Hermes Kelly Classique To Go Wallet Handmade In KK Ostrich Leather Gold Hardware Z6 Malachite

Ostrich has a grain you can feel before you can name it: a scatter of raised quill follicles across an otherwise smooth surface, each one taking dye at a slightly different depth. In Malachite that means a green shifting from deep pine to something near emerald depending on the light, framed here by gold rather than silver.

The format is the same Kelly Classique To Go wallet as the calfskin versions, a flat-bodied piece just under twenty centimetres wide and under two centimetres thick, but the leather changes its character completely. Ostrich from South Africa is softer and noticeably lighter than a stamped calf, and it relaxes gently with handling instead of staying rigid.

Inside there is the usual long-wallet arrangement of card slots, a note channel and a zipped coin pocket. I fit cards, cash, a spare key and a lipstick flat. Two honest notes: the skin is naturally water-spotted, so if it catches rain, blot it and let it dry away from heat instead of rubbing, and quills can flatten under constant pressure, so I keep it in the main compartment of a bag rather than squeezed into a pocket.

Gold hardware suits this green better than silver would, warming it instead of sharpening it. I wore the wallet to a gallery opening with a plain black dress and it did more for the outfit than the earrings did. Carry it as a wallet or hold it as a clutch, and it behaves well either way.