Skip the queue: rare Hermès Birkins up for sale

A Hermes 35cm shiny rose porosus crocodile sellier Kelly bag with gold hardware, currently on sale for $120,000 in the Heritage Auctions Holiday Trunk Show. Courtesy Heritage Auctions

You can wait for years to get your hands on an Hermès Birkin. It is widely recognised as the mother of all handbags, and one of the few fashion items that can actually be viewed as an investment item.

Earlier this year, luxury retail site Baghunter released a study suggesting that a Birkin was a better investment than gold. We kid you not.

According to the site, the value of Birkin bags increased every year from 1980 to 2005, with an average annual increase of 14.2 per cent, including inflation. Over the same period, the average return on gold was minus 1.5 per cent per year.

Of course, the bags are notoriously hard to come by. But if you want to skip the infamous Birkin waiting list and don’t have the mettle to bid for one at auction, you’ll be happy to hear that Heritage Auctions is holding its first-ever Hermès Holiday Handbag Trunk Show, offering Birkin, Kelly and Constance bags by the famed French maison for immediate purchase.

The handbags are on offer at www.HA.com/TrunkShow until January 9 and range from a 25cm rouge grenat togo leather Birkin with gold hardware, priced at $15,000 (Dh55,000), to a 30cm matt sanguine alligator Birkin with palladium hardware, priced at $65,000 (Dh239,000).

For those looking to splurge, there’s also a 35cm shiny rose shocking and ultraviolet porosus crocodile sellier Kelly Bag with gold hardware going for $120,000 (Dh440,000).

“The wait list for a Hermès handbag can be years — but there is no waiting in Heritage Auctions’ Holiday Trunk Show,” says Max Brownawell, consignment director of luxury accessories for Heritage Auctions.

“We hand-selected the Hermès for this event, matching the quality our clients have come to expect in our multi-million-dollar auctions.

“A trunk show is the ideal opportunity for a new collector and fashion-forward client to finally own the handbag of her dreams,” Brownawell adds. “It keeps the buyer in control of their budget while offering a stellar selection from the top name in women’s accessories: Hermès.”