat, the corners stay clean, and the color stays even because the scales do not absorb dye unevenly. The trade is that crocodile skin, like alligator, dislikes dryness and long sun exposure, so an annual conditioning and a dust bag are the whole maintenance routine.

Green with silver is the most understated of the exotics here, and the easiest to wear with a coat.

Against my own expectations, green crocodile has turned out to be a daytime bag more often than an evening one. It looks excellent with tweed, with a waxed jacket and with grey flannel, where the deep green and the silver hardware read as country rather than casino. In summer I carry it with a white shirt and no thought at all.