Hermes Lindy 26 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Silver Hardware q0 Vert Mangrove

Vert Mangrove is an under-the-radar green: dark, slightly grey, closer to a hedge in shade than a lawn. It is the sort of colour that reads as a neutral from a distance and as a considered choice up close, which is exactly what I want from a daily bag.

The size is the Lindy 26 – twenty-six by eighteen by twelve centimetres – and the leather is Clemence, soft and thick, folding at the top and draping when carried crossbody. The silver hardware is deliberately sober; warm metal would have pushed the green toward something more autumnal.

Contents: a compact wallet, a phone, keys, a cosmetic pouch, and a light cardigan for air conditioning. The two exterior pockets take the phone and keys; the interior is one open space, so I use a small felt organiser to stop things wandering.

Honest notes. The deep green is beautiful but it is also the finish that shows water most readily – a sprinkle leaves temporary darker spots that dry back even, and I now carry it on dry days only. And Clemence’s matte grain dulls slightly with heavy friction where the strap rubs, a sheen that becomes visible on close inspection.

Worn with denim, olive or charcoal, it is the green that never announces itself. At night, under warm restaurant light, it loses its grey and shows a deeper, almost forest tone – the colour has a day job and a night job.