Lisa, one of my best friends from Cornell, just moved to Madrid so I went to visit her last week and then we hopped on a plane to Barcelona for a few days. She lives in the Salamanca district and her apartment is only a handful of blocks from Hermes so naturally I wandered in! I was not expecting to buy anything — just wanted to oogle the Collier de Chien belt and cuff (I’ve wanted both forever — how could I not — but cannot bring myself to pay the price. Though when I saw Couture Snob Tina looking so chic in her belt during Fashion Week all I could think of was running into the nearest Hermes boutique and snatching them both up!!). Incidentally the Madrid Hermes boutique had neither the cuff nor the belt, but they did have a relatively new bracelet called Rivale (371 euros or $480). It looks like a cross between my coveted Collier de Chien ($1000) and the Kelly Double Tour ($410), which I have in white and is one of my fave bracelets (bought it in St. Tropez about three years ago — I wear it quite often and even though it’s white it has never gotten dirty). I’m loving the Rivale which I got in taupe with silver hardware (matches my watch!). It’s a great buy — easy to wear and the price isn’t too guilt-inducing. It’s sort of like the frugal woman’s Collier de Chien:)