Hermes Rodeo PM Charm Horse Charm Milo Lambskin Gold H064929CAEW

Buying the Gold Rodeo is the charm equivalent of wearing a tan belt with tan shoes: not adventurous, entirely correct. The colour is the classic French saddle tan — think bridles, think luggage — and the charm simply agrees with it. It is the colour of luggage carts and riverbanks, of things that improve with stamps; if minimalism had a mascot, it would be this horse.

The centimetre-deep profile, the matte lambskin, the steady hang: all the Rodeo virtues are here, just in the least surprising colour. Which is the point. This is the charm you buy when you plan to own one for a decade and never think about it again. The tail is stitched to curl in one clean gesture, which took me a while to appreciate.

Mine is on a gold-tone leather bag most days, a match so literal it would be boring on anyone else. Where it earns its keep is travel: a tan charm on a grey carry-on looks considered, and it never clashes with whatever I am wearing at the gate. It looks too composed for airports, which I enjoy.

One note before you commit: tan lambskin deepens a touch wherever you handle it, so after a year the mane will be noticeably richer than the flank. Some owners buff it; I let it happen. If that sentence bothered you, choose black. Tan leather is the honest leather: it shows the years and files them in order. Handmade in France.