A diamond-encrusted
crocodile-skin Hermes handbag with white gold details has broken the
record for the world’s most expensive ever sold at auction, fetching
nearly $300,000 at a Hong Kong sale.
The rare Himalaya
Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 30 went to an unknown phone bidder
late Monday for HK$2.32 million ($298,655), beating a pre-sale estimate
of $2 million, the auction house Christie’s said.
“It was
the world record price for any handbag sold at auction,” Bingle Lee, a
Hong Kong-based spokesman for Christie’s, told AFP.
Designer
handbags are increasingly seen as investment opportunities and are the
latest craze for collectors, taking global auction houses by storm and
scoring record prices.
The new record beat one set last year, also in Hong Kong, when a fuchsia-coloured Hermes bag sold for $222,912.
The
handmade bag — described by the London-based auctioneers as the “rarest,
most sought-after” — is encrusted with diamonds, while the buckle and
trademark mini Hermes padlock are made of 18 carat white gold.
“It is
believed that only one or two of the Diamond Himalayas are produced each
year, globally, making it one of the lowest production runs for
handbags,” Christie’s said in a statement issued before the sale.
The bag
was made in 2008 and is from Hermes’ iconic “Birkin” series named after
actress and singer Jane Birkin, who was born in Britain and lives in
France.
A
smaller Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 25 handbag will go
under the hammer on Wednesday with an estimate price of HK$1.3 million
to HK$1.5 million.
The
auction was part of the firm’s 30th anniversary sales to mark its
presence in Asia, with a range of luxury goods on offer, including
Chinese paintings, watches and wine.
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