Hardware Finishes to Get Excited About
The iconic Hermès H buckle can be found on Constance bags, jewelry, belts and other small leather goods. To the untrained eye, they may look very similar, but to the Hermès connoisseur, there is a whole world of rare and unusual hardware that takes Hermès artisans an extraordinary amount of time and skill to create.
Constance bags were generally finished with gold-plated brass but, in recent years, the bag has been refreshed with silver-plating, rose gold and engraved H buckles as well as enamel, Crocodile, Lizard skin and leather inlays, marble, diamond, ultra-diamond and even glow in the dark.
The Lizard inlay is a particularly rare Hermès H buckle style. This inlay technique is called leather marquetry, with the Lizard skin skillfully assembled on the H buckle. You can see this on the much-coveted Marquette Constance, which combines either an Alligator or Tadelakt leather body with a Lizard inlay buckle. The Marquette is the only Constance with Varanus Niloticus Lizard inlay, but other Constance lines have implemented an attractive enamel lacquer or leather inlay on the buckle. One of the most memorable examples of a lacquered Constance H buckle is the glow-in-the-dark lacquered palladium seen in 2020.
Source: Hermès
The buckle of the Constance Cartable, the largest version of the Constance, has a leather inlay that matches the body of the bag. A limited-edition Constance, made of matte Vert Titien Alligator featured a very special H buckle with a turquoise marble inlaid clasp.
Source: Hermès
The Enamel H buckle began life as a flourish on Hermès bracelets, but its immense popularity led it to become a staple of Constance bags’ hardware, too. It is used in an array of colors on the Verso Constance and on the Constance Optique, where colored enamel lacquer creates an illusionary pattern of line work.
Source: Hermès
“To the Hermès connoisseur, there is a whole world of rare and unusual hardware.”
Source: Hermès
Another popular Hermès H buckle finish is the brushed hardware, a contrast to the shiny, polished hardware often seen on Hermès bags and accessories. This matte finish is achieved when skilled artisans polish the metal with an abrasive surface to achieve tiny scratches. These are then buffed to perfection.
The Guilloche H buckle features the guilloche technique. This involves a precise, intricate pattern mechanically engraved into an underlying material. The result is astonishingly fine, interlaced detailing, often seen on fine jewelry and watches.
The Hammered H buckle is a hand-produced technique. A master artisan carefully taps the metal into an attractive, dented pattern. The Grooved H buckle is achieved by engraving perfectly-placed thin lines into the metal.
