Upcoming Auctions
Christie’s May 23, Hong Kong
Christie’s headline sale of the season is due to take place in Hong Kong on May 23rd, and their selection seems purposefully chosen to prove a point: Christie’s is King. While first looking through this catalog I found myself audibly gasping again and again at the spectacular array of auction firsts. The most exciting debuts are those of the Picnic Birkin, the Hima Constance, and the Crocodile Sellier Birkin. Though smaller debuts are made by the Cargo Birkin 25 (there’s two) and the first Blue Brume Picnic Kelly , I am most excited by the Matte Fauve Barenia Alligator Birkin 30, the first truly Barenia Alligator to come to auction (the more common Matte Fauve features a foil brand stamp, whereas the extremely rare Barenia Alligator is foil-free). And my jaw dropped when I got to the full set of H E R M E S Letter Kellys, I mean come on.
Sotheby’s May 31-June 13, New York
Sotheby’s June auction has yet to fully publish the lots, though their highlights selection includes a number of exciting rarities including a 30cm So Black Crocodile Birkin and a Magnolia HSS Kelly Doll.
Notable Upcoming Lots
Black Monsieur Un Point Sur Deux Kelly 28, 2019 - The Un Point Sur Deux line, which features alternating contrast stitches, has all-but disappeared from the secondary market. These subtle Kellys, which highlight the high-craft of the bag’s creation, have proven far more rare than most other recent Limited Editions. No other examples have come to auction prior to this.
Etoupe Chevre 20cm Sellier Shoulder Kelly, 2009 - You read that correctly, 2009! Until now I had only seen the original 20cm Kelly style produced until 2006, but this example dating from 2009 changes everything I know about the evolution of this design. What I wouldn’t give to know everything about this bag’s history.
Vert Rousseau Porosus Sellier Birkin 30 - Since the Sellier Birkin’s debut, it has taken over the collecting world, demanding space in every Hermes lover’s closet. This is the first example of an exotic Sellier to come to auction, and I am very excited to see how it performs. The record for a non-HSS, Hima, Diamond, or So Black Birkin 30 is just under $114,500 for a Vert Emerald Nilo example with Palladium hardware set by Christie’s in June 2015, will this Birkin raise the bar?
Fauve Barenia Matte Alligator Birkin 30 - Be still my beating heart. Anyone who loves Hermes loves Barenia, the ultimate heritage leather, its equestrian roots defining the very term Hermes. No leather can match its buttery soft texture, or replicate that perfect patina every Barenia bag is destined to develop. Barenia Faubourg was an interesting evolution of the material, though few have the pleasure of beholding in person Barenia Alligator. You are likely familiar with Matte Fauve Alligator and Crocodile, which is often referred to as Barenia, but this is merely a color. It is like the difference between Gold Chevre and Metallic Gold Chevre. Only the craftspeople at Hermes could translate the unique qualities of Barenia leather to Alligator, and this is the first example of such a bag to come to auction. A very small number of these bags exist, their rarity is en-par with that of matte Nuage Alligator Birkins, which represent an equal level of leather-craft with their pure-white coloration. Serious collectors should not overlook this rarity.
Black Alligator and Rouge Vif HSS Kelly Doll - Exotic HSS Kelly Dolls have proven themselves among the most sought-after collectible bags. After the $240,000 achieved by the Gris Perle example in Christie’s November 2021 auction, the stage is set for this next-on-the-block, which will take second place with anything over $121,000.
Gris Perle and Black Matte Alligator Mini Kelly 20 II - The first HSS Alligator Kelly 20 to cross the block could break records for the size. No Kelly 20 II has broken six figures, with the top spot went to a shiny Black example with Gold hardware that brought $96,600 in a May 2021 Christie’s auction, the same auction in which a shiny Black Alligator 20cm Kelly I set the bar at $128,800. Will this panda-adjacent mini Kelly top that?
Himalayan Constance 24 - Himalayans on the auction market are largely confined to Birkins and Kellys. Though Plumes occasionally appear, and one Kelly Longue in a December 2018 Heritage auction made its way into Kylie Jenner’s collection, the category has remained slim. The Gris Cendres and Celadons and Diamonds add spice to the mix, but now a new flavor has entered the pot: Behold! The first Hima Constance to come to auction, and what a beauty she is, 24cm and every inch a dream. With a low estimate topping $100,000 this bona fide rarity is set from the start as a more worthy Hima that the previous (and often passed) Plumes that have come to auction.
