When you think of the storied auction house Christie’s, handbags are probably not the first thing to come to mind. Rare paintings, antiquities, and expensive pieces of jewellery are what we’ve come to expect at a big ticket auction, so it is quite a testament to just how big a player the designer handbag industry has become that handbags have finally been allotted their own auction category. The legendary auction house’s Hong Kong firm will be auctioning-off over 120 designer handbags starting the week of November 24th.
According to the firm’s spokesperson, there will be over 120 rare and vintage handbags up for auction, with a total worth of near a million dollars. Among the pieces to be auctioned off are a vintage Hermes Kelly bag from 1993 that is made out of saltwater crocodile skin and has gold clasps, and a matte grey crocodile Birkin bag, which is thought to be capable of fetching just shy of $60,000.
As for why Christie’s have chosen their Hong Kong location for this first of its kind auction, the reason is simple; the area boasts some of the wealthiest handbag customers in the world, and is a popular shopping destination for wealthy Asian customers. Handbags from status brands in particular (think Hermes, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton) are a very popular in the Asian market. The demand for high-end bags has gotten so huge that there are actually finance companies out there specializing in providing loans for customers for amounts up to 50% of the cost of a big-ticket handbag.
