Hermès Birkin 25 Bag Handmade In Togo Calfskin Leather Gold Hardware 47 Chocolate 37 Gold

Chocolate with a Gold panel is a pairing that sounds like a coffee order and looks considerably more considered. The two browns are close enough to read as one colour from a distance, which is the whole trick, and then the split becomes visible as you move closer. Worn with camel and cream it reads as one warm block of colour, and with black it suddenly shows its two tones clearly.

Twenty-five across, twenty tall, thirteen deep, Togo calfskin from France, gold-tone hardware throughout. Togo’s pebble grain is especially good on brown leather, because the grain catches small highlights and stops the surface looking flat and powdery.

My loadout in this one is phone, card wallet, keys, a small cosmetics pouch and sunglasses in a sleeve. It handles that without stress and the handles stay easy on the wrist.

The caveat here is that two-tone brown on a pebbled leather can look uneven if the grain density differs between panels, and it sometimes does. Mine has slightly larger pebbles on the Gold side. Under direct light you can see it, in normal use you cannot. The grain across the flap is slightly denser than at the base, which is a normal consequence of two panels being cut from different areas of the hide.

Both tones will deepen with sun exposure at different rates, so the contrast between panels will become a little more pronounced over the years. I find that appealing; it is worth deciding in advance.