Christie's Most Collectible Bags Auction
The first single-owner sale for the category gives us a glimpse into one woman's collection
Taking place in Paris on April 27th, Christie’s upcoming handbag auction ‘Most Collectible Handbags: An Important European Private Collection’ is a 69 lot sale that lets us bag-world Hermes addicts dissect one woman’s collection and fantasize about its accumulation. Comprising 47 Bags with a capital B and 22 other Hermes items, the dates of the various items’ production are what paint the clearest picture of this collection’s history.
The earliest piece offered is an Orange H Kelly Doll from 2000 which, along with the 2001 Dalmatian Kelly 28, the 2005 White Epsom Retounre Kelly 28, the 2006 Marron Fonce Ostrich Sellier Kelly 28, the 2008 Rouge Vif Ostrich Birkin 25 and the 2015 Custom Blues Electric and Aztec (Love Blue Aztec) Chevre Birkin 25, we can assume were purchased on the secondary market. The rest of the collection, however, could have been all purchased directly from Hermes. We can’t be certain of this as Christie’s hasn’t divulged any information about this Important European Collector, but I’m happy to guess away.
The 2 bags from 2018 could have been purchased retail, but the jump to 23 bags from 2019 suggests a significant shift in shopping habits. Assuming Hermes’ two quota bag per person limit is somewhat real, it would take twelve profiles to acquire this quantity of bags in one year. The chance of one customer picking up so many in one locality is extremely unlikely unless they live near tourist-heavy Hermes boutiques. In particular, the Flagship boutique in Paris is known for their unique system of handbag-purchase appointments where (if one is able to get an appointment) one is almost guaranteed a Birkin or Kelly. This system is only a few years old, and the quantity of bags from 2019 leads me to believe this collector took full advantage of her Paris locale. If FSH is around the block, why not try your hand for an appointment every day? It wouldn’t take long to become a regular at the best Birkin-buying location Hermes offers, and its well known that regulars get the best bags.
Her appetites slowed in 2020, acquiring just 15 bags (assuming this is her whole collection), though the Diamond Birkin 30 would have cost about five times as much as any of her other bags assuming they were purchased at retail prices. In case you were wondering, the total retail price for all the bags in this auction post-2015 is around $1,100,000, with maybe $100,000 worth of other Hermes items from the time, and around $100,000 worth of pre-2015 bags (these are just educated guesses, though). With only one bag dating from 2021, a HSS Mimosa Kelly 20 II, we are left with unanswered questions:
Why did this collector stop buying bags in 2021? Or did she?
Is this her entire collection?
Why is she selling these bags? The answer to why people sell at auction is often one of the three D’s: Death, Debt or Divorce, could one be the case here?
Did she, in fact, buy the bulk of this collection at Hermes? Or was it assembled on the secondary market?
Did this collector have something against Lizard?
Was there anything she wanted but wasn’t able to get?
We can only wonder, and watch.
All told, since 2018 this collector has picked up six HSS bags (half exotics), three Picnic Kellys, two Faubourg Birkins, a Diamond Birkin, a Hima and a Kelly Wood. All that on top of 11 other exotics, 4 leather mini Kellys and 12 ‘regular’ leather Birkins and Kellys. Its exhausting just to list, but if instagram is any indication, this is far from a true top-level collection. Think of the collections of insta-bag-lebrities like @ec24m, @jeffreestar, @milacccc, @leckergarnet, @svetikhunt, and @maymay_savan to name a few. Perhaps it is merely one woman’s closet clean-out, getting rid of her least favorite bags to make room for even better ones.