Hermes Mini Pop H Earrings Lacquered Metal Silver Rose Dragée H608002FO85

At a friend’s birthday dinner last month I wore these Mini Pop H studs with a plain black knit and no other jewellery, and three people asked about them before the mains arrived.

That is the trick of the Pop H line: the shape is so pared back that a single colour does all the talking. This pair is the Silver Rose Dragée version, a soft sugar-almond pink laid over rose-gold plated metal. The lacquer is glossy rather than flat, so it catches candlelight and reads a shade brighter than you would expect from such a gentle colour.

Each earring measures 0.35 inches across the motif and weighs 0.07 ounces, light enough that I have fallen asleep with them still in. The proportions suit a second or third piercing, and because the pink is muted rather than candy-bright, they sit happily beside yellow gold rings or a silver watch.

One honest note: this is plated metal with a lacquered finish, not solid gold, so it wants a little discipline. Perfume, hairspray and swimming pools are the enemies of the coating. I put mine on last when I am getting ready and wipe them with a dry cloth before they go back in the box, and after a year the colour is still true.

Nine millimetres of enamel in a metal frame is not a lot, but it turns out to be enough. These are the earrings I keep by the mirror for days when I cannot decide, and they have never once been the wrong answer.