Hermes Maillon To Go Wallet Handmade In Epsom Calfskin Leather Silver Hardware 09 Mauve Pale

Pale mauve is a colour I did not think I wanted until I saw it against silver. On the long Maillon To Go panel the dusty pink reads almost grey in shade and almost blush in sunlight, and the silver hardware stops it tipping into something saccharine.

The construction is simple and flat: twenty-four centimetres of Epsom, ten wide, two and a half thick, with the grain embossed rather than natural so the surface stays even across a panel this size. This leather has just enough firmness that the wallet keeps its shape when you set it down, which matters more with length than it does on a small piece.

Contents on a working day: a phone, three cards, a folded note, a spare key and a couple of coins, with room to spare at the ends. In a small tote it slides down one side and vacates the middle for everything else, which is the quiet advantage of a long flat wallet over a chunky one.

Two small annoyances. The pale mauve attracts every fingerprint for the first weeks, until the grain settles and your eye adjusts; and the polished silver fittings will mark against keys in a shared pocket. Both are the price of the colour, and neither has put me off carrying it.

Paired with ecru, grey or navy it is very easy to like; paired with anything neon it is a lost cause.