As for whether a regular-model Birkin is subject to a waiting list, it is unclear. TS: How did you arrive at the bag’s $400K-plus valuation? The classic shape of the Himalaya Birkin first emerged in the mid-1980s following a chance encounter between actress Jane Birkin and the chief executive of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas, on a flight between Paris and London. This dyeing process is painstaking and takes many hours to complete—the lighter the hue, the more difficult the process. It is not uncommon for auction houses, such as Christie’s – which is owned by Groupe Artémis, the holding company of Gucci and Saint Laurent owner Kering’s chairman François-Henri Pinault – to boast record-breaking auctions. Since 2005. It is a Himalaya with diamond hardware, and thus, the apex of the market.”. ), It’s Time for More Luxury Brands to Join the Resale Market, Introducing the Fendi Hand in Hand Baguette Project. She has a degree in magazine journalism from the University of Georgia and loves to share her opinions with everyone, regardless of whether or not they want to hear them. I would pair this bag with jeans and a white tee or a Vika Gazinskaya dress. Coincidentally, we happen to have a freshly posted Hermès Himalayan crocodile Birkin bag, priced at $432,000—thought to be the most expensive Birkin ever offered for sale. The gradation technique used on the Himalayan Birkins and Kellys is unique among all other Hermès colorways. With recent handbags auctions in mind, this means Hermés bags, with Himalaya bags being the ultimate get. Dumas assisted her in collecting the dropped items, they struck up a conversation, and shortly thereafter Dumas got to work in ensuring the crafting of the “Birkin bag.”. The auction house has come to refer to the Hermès Himalaya Birkin Bag as “the Holy Grail” in any handbag collection, while the Himalaya Kelly is fabled as “The Rarest Handbag in the World.” Crafted from Nilo crocodile hide, the bags’ designation “Himalaya” does not apply to the origin of the bag, but rather, to the delicate gradation of the color; the smoky grey fades into a pearly white, resembling the snow-capped Himalayas. A 35cm Himalayan Birkin is possibly the rarest and most desirable handbag in the world. “Himalaya” is simply the Hermès shade name for this particular combination of white, beige and gray. The color pairs perfectly with 18-karat white gold hardware, which is itself studded with white diamonds. JF: This bag was offered to a highly respected VIP client. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Jane Finds: The 30-centimeter diamond Himalayan Birkin is possibly the rarest and most desirable handbag in the world. The exclusive white Himalaya Birkin, handmade from Niloticus crocodile with more than 240 diamonds on its 18-karat-gold hardware, is routinely in the top spot for most expensive bag … Amanda Mull is a 25-year-old writer, blogger, and gal-about-town from Atlanta, Georgia. But maybe even more so, they are well-known for their marked tendency to break auction records as the “most valuable” and most expensive handbags in the world. It’s meant to evoke the snow-capped mountains, which is the one and only place the Himalayas come into the equation here. The Himalayan bag, so named because its coloring resembles the famed mountain range, became the most expensive handbag sold at auction when it fetched a whopping $379,261 at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong in June 2017. The answer to the question of why anyone wants a particular luxury good is always abstract. I assumed this for a long time, but then I remembered the Himalayas are cold. Every year, consumers buy 30 billion tons of stuff– from clothing and cosmetics to groceries and homewares. Celebs Head Out With New Louis Vuitton and Loewe (and Masks All Around! This bag is made of Nilo crocodile, rendered in … The Holy Grail of these bags is the Hermès Himalayan Crocodile Birkin. JF: The retail price of the bag was nearly $300,000. But anything goes with a Himalayan, especially this Himalayan. The value of a Birkin has been increasing by an average of 14.2 percent each year. This bag is made of Nilo crocodile, rendered in a subtle coloration that is meant to evoke images of the majestic Himalayan mountains. This is arguably the rarest, most spectacular, and most jaw-dropping Birkin to ever be made, and it is likely the only time a bag of this caliber will be offered on the luxury resale market. Light colors are especially hard to achieve on crocodile, so getting everything just right (and it has to be just right) takes tremendous skill on the part of the artisan processing the hide. Many of the most expensive Himalayan Birkins and Kellys also have white gold hardware encrusted with diamonds, although the entry-level models come with Palladium. Why are so many people driven to five- and six-figure obsession by this particular handbag? Various reports over the years suggest that the waiting list for a base-line Birkin is more a myth than routine practice. “So, milestones such as this one are truly meaningful.”. Hermès only very rarely—and very thoughtfully—creates unique pieces of this caliber. TS: Whom do you envision purchasing this bag, and what would they wear it with? Jane Finds: The 30-centimeter diamond Himalayan Birkin is possibly the rarest and most desirable handbag in the world. The Himalaya Birkin: The “Most Important Handbag in the World”, Sustainability Requires Better Design and Maybe Even Legal Measures, Porsche, Gucci, Louis Vuitton Rank Highest on “Most Valuable” Luxury Brands List, Teens Are Spending Less on Bags, Clothes But Second-Hand Shopping is Gaining Momentum, The RealReal Partners with Gucci for its Biggest-Name Resale Venture to Date. Do you know if it was created especially for a certain client? Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The cadena lock alone is comprised of 68.4 grams of 18-karat white gold and encrusted with 40 white round brilliant diamonds, totaling 1.64 carats. But sometimes, a handbag goes far beyond even that element of human desire and transcends to something that is lusted after and hunted on a whole different level. (“Entry-level” is a misnomer here; one of these will still set you back around $90,000 on the resale market.). Read on for more! A Masked Market: How COVID-19 Has Affected the Luxury Shopping Experience in Paris, Gucci Collaborates with Liberty on the Ideal Retro Yet Modern Collection. A: An Hermès Himalayan is a bag—either a Birkin or a Kelly—with white, gray, and tan tones, made from Niloticus crocodile, an African (not Himalayan!) Yes, in June 2017, a 3-year old Himalaya Birkin sold for $380,000 to an unnamed buyer in Hong Kong, according to Christie’s. animal. Koffsky says the market for these very expensive bags is booming in large part because “it’s becoming well known how valuable these handbags are, [and] people are taking it much more seriously; they want to spend their money in a more thoughtful way. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. These sales have been followed by an even more recent one in London. Selling for $287,145, the bag is now the most expensive ever sold at auction in Europe. According to Christie’s, there is currently a six-year waiting list to acquire a new Himalaya Birkin bag, which takes at least 48 hours to create. Most of you are probably familiar with this bag on sight and recognize the name, but what does it actually mean, how rare are they and, you know, what’s the deal in general? No. Fashion and luxury are meant to poke the soft spots in our brains, the ones that are seduced by physical beauty and tactile pleasures rather than reason and order. On Tuesday, Christie’s broke yet another record with a 2008 Himalaya Niloticus with 18k white gold and diamond-encrusted hardware. How’s that for thematic relevance vis-à-vis a novelty holiday? This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. JF: I envision many clients of mine with very personal and unique style, exquisite taste, and vision. Well, that was fortuitous. © 2020 Condé Nast. The take-home-price of that Himalaya, which boasted 18 karat gold buckles and strap loops encrusted with 205 diamonds, swiftly flew past Christie’s presale estimate of HK 1.5 to 2 million ($193,000 to $258,000) 15 minutes of intense bidding in the auction room in Hong Kong, as well as from phone and online bidders, Christie’s spokeswoman Gigi Ho said at the time. Christie’s has “set the European record for the most valuable bag sold at auction two years in a row,” Rachel Koffsky, a handbag and accessories specialist at Christie’s, told The Telegraph, saying that demand for these “wearable works of art” has resulted in sales skyrocketing. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Your California Privacy Rights. On the bag, three different structural elements of the Birkin—the Touret, the Pontets, and the Plaques de Sanglons—feature more than 200 diamonds for a total of 8.2 carats. As the story goes, Birkin was rummaging through her basket-weave purse, lamenting her inability to find the perfect bag, when it fell apart. “This example, with white gold detailing and 245 diamonds, combines the two. Originally, Himalaya Niloticus crocodile was only available in Birkins, but now both Birkins and Kellys are available in the material. TS: What can you share about the bag’s origins? This bag features a subtle coloration, done in Nilo Crocodile, that is meant to evoke images of the majestic Himalayan mountains. This is without doubt a collector’s piece that belongs in a true collector’s home. I’ve talked to plenty of bag lovers who aren’t Hermès experts who have been confused over the years, so below, I’m setting the record straight on what this bag is and why it inspires such a following. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. In 2016, Christie’s 30th Anniversary Hong Kong auction sold a Himalaya Birkin bag with white gold and diamond hardware for an auction world record price of $300,168. Most of you are probably familiar with this bag on sight and recognize the name, but what does it actually mean, how rare are they and, you know, what’s the deal in general? This bag is no longer available with or without diamonds. All rights reserved. I could name hundreds, but I will not. This dyeing process takes many painstaking hours to complete, as the lighter the hue, the more difficult the process. But in all seriousness, this bag is one of the most stunning Hermès pieces we’ve ever laid eyes on. Very few of the bags are made—only one or two per year, according to rumors reported by the New York Times last year. It’s a timeless piece of art, will be in style forever, and is something a woman will cherish her entire life and then pass on to future generations. Last week we celebrated World Handbag Day. The Holy Grail of these bags is the Hermès Himalayan Crocodile Birkin. Keep up with PurseBlog by signing up for our newsletter. Usually, this means hundred million dollar Picassos and $50 million dollar Jean-Michel Basquiat works, but as some of the world’s most renowned auction houses come to recognize the appeal of hard-to-get luxury accessories, these results have also come to include handbags. Industry experts agree: Himalaya Birkin bags are some of the “most important handbags in the world.” These wildly rare and eye-poppingly pricey bags – which are manufactured and initially sold exclusively by Paris-based luxury stalwart Hermès (which only relies on direct retail, as opposed to utilizing any wholesale accounts) – are certainly known for their matte white Himalaya crocodile skin. The resulting accessory quickly became the most sought-after of status symbols in the world.
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