Hermès Kelly 28 Retourné HSS Au Galop Craie Togo Palladium Hardware

The construction replaces the standard rolled-leather Kelly handle with a chevron-woven assembly: narrow leather strips in contrasting colors interlaced by hand and saddle-stitched along their full length, then mounted with the standard Kelly hardware. The name translates to "at a gallop" and references the visual rhythm of the chevron pattern, which evokes a horse's mane in motion. The technique is offered exclusively through HSS and produced in extremely limited quantity through Hermès' workshop output.

This Kelly 28 Retourné pairs a Craie Togo body with an Au Galop handle assembled in three colors: Craie matching the body, Gold (the warm tan referencing classic Hermès saddlery), and Rouge H (the maison's signature deep red). The chevron rhythm runs the full handle length with Rouge H carrying the contrast register against the pale body. Togo on the body holds a matte pebbled grain that provides the neutral canvas the Au Galop handle requires; a smoother body leather would compete with the handle's surface activity rather than ground it. Swift across the handle assembly takes the chevron weave cleanly, with each strip holding its color register against the adjacent strips without grain interruption.

K (2025) places this piece within the current Hermès production cycle. HSS Au Galop access requires significant Hermès purchase history with the client's salesperson and is allocated above the standard HSS tier; the handle's hand-assembly labor and the workshop capacity required restrict global production to a small documented set per year. The configuration cannot be requested through general boutique allocation or selected from a standard HSS option sheet; access is held at the workshop relationship level.

Collector's Insight:
Au Galop is one of the most pursued HSS handle constructions Hermès produces. Documented production runs at low single-digit volumes per color combination per year across global Hermès workshop output; the chevron-woven handle requires hand-assembly that cannot be machine-produced and does not scale through standard atelier capacity. The Craie body with Gold and Rouge H accent palette positions this piece within the saddlery-reference color register that recurs across Hermès' equestrian-themed special orders (sangles, Toile H, harness fittings) and reads as a deliberate composition rather than an arbitrary color pull.

Resale Insight:
HSS Au Galop Kelly is one of the smallest transaction sets in the current Hermès secondary market. Documented examples at private sale and auction surface at multi-year intervals; pricing is set against the historical Au Galop transaction record rather than current HSS market multiples, because standard HSS comparables do not include the woven-handle construction premium. The 28cm scale represents the most documented Kelly size for Au Galop production; smaller (Kelly 25) and larger (Kelly 32) examples surface less frequently.