Hermes Calvi Duo Compact Card Holder Handmade In Box Calfskin Leather Silver Hardware 67 Vert Fonce

Vert Fonce translates as deep green, and that is what you get: a dark forest tone that behaves like a neutral and only reveals itself as green when light hits it. On a card holder this matters, because a colour you can wear every day is worth more than a colour you admire twice a year.

The Calvi Duo is 7 cm wide, 10 tall and 2 deep, a compact card holder with two sides, so work cards and personal cards can stay divided. Notes fold into the middle. Silver is the only metal, and I prefer it here, because it keeps the green cool and slightly formal. The piece slips into an inside jacket pocket without a bulge and comes out without a fight.

Notes on Box calf from two years of carrying it. The smooth surface will pick up fine scratches from keys and coins, and this leather dislikes rain, so blot it if you get caught out. In exchange it takes a beautiful polish and develops a soft glow at the edges, which is exactly what the hide was invented to do. Mine looks better now than it did on day one, and I cannot say that for many accessories.

With charcoal, camel and navy it disappears into the outfit and does its job anonymously. That is the brief. Mine has been rained on once, blotted dry, and forgiven me.