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ams birkin bags are some of the most
expensive bags in the world
ranging anywhere from 9 000 to half a
million dollars the bags embody absolute
luxury a birkin bag you've heard of it
of course
that's a very nice purse the exclusive
accessories even considered by some to
be a better investment than gold or the
stock market
and the world's most expensive bag is an
heir mess himalaya birkenback that sold
for five hundred thousand dollars so
what is it that makes birkenback so
expensive
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the story of the bag begins with its
namesake jane birkin on a flight from
paris to london the english actress
happened to be seated next to the chief
executive of ms jean-louis dumas delight
attendance please prepare for takeoff
jane was known for carrying a wicker
basket wherever she went and used it for
everything from groceries to diapers
when she tried to fit her famous basket
in the overhead compartment the lid came
off spilling the contents everywhere
jane complained to her seat mate that it
was impossible to find a weekend bag she
liked
dumat introduced himself as the head of
hermes and the pair spent the flight
sketching possible handbag designs on
the back of an airplane sick bag
a year later dumas presented jane with a
birkin bag a spacious yet sophisticated
leather design perfect for everyday use
the burkins pockets made it highly
functional and the bag seals to prevent
anything from spilling
here mess makes the bags in france using
premium materials like calf skin
alligator skin and even ostrich skin
each bag is made entirely by hand
although birkins are one of the most
exclusive and sought after bags today
they actually weren't all that popular
when they first launched it wasn't until
the 90s that the birkin became one of
the it bags of the era
now they're the ultimate status symbol
victoria beckham reportedly has a
collection of over 100 birkins estimated
to be worth over 2 million dollars and
singaporean socialite and entrepreneur
jamie chur is considered to have the
world's largest birkin collection with
over 200 bags
but you can't just walk into ams and get
one while there used to be a wait list
nowadays all you can do is hope to be
important enough or spend enough to be
offered a birkin bag
and if you're offered one don't expect
to be able to choose the colour or size
hermes also places limits on how many
birken bags a client can purchase per
year
this dedication to preserving the
exclusivity of the bag has certainly
paid off and the disparity in demand and
access has created a thriving resale
market a 2017 study revealed that the
value of hermes birkenbacks has
increased 500 in the last 35 years an
increase of 14 percent per year one of
the most coveted models comes from
hermes himalaya collection which comes
in three sizes
often referred to as the holy grail of
handbags the white himalaya birkin bag
features 18 carat white gold hardware
and more than 200 diamonds the 35
centimeter model in particular is very
rare and has sold at record prices year
after year
most recently in 2019 it sold for over
half a million dollars professional
sports betting consultant david wancher
also known as vegas dave made the
record-breaking purchase the reason i
bought the birken bag is
i love breaking records i broke all the
sports betting records i wanted to break
the most expensive bag record i'm all
about raising the bar also it's about
supply and demand the only other one in
the world is by steve harvey's wife so
there's only two in the world not even
kim kardashian has this so i actually
bought it for content believe it or not
so i could take videos with it pictures
of it getting people to talk about me
the record-breaking sale actually took
place over social media sale was pretty
easy i posted on social media i have
about a million followers i'm looking
for a bag
this lady hit me up private porter
she messaged me so she gave me the bag i
realized it was the most expensive bag
she said it would break the record yeah
and this is for sure the record 500 000.
absolutely most expensive bag ever sold
we closed this deal about three to four
days really really fast i actually do
use the bag most people think i'm crazy
um they put it away like in a safe and
never touch again i've taken it out
twice once to a nightclub in vegas as a
great piece of content it's definitely
worth the cost because you could offer
me a million dollars cash i wouldn't
sell it
my asking price is 2 million if not i'll
just keep the damn thing it's also made
with white or albino crocodile skin
which is extremely rare the costly skin
is painstakingly dyed to emulate the
snowy appearance of the himalayan
mountains the high retail value and
resale value is because these are pieces
of artwork these artisans train years
and years to make one of these bags and
they may even train 10 years or even
they're allowed to make a birkin another
reason for the bag's high price of
course is the limited availability the
total number of birkin bags ms produces
each year is a well-guarded secret but
it's estimated that there may be around
200 000 in circulation
and for the luxury resale market birkin
bags are a hot commodity
online retailer prive porter uses
instagram and whatsapp to sell the bags
online
and luxury reseller the real real has
hundreds of birkins available at any
given time
many of which are priced well over the
original retail cost the birken bag does
retain and sometimes exceeds its value
it really does depend on the leather the
color the size of the bag you know the
hardware there are so many factors that
go into pricing a birkin that it could
really vary however if you do buy a
birkin let's say in 2004 and maybe the
retail at that time was 5 000 you most
likely will be able to sell it even if
you haven't worn it so many times for
five thousand six thousand dollars even
as resellers like the real real and
prive porter have made more berkins
available than ever the prices haven't
gone down if you go to hermes you may
not always get the exact color
size that you want here we have almost
every single option and if that means
you have to pay a small premium people
and our clients are willing to do so
even though that there has been such a
saturation of these bags not one bag is
the same so let's say as
an attained birkin 35 with gold hardware
we only have one right now and if it's
sold we may not get another for a while
so someone's looking for that and they'd
be willing to pay an extra maybe ten
thousand dollars to get that bag as soon
as possible and all these bags are
handmade artisan craftsmanship it's a
piece of artwork not one is the same not
even one stitch
so if you have an extra ten thousand
dollars lying around it could be
worthwhile to invest it in a birkin
just make sure that you're not falling
for a fake from canal street in new york
city to websites like ebay the
counterfeit market is full of luxury
knock-offs and berkins are no exception
back in 2012 hermes sued several
websites for selling fake products and
won 100 million dollars in damages that
same year french police cracked down on
an international crime ring that was
manufacturing counterfeit birkenbacks
the crime ring reportedly included
actual hermes employees
only two employees were arrested but
hermes believed that several other
employees could have been involved and
despite all their efforts fake products
continue to flood the market the quality
of counterfeit bags has also vastly
improved over the years making it
difficult to tell whether a bag is real
or fake
however there are a few tricks to
spotting a fake birkin the handle should
never be too long if they look too long
longer than the bag
then it is most likely inauthentic the
hardware shouldn't be too shiny or
protrude out
and the feet another big thing is one of
the best things i always check is that
the feet should never screw off they are
hammered in
the leather itself
should feel very supple very luxurious
and if the price seems too good to be
true it probably is while many other
handbag styles have come and gone it
looks like the birkin is here to stay
and the bag has become synonymous with
status in a way that many other luxury
goods have yet to despite its popularity
the bag features no prominent logos and
is only recognizable to people who
already know what it is
in birkin ms has created something that
feels inaccessible and thus highly
exclusive
as for whether the birkin will always be
so expensive only time will tell
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