Hermès Color Comparison: Craie (10) vs. Gris Perle (80) – Indoor/Outdoor In-depth

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Sometimes it’s hard to have an accurate understanding of how the different color tones in the Hermès bags and leather goods range will appear outside the boutique. In this video, we perform a deep dive into two popular colors in the Hermès range, Craie and Gris Perle. We will examine the colors under different lighting conditions to give you a better understanding how these colors will appear in the real world.

Hermès Color Categories

Hermes has made color selection easy by categorizing their color range into different families such as the blanche famille for white tones, gris famille for grey tones, the jaune famille for yellow, and so on. Several of the most popular options in the Hermes grey tonal range include: Gris Perle, Gris Mouette, Etoupe, and Gris Tourterelle.

When deciding on the dream specs for my first Birkin, I’ve spent a lot of time (maybe too much time) debating which colors I would be really happy with. In the end, a B25 in Craie and rose gold hardware was on the very top of my list. Whilst making this selection, I realised there were a lot of light tones in the Hermès range available: Gris, Gris Perle, and Nata. And of course, there are the classic neutrals like Etoupe and Etain.

Let’s compare the Craie of the Birkin in Togo leather with the Evercolor Dogon Compact Wallet in Gris Perle.

Gris Perle initially looks very white. Under certain lighting and depending on the photographer it can come across as extremely white.

Lighting Conditions

• Natural film lighting – A close up shot of the two side by side reveals the different textures between the Birkin’s Togo leather and the Dogon’s Evercolor leather. Although the tonal difference is immediately evident between the Craie and the Gris Perle in this setting, it’s interesting to compare them under different lighting environments.  
• Indoor lighting – (room corner) When placing the Gris Perle Dogon beside the Craie Birkin in indirect indoor lighting, you can clearly see the Dogon has a cooler toned compared to the Birkin which appears very creamy.
• Outdoor indirect sunlight – The tone of the pieces looks very similar until we zoom in, and reveal the different shades, but from a distance they could almost be twins.
• Outside in the shadow – The lighting makes the bags appear very similar, but with the bags placed right next to each other you can see a clear difference in the tones.
• Direct sunlight – Placed outdoor under the full warmth of the Californian sun, we can almost feel the bags absorbing the light. There are stronger and more pronounced tones in the colors of both the Birkin and the Dogon colors and I would say this is the most accurate representation of the true tones of both colors. Filmed from behind on the shadow side however, they still look extremely similar.
• Standard indoor lighting – The Craie colored Birkin in this light appears quite dull under these lighting conditions, even taking on a grey tinge, however you can still immediately identify it as a Craie colored bag from the creamy light wax seal. As a side note, for people trying to decide between Nata or Craie, the Nata has a far darker edge seal. The Dogon Wallet in Gris Perle under this lighting clearly displays a grey hue and it has a very light-colored wax seal. The Evercolor leather, which has been used in the Dogon, creates a textural effect which result in a color difference when compared to the Togo leather.
• Studio sunset lighting – An unflattering lighting for both bags which reveals only slight color differences between the Craie and the Gris Perle. However, even in this dim lighting, you can clearly see the tonal difference between them.

Conclusion

I love the Evercolor texture which is finer grained compared to the Togo leather, and has a much smoother finish. I am very happy with my Craie Birkin in combination with the rose gold hardware and wouldn’t want to change it.  However, I strongly feel that Gris Perle would make an excellent addition to any collection and even be a great starter piece from the Hermès collection.

Browse the colors here:

Hermès Craie   |   Hermès Grey

My Current Everyday Jewelry Stack:

   ➤   Cartier LOVE Bracelet

   ➤   Cartier Juste Un Clou Bracelet

   ➤   VanCleef&Arpels Vintage Alhambra Necklace

   ➤   Cartier LOVE Ring