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When Jane Birkin’s original Hermes Birkin bag was auctioned at Sotheby’s in Paris in July, it set a new benchmark for the most valuable handbag ever sold at auction.
Thousands of Hermes fans watched an electrifying bidding war play out between nine determined collectors via livestream.
While names such as Kim Kardashian were rumoured to be in the frame, a private collector from Japan placed the winning £7.4 million bid, with the ‘hammer price’ resulting in a jaw-dropping final price tag of £8.6 million.
But the show is not over. In good news for anyone else with a cool few million to spare, Sotheby’s has just announced the auction of another of Jane Birkin’s Birkins. Better still, it’s estimated to sell at anything between £180,000 and £330,000 – small change for the 0.01 per cent.
Called ‘Le Voyageur’, the tote –one of five Birkins owned by the actress who died two years ago at 76, is described as the ‘everyday’ bag she used between 2003 and 2007. Crafted in classic black box leather and visibly worn, it has only been sold once at auction, in 2007, and has remained in a private collection ever since.
Whether out of deference or diffidence, it is understood the current owner has never used the bag.
While ‘Le Voyageur’ is unlikely to fetch the same eye-watering sum as the ‘Original Birkin’ did, few would bet against it going for far higher than its estimated price. In preparation for auction in 2007, Birkin cannily added to its value by inscribing handwritten notes in silver ink on the bag’s interior pockets.
In addition to writing her signature, ‘Jane B’, she playfully drew a female nude and other doodles, as well as the words ‘Mon Birkin bag qui m’a accompagne dans le monde entier’– ‘My Birkin bag, my globetrotting companion’.
French actress and singer Jane Birkin arriving at the Elysee Palace on May 9, 1990 with her Hermes bag
Jane Birkin’s Birkin bag comes to auction at Sotheby’s Collectors Week in Abu Dhabi this December
If anyone else defaced their designer handbag with lurid silver scribbles, they’d trash its value overnight. But when you’re a style icon, different rules apply.
While the original Birkin was sold in Paris, ‘Le Voyageur’ will, aptly, be sold further afield. It will be offered as part of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Collector’s Week, set to take place at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort between December 2 and 5, with the live auction on the final day.
When the ‘Original Birkin’ was sold in July, Sotheby’s Hermes sales rose 94 per cent in value.
It’s further proof of what fashion aficionados have always known: that while stocks may fluctuate, the world’s most feted luxury handbags retain – and often exceed – their original value. Well, provided you don’t scribble all over them with a silver pen.
