Hermes Cheval Surprise Double Face Scarf 90 100% Silk H904353S 03

What do you buy for the friend who already owns every serious scarf? Cheval Surprise is my usual answer. Dimitri Rybaltchenko’s coiled-spring horse, a jack-in-the-box with hooves, is a drawing that makes people smile before they have even unfolded it, and the double face construction means the joke lands twice, with a different register printed on each side.

Practicalities hardly suffer for the wit. It is 34.8 inches square, pure silk twill, with edges rolled by hand and a dry, crease-holding hand that ties happily into a small knot for a jacket lapel or a loose one for a bare neck in spring. On a trip it packs as flat as a letter and forgives a suitcase; on arriving, one shake and the twill has found its shape again. It is also the scarf that gets borrowed most by house guests, which I count as both a tribute and a risk.

Made in France, as the whole silk line is, and because of the hand-rolled hem, liable to be a millimetre or two away from its listed size. The double face build also gives the fabric a fraction more weight at the fold, which shows as a neat two-tone line along the bias. The weight at the fold is a feature, not a fault.

Where it will not serve you is eveningwear and anything architectural. This scarf is joy on cotton, not gravitas on taffeta. Knowing that, it earns its drawer space easily; for a gift, it has an unfair advantage, since the smile happens at the unwrapping, not a week later.