Framboise Picnic Birkin 25 - We’re all well aware of the frenzy surrounding the mini Picnic Kelly. The diminutive edition of the iconic design regularly sells for many multiples of its reportedly $13-$14,000 retail price, but the recent arrival of the 25cm Picnic Birkin has brought Wicker to a new level. Privately, examples of the mini Picnic Birkin trade in the six figures, so while the $50,000+ estimate on this Framboise example may seem low, it reflects the style’s desirability, by contrast Christie’s first offerings of the mini Picnic Kelly had low estimates around $20,000. The Picnic Kelly holds a record of over $105,000, set by a Vert Verone example at Sotheby’s in October 2021, though this bag could easily top that.
Closed Auctions
Christie’s Most Collectible Bags: An Important European Collection, April 27, Paris
Achieving just shy of $2,400,000 this auction saw relatively soft results at it’s upper levels. A Marine Diamond Birkin 30 sold for over $186,000, topping the 30cm Hima Birkin that brought just under $160,000. The Brown Faubourg Birkin 20 brought just over $146,000 whereas the Blue Faubourg brought a mere $126,300, almost $50,000 less than the previous low for the color. Another low was also set for the 22cm Kelly Wood, which sold for just over $146,000, bringing the average for the style down from over $210,000 to under $195,000. Picnic Kellys, though performed quite well with the three examples averaging just over $74,000 each. The Jaune de Naples took first at just over $79,750, the Coeur second at $73,120, and the Blue du Nord rounded out the group at $69,130. The Orange Kelly Doll from 2000 had a strong showing at $50,500, and the rest of the exotics sold for reasonable market prices. One distinction of note should be made between the two Alligator 20cm Kellys, the Matte Mimosa example bringing almost $66,500 while the shiny Cassis example came in under $40,000, less than $3,000 more than the highest-selling leather Kelly 20, which in Rouge de Coeur brought almost $37,250. These both, though, clock in under the highest leather price, which at $46,530 went to a Glacier and Moutard Chevre HSS Birkin 25. A 2001 Dalmatian Kelly 28 Sold for over $34,500, a strong price for the rare material, but far from the nearly $55,000 Dalmatian record. The rest of the leather bags sold for generally expected prices.
Sotheby’s April 29, Hong Kong
Sotheby’s Spring Hong Kong auction was a strong one for the company, totaling over $2,800,000. A 2014 30cm Himalayan was the top lot achieved $208,750. This is well above the roughly $145,000 5-year average for the style, proving that even an eight year-old bag can sell for top-market prices. A possibly unique 25cm Metallic Silver Chevre Birkin 25 with Bronze piping from 2005 sold for almost $136,500 setting a new record for leather bags. This tops Sotheby’s previous record in this wide-ranging category for a Silver Chevre Birkin 25 that sold for $126,000 in December 2021. Kelly Dolls sold high in this sale with a 2019 Blue Zellige example bringing over $77,000 and a 2009 Orange H Doll selling for almost $67,500. Another record was set for regular (non HSS or Limited Edition) leather Birkins with the almost $64,250 sale of a Rose Sakura Swift Birkin 25 with Palladium hardware. Two neutral HSS Epsom 20cm Kellys brought over $38,500 each. A 35cm Gold Epsom Sellier Birkin 35 with Palladium hardware sold for $41,750, an unexpected result for a 35cm bag, but not out-of-line with recent market-topping prices for Gold leather bags. Otherwise the sale had solid market-rate results with high numbers for small leather bags and the unexpected low performance of just over $12,000 for an Orange Doblis Suede Sellier Kelly 25.
The top spot in this small auction went to a Rouge Vif 2010 Kelly Doll that achieved just under $47,750, with market-rate results for the rest of the selection. Recent Limited Editions did reasonably well with a Black Cargo Birkin 35 selling for almost $44,000, a Sunrise Birkin bringing over $37,500 and an In & Out Kelly going for over $32,500. A 2010 Ombre Lizard Birkin 25 sold surprisingly low at just under $40,200. Sothebys had previously set a record for Ombre Lizard Birkins with their March 2020 sale of a 2019 example for $137,500. Unlike Himas, age matters for Ombre.
Heritage’s spring auction had a small selection of Hermes bags that did reasonably well. An Ombre Lizard Kelly Pochette sold for $40,000, below the $63,000 and $75,600 achieved at Sotheby’s for the previous two examples that crossed the block. Other bags in the auction did not sell particularly high or low.