Hermes Picotin Lock 18 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Gold Hardware 57 Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a colour that has read a thousand menus, wine lists and leather-bound books, and it has never once looked tired. This is the dark, velvety red of the region rather than the red of a ribbon, and on pebbled leather it settles into something almost architectural.

One good handful of a bag, then: the Picotin Lock 18 in Taurillon Clemence, with the rolled handle, the rounded base and the strap ends meeting at the small lock plate. The leather’s thick, uneven grain gives the wine tone real depth, and the gold hardware turns the whole thing a few degrees toward candlelight. It is a red for dinners, generally, though I have carried it to grocery stores without a flicker of regret.

Inside: phone, keys, a cardholder, a compact mirror and a lipstick that finally has a home worthy of it. The soft walls keep everything quiet, and the bucket mouth means the phone slides out without a fight.

Pairing directions: granite greys keep it contemporary, camel and cream make it classic, and gold jewellery finishes whichever road you take. It forgives more than its dark surface suggests — a dry cloth and a soft brush keep the grain even.

The honest note: in dim rooms Bordeaux reads nearly black, so its wine character is a daylight pleasure rather than an evening one. Deep-dyed leathers also show drying at the corners sooner than mid-tones, so a twice-yearly touch of leather cream keeps this looking like the cellar it came from. Softness, as always with Clemence, is part of the recipe.