Comparing Auction House Performance
How Do the Big Players Stack Up by Value and Volume?
The history of Hermes Bags being sold at auction only goes back about a decade and a half in full-force. In years prior, Hermes handbags may have appeared from time to time in estate sales or jewelry auctions, but auctions dedicated to these finely crafted leather goods were unheard of. In Europe, Artcurial and Gros & Delettrez pioneered the Hermes auction market. From the mid-2000’s these two began holding Handbag sales regularly throughout the year, with Paris serving as the epicenter of activity. In 2010, Heritage Auctions launched the first Handbag Department at a US auction house, based in New York City. They quickly came to dominate the market, and made Handbag Auctions into highly anticipated seasonal events, with lavish receptions and luscious printed catalogs (which are still produced today) preceding each live auction. Rotating cities season by season, they held
sales not only in New York City, but also Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago, though New York dominated as the central hub of the market. In 2014 part of the team at Heritage rather contentiously decamped to start a Handbags Department in earnest at Christie’s. The storied English auctioneer had sold Hermes bags previously, often intwined with fine jewels, but this group created for them the first major international handbag department, hosting sales on three continents year-round. The epicenter of the Hermes Auction World was moving Hong Kong.
Christie’s entrance into the market spiked the volume of bags crossing the auction block dramatically. From 2014 to 2015 the number of Birkins sold at auction more than tripled. In 2018, Sotheby’s began making forays into the market. Following in the pattern set by Christie’s, their sales, though conducted entirely online, are held with in-person previews all over the world. While Heritage still holds live auctions in Dallas, Christie’s has limited their live auctions to Hong Kong, choosing to conduct their New York, Paris and London sales online. The pandemic pushed all auction houses to get serious about hosting sales online, and time will tell if the allure of in-person bidding will bring bags back into the auction room in the future. A few years ago, Christie’s stop producing print catalogs for their Handbag Auctions, and Sotheby’s never has.
Most recently, Bonhams, which had sold Hermes bags in hybrid jewelry auctions between 2012 and 2014, has come into play in a more major way. Beginning to hold dedicated Handbag & Fashion Auction in 2020, Bonhams’ Hong Kong based “Luxury Online: Watches, Handbags, Pens” sales have been gaining traction and are attracting higher quality consignments. I am currently in the process of inputting their past sales into my database and will be including their results and auctions in all future articles. Bonhams recent spate of acquiring small regional auction houses to broaden its international reach may soon yield untold troves of Hermes bags from previously untapped regions. Poly Auction is another house that has regularly held Handbag auctions since 2015 and is based in Hong Kong. Over the pandemic, their volume of sales declined markedly, though their recent partnership with Philips, which has no handbag sales in its history, means the future of this department is something we’ll be watching closely.
Comparing Performance
When considering how to compare results for the three main auction houses, I though it best to limit my data to Regular Leather Birkins only. This excludes any exotics, Limited Editions, Special Orders, Sellier Birkins, or Birkins with hardware other than Gold or Palladium. Then I thought it best to divide the results by size, as a predominance of 25s at one auction house, for example, could skew results higher than those for another house that sells more 35s. In all three sizes Sotheby’s averages the highest. So far in 2023, Sotheby’s’ Birkin 25s have averaged $23,500 to Christie’s’ $19,600, their 30s $20,250 to Christie’s $14,500 (which itself is topped by Heritage’s 30 average of $15,625), and their 35s $14,400 to Christie’s $10,050 (here Heritage gets close to the top spot, averaging $13,300 for their 35s). What could account for Sotheby’s near 35% average premium over Christie’s? The answer could come from reflecting on the two house’s volumes of sales:
Accounting for all the special and unusual Birkins left out of the value calculations above, we can get a look at the volume of sales conducted by each house through auctions annually. Still looking only at Birkins (no Kellys, Constances or other styles), Christie’s’ arrival in the market as an international player is intensely clear, as are the repercussions that had for Heritage. Sotheby’s entrance appears only to further soften Heritage’s position. The difference is also clear, though, between the current volume of bags sold by Christie’s vs Sotheby’s, the former of which currently moves about twice as many Birkins across the block as the latter. This is likely what accounts for the value differences between the two houses, as a higher volume of Birkins almost certainly means a disproportionately higher volume of older bags. Christie’s longer history in the market means their client base contains more serious collectors, who buy and sell vintage bags at a higher rate than new-to-market clients primarily dealing with newer bags. I predict that as the two houses’s volumes approach each other, their average values will coalesce as well.
Craning our heads towards the top of the market, we can asses the various peaks and valleys of the famous Himalayas. A regular appearance at auction, Hermes Himalaya Bags sit in their own category, and their regularity at auction means their prices can be tracked similarly to Regular Leather Birkins, albeit with an extra zero. Himalaya Birkin and Kelly 25s are decidedly the most sought after, whereas Hima Birkin 30s are the most common on the market appearing at least twice as often as any other size. For both of these subcategories, Sotheby’s comes out on top again, though the average prices for Birkin 30s are within 1.5% as of this writing. Hima results can vary widely, though, and the top prices are sometimes multiples of a size’s all-time average:
Birkin 25
Average: $171,500 - Top: $387,000 (Christie’s 2020) - Bottom: $68,750 (Heritage 2017)
Kelly 25
Average: $193,500 - Top: $435,500 (Christie’s 2020) - Bottom: $88,150 (Christie’s 2016)
Kelly 28
Average: $172,500 - Top: $354,200 (Christie’s 2021) - Bottom: $83,250 (Christie’s 2017)
Birkin 30
Average: $126,500 - Top: $226,500 (Sotheby’s 2021) - Bottom: $40,000 (Heritage 2017)
Kelly 32
Average: $126,500 - Top: $163,800 (Sotheby’s 2022) - Bottom: $79,500 (Christie’s 2020)
Birkin 35
Average: $123,600 - Top: $206,750 (Christie’s 2019) - Bottom: $77,350 (Christie’s 2023)
The trajectory of Hermès handbags in the auction sphere has witnessed a remarkable evolution over the past decade. What was once an exclusive, niche segment relegated to occasional estate sales has burgeoned into a vibrant market, rife with anticipation and fierce competition among leading auction houses. From the pioneering endeavors of European establishments like Artcurial and Groz & Deletrez to the groundbreaking initiatives by Heritage Auctions and subsequent entries of giants like Christie's and Sotheby's, the landscape has undergone substantial transformation. This progression has not only led to a dramatic surge in the volume of Birkins crossing the auction block but also to a nuanced differentiation in terms of valuation, depending largely on the volume of bags, historical market presence, and clientele's purchasing habits.
Sotheby's current dominance, especially in the premium segment, and Christie's extensive history and volume further illustrate the dynamism and complexities of this market. In the rapidly evolving landscape of luxury handbags, it remains to be seen how strategies will shift, and how values will adjust in the years to come. Yet, one thing is certain: the allure of Hermès handbags in the auction world is an enduring testament to their timeless appeal and unparalleled craftsmanship.
