Hermes R.M.S. Passport Holder Handmade In Evecolor Calfskin Leather Enamel Fittings Hardware 18 Etoupe

Somewhere around my sixth flight this year I stopped carrying a full travel wallet and started carrying two small objects instead: a card holder and this. The R.M.S. passport cover does one job, which is why it does it well, wrapping a booklet in 13.5 by 9.5 cm of Evecolor calfskin with just enough give to slide documents in without a struggle.

Etoupe is the reason this one has stayed in my bag. It is a grey-brown that neither shouts nor disappears, and on a finely grained calf it shows the weave of a jacket or the dust of a taxi far less than a dark, glossy leather would.

The cover takes a passport plus a folded customs form, and the enamel fittings at the front keep the flap honest. What I like most is the hand feel: soft enough to fold back when a border officer wants the photo page, stiff enough not to look floppy when it is closed.

One thing worth knowing before you commit: etoupe is a colour that looks different in every light, and in some rooms it reads almost grey while in daylight it leans brown. If you want certainty, pick from the bolder tones. If you want a cover that works with everything you own, this is the one.

Where it goes: charter flights, provincial hotels, and the kind of trip where you pack once and travel for a fortnight. Etoupe suits all of them, and the cover takes the knocks of that kind of travel without recording any of them. It is the definition of a quiet workhorse.