Check out this stunner! An extremely rare Himalayan Nilo Crocodile clad Hermes Birkin, featuring 18-karat white-gold hardware and 242 diamonds with a total weight of 9.84 carats, sold for $185,000 at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills.
This is the second highest price ever for a handbag sold at auction. Back in 2011, a shiny rouge Porosus Diamond Birkin sold for $203,150.
“Hermes is the only line of bags that can sell on the secondary market for more than their retail price,” Kathleen Guzman, managing director of the company’s New York office and the auctioneer for the item said, adding that as a result, these bags tend to be traded purely as investments. So completely true. Have you been following all the Hermes Birkins on eBay?!
What’s with the price tag? Well, there is the obvious coming in to play here- DIAMONDS! If any high-end luxury designer was to encrust their hardware with select cut diamonds, you can bet your bottom dollar, it would bring a high price tag. That and of course the exotic materials. Hermes has their own crocodile farm, breeding them to have very light albino skin and reducing the chances of natural flaws- scuffs and markings the average crocodile would get in natural setting. Guzman, told CBS MoneyWatch that it’s “very hard to get skins large enough as it is. But then to search for a crocodile that has almost an albino skin is extraordinarily rare.” Additionally, the exclusive status of this bag is another reason for the hefty price. I’m not talking your average Hermes wait-list. Handbags of this status are made only in limited numbers and available only to a handful of elite Hermes customers.. such as Victoria Beckham.
Victoria Beckham with the Hermes Diamond and Himalayan Nilo Crocodile Birkin. Possibly the same bag?
images:REUTERS
