We haven’t one of these for a while – the last was Lucas’s canvas bag from Charlie Borrow – so I thought it would be good to do one on a recent acquisition of mine. 

I loved Lucas’s bag; I even prefer the way the canvas has aged to my Filson. But it’s really the way leather ages that gets me the most: it was with those Filson handles, and it has been with other things we’ve covered in this How Great Things Age series, like my Chapal leather jacket, Dunhill box and Edward Green shoes. 

In fact, it’s no coincidence that many of those are tan leather, as this colour shows off a really big range of colour. The darker the brown, the less shade range it has to play with. And black has no colour at all.

Today’s piece is a 1980s Sac a Depeches from Hermes – their iconic briefcase. It was a gift from a vintage dealer friend last year, who picked it up relatively cheap and knew how much I would appreciate it. I already have one I bought for myself 10 years ago, but I feel there I chose the wrong leather – this is much better. 

The bag has been used extensively, and is a tapestry of scratches and scuffs. 

It’s this that I love so much – the recent scratches that show up bright and fresh, but then the hundreds of others that surround them, having slowly darkened over time. The recent ones will gradually do that too, softening and becoming part of the texture.

This bag also has some rain damage, as you can see in the picture below. I don’t mind this mottling effect too much, as it’s not that dissimilar to the other ageing. But the second time I used the bag it was raining and the damage seemed to get worse. 

I didn’t want the damage to get too extreme or, more importantly, not look after the bag properly, so I took it to Tim Bent. Tim is a friend and leather expert who runs Bentley’s on Lower Sloane Street in London.

Tim’s advice was to first try using a little leather cream on it. Although the bag didn’t look too dry, there was a chance the leather had dried out over time just sitting around, and the fibres were therefore sucking up any moisture that fell on them. 

The cream would stop that, and provide some level of protection. The only alternatives were to use a protective spray – but that would effectively create a layer of plastic over the top, and stop it ageing at all; or to take it to someone who would clean it more thoroughly – but that could be risky, as you wouldn’t quite know what the leather would end up looking like. 

The cream he recommended was Lord Sheraton Leather Balsam, which is pretty widely available. You can use shoe creams, but ones that are specifically for thicker leathers like bags and furniture are better. 

Interestingly, Tim showed me how he uses it and he only applied a tiny amount. He took a pea-sized blob and then rubbed it into the cap of the cream, so most of it came off and what was left worked its way into the cloth. 

That cloth had also been used before, so it had cream already worked into it. This is useful for shoe polishing as well – reusing the same cloth means polish is already embedded, and the material has been worked smooth and free from any stray fibres. 

Tim rubbed the cream in using small circles, starting on the bottom of the bag to be on the safe sied. Once it had been worked in, he buffed the area with the cloth to bring up a shine. 

I’ve since done the same myself at home, all over the bag, and it has a really healthy glow. I haven’t tried it in the rain yet, but it feels like it should be better protected as well as simply well looked after. 

I do have a similar case from Peter Nitz, which we covered here two years ago. Were this Hermes one not a gift, I would never have bought it as I’d never justify two. 

But now I do, I have to say I prefer the Hermes version, largely for the way it has aged. Although Barenia leather ages quickly, it would be a long time before the Nitz one got to this stage – particularly as I’m not going to use it every day, as someone might have done in the past. 

Which leads to the topic of how smart the bag is, and what I therefore wear it with. In that article about the Nitz briefcase, I said I liked carrying it with suits but that a tote was really my default. I’d say that’s been borne out by time, and so it doesn’t get used very frequently. 

But I’ve also found that I like a smarter case when I’m not wearing tailoring, because it doesn’t seem like classic office attire. In these pictures I was wearing a Rubato knit, black jeans, boots and the English Tweed coat. It just about qualifies as casual chic but nothing smarter. The briefcase seemed to be a nice, luxurious addition – something that elevated the outfit without being too formal or traditional. 

The clothes shown are: PS English Tweed overcoat (just restocked), Rubato Standard Crewneck in Earth, PS Undershirt, Bryceland’s 933 black jeans, and Edward Green Galway boots.

Hermes Sac a Depeches can normally be found second-hand on Vestiaire Collective and similar sites. They cost anywhere from £1-4,000. Keep an eye out for ones that are as worn as this, as they often aren’t valued as highly as new ones.