So, I've just read *mostly* this whole thread. (I skipped from 25-35 but mostly read the whole thing.)
First of all, Mr. Foo--Happy Birthday! What a great idea to celebrate with a wallet and choosing the color of money seems lucky, indeed. Its unfortunate to say the least that what you wanted wasn't available, but not surprising.
Mostly SA's are pretty good, but it does seem to be a large research project to see what is available in what leather color and/or/if it can be made or ordered. I find it is the one place where I shop where one cannot purchase the current season's items without having to wait for them to be "brought in." Colorways are often not available in scarves--they've changed the rules now such that things less than a certain dollar amount can't be brought in -- one has to purchase them--and in general the whole thing is a horrible, inventory nightmare.
If you want a specific Hermes thing, its often tough to get it when you want it and they make so many things, that it is hard for SA's to remember it all (though I think they should make the effort to).
A note on "bespoke" and Hermes:
What occurs to me, and I mean no harm--is that if one truly wants a bespoke item, why go to Hermes at all? Why not go to some other leather worker who is carefully French Leather Apprentice school trained and can make a truly bespoke wallet?
I love my Hermes bags. Adore them. But when I wanted a weird shaped wallet modeled on something I'd gotten as a giveaway that just happened to be a perfect size--I found someone who could make it by hand, in the leather I wanted. I had to wait about eight months, but I've had it for six years and its going strong.
Bespoke to me, means bespoke--well beyond selecting a leather.
Perhaps that is another item for another day--and I truly mean no offense. Like I said, I love my Hermes, but when I wanted something truly bespoke in a small leather good, I felt that I had to look beyond Hermes.
YMMV.
