Hermes Tonnerre Earrings Lacquered Metal Yellow Gold New Capucine H100114F G3

Capucine is a colour that has no quiet version: it is the deep red-orange of a flower, and in lacquered metal it glows rather than shines. I bought these Tonnerre earrings expecting a holiday pair and have ended up wearing them in a grey city winter, where the colour is the only warm thing in sight.

In the small model, each earring measures about three and a half centimetres long and two point two wide, cut in the house’s signature shape and finished in yellow gold plating over lacquered metal. The lacquer is what gives the colour its depth, sitting level and glossy without looking like enamelled costume jewellery from a market stall.

At roughly four grams each, the weight is barely there, so they move with the head instead of dragging on the lobe. I wear them with a plain white shirt and let the colour do the work, and they also look deliberate against all black in the evening.

The honest caveat with lacquered metal is knocks. A drop onto tile or a scrape against a zip will chip the finish, and there is no repairing it, only avoiding it. Perfume and hairspray also dull the plating, so these go on last when I am getting ready, and they come off first at night.

Made in France and thoroughly un-English in temperament, they are the pair I recommend to anyone whose collection is entirely composed of safe gold studs. The lacquer on mine still looks new after a summer of wear.