Hermes Kelly Depeches 25 Pouch Handmade In Matte Alligator Leather from Mississippi Silver Hardware 73 Blue Saphir

Matte alligator turns a document folder into something you would carry for its own sake. The Mississippi hides have a tight, irregular scale pattern – smaller and more organic than crocodile – and in 73 Blue Saphir the scales fade from deep navy at the centre to almost black at the folds. Silver hardware is the right choice here; anything warm would fight the blue.

The 4 cm depth is what separates this from a flat envelope. It takes an iPad mini, a passport, cards in the slots and a pen, and the matte surface means fingerprints do not show the way they would on a polished skin. I have used mine for evening events where a bag felt like too much and a wallet felt like too little, and it sits neatly in the hand like a small book.

The honest trade-off is care. Matte alligator is drier and more studio than crocodile: it wants an occasional conditioning rather than years of neglect, it will lift slightly at the scale edges if the pouch is squeezed into tight pockets, and rain should be wiped off rather than left to spot.

Looked after even loosely, the scales develop a soft gleam at the high points that no embossed calfskin can imitate – and it is one of the few materials that looks better after five years than on day one. Mine has already earned a permanent place in the rotation.