Birkin handbags are among the most expensive in the world. You can read why this is so, where they can be found and for which TOP watches investors are willing to pay up to a million crowns in this article.
What is a Birkin bag – The story of creation – Price factors
The price of the most expensive pieces – Where to buy it – Controversy
Photo: Pexels
What is a Birkin bag?
Birkin handbags (so-called Birkins) are fashion accessories from the French brand Hermès, which are among the most expensive in the world. One piece costs hundreds of thousands to millions of Czech crowns.
The Hermès company: a few words about the history of the company
The manufacturer of luxury items and fashion accessories Hermès produces timeless handbags since 1837. The family business was founded by Thierry Hermès. In addition to handbags, it also produces:
- footwear,
- jewelry,
- watches,
- clothes,
- perfumes,
- porcelain.
Birkin bag: where did it come from?
The story of the Birkin bag began many years later. In 1984, he met designer Jean-Louis Dumas by chance actress and singer Jane Birkin during the flight from Paris to London. She then carried a wicker basket instead of a travel bag and complained that she couldn’t find a suitable and good-looking one.
The designer took advantage of the situation and asked Jane for advice. During the flight, they came up with different variants of handbags that would suit women. Finally, they created a proposal elegant and voluminous bags for evening and day, which Dumas named after the surname of the actress.
The predecessor of Birkinka was the Kelly bag (English “Kelly Bag”), which she made famous in the 1950s American actress Grace Kelly, when she used it to protect herself from the lightning of journalists during her pregnancy with Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Birkin bag: price and its factors
Hermès can afford to keep the prices of Birkin bags high for several reasons:
- produces them from first-class materials (alligator, ostrich, calf leather, gold fasteners),
- it is handmade,
- have a unique trapezoidal shape,
- they are produced in limited quantities.
Birkin bag: prize for the most expensive pieces
Luxury handbags such as the Birkin bag were not only popular with women. Men also spend on them, but they don’t wear them, but hold them for their value. And no wonder, the prices according to the Glamourcabaret.cz website for the last ten years increased by 83% and thus surpassed luxury watches.
In 2020, a handbag called the Hermès Diamond Himalaya Birkin 25 was auctioned for $300,000 (more than 6.7 million crowns). Birkinka is made of crocodile skin and studded with 18 carat white gold and diamonds. Currently, its price is even higher. In the table below, we list the other most expensive Birkin handbags that investors are interested in.
| Birkin Bag: Award for Iconic Designs (Limited Edition) – March 2024 | |
| design | approximate price* |
| Hermès Ombré Birkin 25 in lizard skin | 3,219,000 CZK |
| Hermès Ghillies Birkin 35 in burgundy crocodile leather with gold fastening | 1,269,000 CZK |
| Hermès Birkin Ghillies in crocodile and ostrich leather | 1,525,000 CZK |
| Hermès Kelly 32 | 922,000 CZK |
| Hermès Kelly Rose Gold | CZK 46,826,000 |
| HERMES CHAINE D’ANCRE – the most expensive model from 2022 to 2023 | 46,780,000 CZK |
| Hermès Himalayan Birkin in crocodile leather | 8,897,000 CZK |
| Hermès Kelly 38 Retourne 2way bag (second hand) | 1,693,000 CZK |
*Note: Prices are recalculated at exchange rates valid in March 2024.
Birkin handbag: bazaar – How and where to buy a Birkin handbag?
If you would like to buy a Hermès handbag, believe me, the buying process does not work the same way as with most goods. Birkin handbags are produced in limited quantities, so they are not easy to obtain. You can try to find rarer models in auction houses as:
- Vestiaire Collective,
- 1stDibs,
- Hardly Ever Worn It,
- Collector Square.
You can get newer models of Birkin handbags with the help of the staff boutiques. But arm yourself with patience. You will most likely wait months to years for the right piece. You can also try your luck in bazaars. Birkins are sold by their owners, for example, on the online Farfetch Marketplace.
Birkins and unethical production
Birkins can be a good investment, but animal rights activists do not agree with their production. In 2015, American activists pointed out on ill-treatment of alligators and crocodiles, which are raised by African farmers for their leather to then sell to make these handbags.
#️⃣ How much is the most expensive handbag?
Birkin bags are very expensive. However, the first place belongs Mouawad 1001 Nights Diamond Purse – Handcrafted 18k gold heart shaped handbag approx for 88,970,000 CZK.
#️⃣ Where to sell a luxury handbag?
Second-hand Birkins are sold, for example on Farfetch Marketplace. Its web address is: farfetch.com. You can also try the online store Vito Shoe Care or Luxury Bags.
Final tip: See where you can sell non-luxury clothing and accessories.
Source:
- hermes.com,
- vzakulisi.cz
