Hermes Script Belt Buckle & Reversible Leather Strap 38 mm Epsom Calfskin Permabrass Buckle Yellow Gold Noir Gris Trench

One belt that covers a dark dinner and a Saturday market is a rarer thing than it sounds, and that is what this pairing of noir and trench grey does. The Script buckle sits between them in permabrass, lettered in an easy writing hand that softens the otherwise plain strap.

Epsom calfskin at 38 mm gives the belt its discipline. The leather is heat-embossed with a fine regular grain, firm enough to hold a straight line across the waist and matte enough to hide the small marks that everyday wear brings. Permabrass, warm and satin-finished, deepens in tone with age instead of staying bright, which suits these quiet colours well.

I wear the black face with charcoal, navy and a dark overcoat, and the grey face with olive, camel and denim, where it does the job of a stone-coloured belt but with more weight behind it. Rotating the buckle flips the strap; the reverse colour shows along the edge as a narrow line, and the leather keeps a slight curve from its last wearing until it warms against you.

Two honest notes before you choose it. Epsom feels stiff for the first week or two, and 38 mm can be generous against slim suit trousers; on denim, chinos and corduroy it simply looks right. Sizes are waist measurements, available from 80 to 115 cm, and because Epsom holds its shape rather than stretching, the size you order is the size you keep.