Hermès Hac a Dos PM Backpack Handmade In Togo Calfskin Leather Silver Hardware 73 Blue Saphir

Some mornings the only considered thing about me is my bag, and Blue Saphir handles that job quietly. Indoors it could pass for black across a room; step into daylight and the sapphire comes up like it was waiting for the chance.

This is the PM: twenty-eight centimetres tall, with a slim back panel that tucks between your shoulder blades rather than sitting out like luggage. A phone, a travel card, keys, a folded magazine and a charger cube disappear inside, and because there is little depth to fill, nothing slides around when the bag is half empty.

Togo leather from France gives the blue a surface to play against – a pebbled grain that scatters light and hides the small scratches a backpack inevitably collects. The silver-tone fittings are cool and understated, closer to brushed steel than jewellery, which suits the deep colour better than warmth would. The lining stays dark and calm, so light-coloured contents are easy to spot without the bag ever feeling busy.

The trade-off with a blue this saturated is that scuffs show as a pale haze rather than blending away; usually a warm thumb rubbed along the grain resets it. Rain is the other thing to respect: blot the leather dry rather than letting droplets sit. After six months, the only real change is at the top edge, where the leather has softened into my grip. Commuted with daily, it has become the bag I trust on the mornings I cannot think straight.