Hermes Picotin Lock 18 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Gold Hardware 2z Blue Nuit

Blue Nuit fools nearly everyone the first time: in a hallway it reads black, in the car it reads charcoal, and only in daylight does the midnight blue come up for air. For people who want a dark bag with a secret, this is the one – and it is a secret that lasts for years.

Eighteen centimetres square at the rim, thirteen deep – the Picotin 18 in pebbled Taurillon Clemence, with gold hardware that stands out against the darkness almost like jewellery. The leather softens further after a few carries, and the little padlock tab is the bag’s only moving part.

What fits: phone, lipstick, keys and a cardholder, with a small pouch for coins riding along. Because the top is open, everything is visible at a glance; because the inside is unlined, the leather breathes and nothing snags on seams. It is the bag I hand to friends who say they cannot do small bags.

The one practical wrinkle: in this dark tone, the unlined interior swallows black objects, so I keep my phone case in a pale colour and have never lost it since. Dark blue Clemence is otherwise the most self-sufficient leather I own – it hides rain, hides wear, and asks for nothing.

If you are the sort of person who checks what a colour is called, you will enjoy Blue Nuit’s double life. And if you are not, you will simply enjoy having a black bag that winks.