Hermes Chypre Sandal Men Techno-sandal Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Nior

I packed a single pair of sandals for a week that began with two days of meetings in Athens and ended on a slow ferry, and this black pair was the bet. It won. Matte alligator reads with a linen suit in the morning and with swim shorts by mid-afternoon, and I have never owned a colour that reschedules itself from work to water so easily.

The silhouette is the Chypre techno-sandal: alligator over a moulded anatomical rubber sole, black calfskin insole, one adjustable strap. Because the sole is rubber and the surface matte, nothing about it looks formal, yet nothing about it looks cheap either. It is a holiday shoe with an uncommonly good skin.

Sizes 40 to 46, and the open-back strap design means no heel rub, which is the problem I have with almost every closed shoe in a hot city. I did twelve thousand steps one afternoon without a single hot spot. Half sizes are not made, so if you sit between two numbers, take the larger one and tighten the strap.

The trade-off with black and matte is visible dust and pale scuffs. A mark from a kerb shows up more than it would on a paler pair, and although it wipes away, you will notice it before anyone else does.

What still surprises me is how dressy the black looks after dark with a crisp shirt and tailored trousers; it stops being a beach sandal the moment the sun goes down. A pair like this is why I stopped travelling with two pairs of shoes.