A Hermes bag has topped the returns chart at a major Sotheby’s luxury sale in Hong Kong. The limited edition bag, made in 2022, realised around £142,000 (HK$1,397,000) at the auction earlier this month.
The bag is a Birkin Fauborg in black matte alligator construction with orange details. It was made by Hermes in 2022.
The Hermes Birkin bag is by far the best known and most collectible line of handbags.
The range was reportedly the result of an encounter between English actor Jane Birkin and Hermes chairman Jean-Louis Dumas. Sharing a flight in 1984, Ms Birkin told the handbag supremo that she couldn’t find a bag to carry everything she needed for herself and her young children.
Dumas went straight to work and the Birkin was born.
The design now features regularly in lists of the most expensive and most coveted bags.
A side view of the Hermes bag has made over £140,000.
It is available in a dazzling array of special finishes. You can pay over $100,000 for some, and if you want one you’re likely to be put on a waiting list unless you’re a very important person.
The exclusivity of the top end bag world has caused an explosion in sales of pre-owned bags.
It’s a pattern that has been seen in the luxury watch world too – can’t wait for a new Rolex? Shop around for a vintage model instead.
This sale, in Hong Kong, was dominated by Hermes (Chanel and Luis Vuitton also featured) and the Hermes sales were topped by Birkins.
Nothing, including bag accessories, went for under £1,000.
This bag led the way by some distance though. The Faubourg range are meant to mimic a Hermes shopfront. They were only launched in 2019 and their popularity is extraordinary.
Not everyone thinks of handbags as valuable, and it is possible to pick up bargains in sales and even charity shops if you’re sharp-eyed and the seller was less so.
