Hermes Cheval Heavy Metal Scarf 100 Cashmere and Silk H104295T 05

The 100 in the name is the size: a metre square, 39 inches on each side, woven in a 70% cashmere and 30% silk blend with hand-rolled edges. It is the scarf I pack when I can only pack one — big enough to be a wrap on a plane, a blanket on a cold train, a scarf at dinner. Packed, it takes the space of a folded shirt.

The blend behaves differently from pure silk twill: softer, warmer, with a slight halo at the surface and less of a slippery sheen. That makes it drape like a fine knit while still holding a knot. Daiske Nomura’s design reads as a chain of metal horses, which suits the mood of a scarf this substantial.

I wear mine bias-folded around the neck under a coat, or knotted through a bag handle in spring. It has been a pillow on one overnight flight and an emergency shawl at an outdoor wedding; the hand-rolled hem has held through all of it, which is not something I can say for every scarf I own. I have started photographing its knots, purely to remember them.

Care notes, honestly: cashmere-silk pills slightly under friction, especially where it rubs against a bag strap, and jewellery can pull a thread from the looser weave. Air it after wear, fold it differently each time, and it will outlast the occasion that made you buy it.