Hermes Birkin 25 Bag Handmade In Togo Calfskin Leather Gold Hardware 61 Olive Green

Olive green is the colour I wear most in autumn, and this bag matches a wool coat better than any neutral. It is a deep, slightly greyed green, not a bright leaf tone, and the gold hardware makes it look established rather than sporty. It is also a colour that changes character with the season: greyer in cold light, warmer and more yellow in low winter sun.

The specification will be familiar: Togo from France, twenty-five by twenty by thirteen centimetres, gold-tone studs and flap plates. The pebbled grain on a dark green is exactly right, because it lets the surface catch light in small flecks instead of one broad glare. The gold hardware warms the olive further, so the bag never reads military or utilitarian in the way olive sometimes can.

Inside I keep a phone, a cardholder, a key pouch, a compact and a lipstick, and that fits with air to spare. The two rolled handles are comfortable when the bag is at this weight.

One honest point about dark greens: against black, olive can look muddy rather than contrasted, especially indoors. I wear mine with camel, cream, navy and grey rather than head-to-toe black. Mine has been carried through two autumns and the grain at the corners remains intact, with no bald spots where the bag rests.

Wear so far has been uneventful, which is what I want from a workhorse colour. A light patina is beginning on the handle tops and the grain has stayed even across the panel.