Hi everyone - been lurking on the Hermés forum for a while now. Haven't really had the courage (for lack of better term) to post but thought now might be as good as any to start participating in the awesome community.
My wife and my journey with H started about a year ago. We were vacationing in Paris and she had started to foray further into the world of luxury goods. We briefly stopped by the FSH (without really realizing the significance of that) and we walked out with a scarf. While in the airport, I snuck away to purchase another scarf in secret for Christmas present - which was very well received. A few months later, it was time for birthday present. At the time, I had a friend doing a 1 month fellowship in Italy and so I had them buy a clic clac bracelet for me since it was cheaper in EU than US. Unfortunately, the bracelet didn't make it back to me in time. So to avoid showing up empty handed, I visited our local Hermés boutique, where I met an awesome SA that listened to my dilemma and helped me pick out a new bracelet. This was around late 2019 to early 2020 (pre COVID).
This was basically the start of our relationship with our SA and he's just been awesome. Pre-COVID we had dropped in occasionally to look at other small things like bracelets and silk products, and naturally we just developed a super nice rapport with him. He was already asking about what was on the wife's wishlist and how long it might take etc etc. During this time, the wife and I started studying up on Hermés, the products, the history, the craftsmanship. While my wife likes the products, I love and appreciate anything that's thoughtfully and artfully crafted, from computers and software to luxury goods, so of course the everything Hermés strikes a chord with me.
Right as the shut down kind of let up a little bit and things were starting to reopen in the US, we went through a miscarriage. I had originally reached out to our SA in hopes of getting a super awesome push present. Obviously, we no longer needed one but after the miscarriage, I wanted to cheer the wife up a bit and thought a little retail therapy at Hermés might help. Prior to our appointment, I informed our SA of the change and that I am trying to cheer my wife up. Have I mentioned how awesome our SA is yet? Cause during that visit, we were offered a Noir Kelly 28 retourne with GHW in Togo (yeah he's the best - there's a story here with this store visit that I'll save for another time). The wife was literally speechless (her dream bag was a Kelly in a neutral color and knows how hard those can be to come by). We happily accepted despite our shock because we really haven't spent all that much - certainly not the 1:1 ratio everyone talks about here.
Since then we've visited a couple of more times and purchased some SLGs, belt, more silk products, a rodeo. During these visits, our SA is asking what next and the wife wants some mini bags - Roulis mini and Constance 18 (order not important). Our SA casually verifies the wishlist on subsequent visits. Wouldn't you know it, on one of our visits, our SA surprises us with a Rouge Coeur Constance 18 in Epsom with PHW as a Christmas present - making me the best husband ever.
Sorry for the rather long post but thought it might be interesting to share in this topic. Our SA always says “just be patient, the bags will come”. Fortunately, we did our best to be patient and have been pleasantly surprised. But I do think the relationship part matters - perhaps more than people are aware of, and frequent visits. Of course, with COVID and appointments, you can't just casually stroll in but if you get along with your SA and visit somewhat frequently, it’s not surprising to know that you’ll be on your SA's mind and they'll go bat for you to check off the wishlist. Sorry for the rather long post and thanks for coming to my TED talk.
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