Hermes R.M.S Passport Holder Handmade In Evecolor Calfskin Leather Enamel Fittings Hardware 0L Gris Meyer

The passport is the one document you cannot replace on the road, and it is also the one that gets shoved into seat pockets, hotel safes and the bottom of a day bag. A cover like this is less about vanity than about giving it a home, and the R.M.S. at 13.5 by 9.5 cm does exactly that.

Gris Meyer is a soft, warm grey, closer to flannel than to stone, and on Evecolor calfskin it has a matte, closely grained surface that does not pick up the shine which makes leather look tired. The enamel fittings add a single note of colour at the closure without turning the cover into a display piece.

A standard passport book measures about 12.5 by 8.8 cm, so there is a centimetre of margin on the long edge, enough to slide the booklet in and out without wrestling it and enough to keep the corners of the cover from curling. I also keep a boarding pass folded in half behind the passport, which is exactly the kind of thing 1.5 cm allows.

The honest trade-off is the enamel. It is the most delicate surface on the piece, and a hard knock against a metal trolley handle can leave a mark that cannot be polished out the way leather can. That said, after many trips through security trays, mine still reads as new. If that risk bothers you, the leather around it will take years of travel without asking for any care at all, which is a fair trade in my book.