he angel of inspiration arrives when you least expect it. A completely mundane thing caught the eye of Robert Dumas, the man behind the Kelly bag at Hermès, while he strolled along the Normandy coast in 1937. Boats moored, swaying on the water, held in place by anchor chains. The purely functional hardware—oval links bisected with a pin in the centre to add strength and prevent twisting—struck him as viable inspiration for what was then a burgeoning offer of jewellery at the French luxury design house. It released its first silver Chaine d’ancre bracelet a year later in 1938; and today the nautical chain is an indelible element of Hermès iconography.
