Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Everything You Need to Know About the Hermès Birkin

Everything You Need to Know About the Hermès Birkin

The iconic handbag, which spurred years-long waitlists and is considered a better investment than gold, remains one of the fashion world's most coveted accessories.

The Hermès Birkin is one of the most coveted handbags among fashion enthusiasts, but what exactly makes the simple leather top handle a must-have accessory?

Created by French luxury brand Hermès in the 1980s, Birkin bags are considered a symbol of wealth and exclusivity due to their extremely limited production. In some cases, the Birkin is considered even more valuable than gold.

Here is everything you need to know about the iconic handbag.

Who created the Birkin?


Jean-Louis Dumas, the executive chairman of Hermès from 1978 to 2006, created the bag for British actress and style icon Jane Birkin. His original goal was to create a bag with enough storage space while retaining a timeless design.

In 1984, Birkin sat next to Dumas on a plane from Paris to London. She complained that she still hadn't found anything that suited her lifestyle as a young mother; there was no simple bag to fit all of her daily necessities. Dumas immediately outlined a spacious and supple rectangular bag with polished saddle lid and stitching. The bag even came equipped with a space for baby bottles.

                

Jane Birkin photographed by Guégan for L'OFFICIEL Spring 1974

Why is a Birkin so expensive?


Entry-level Birkin bags with simple hardware are priced at around $9,000, according to Grazia Magazine.

The Birkin is made by skilled Hermès artisans, taking a craftsman 18 to 25 hours to complete a bag from cutting and smoothing leather, hand stitching the bag together, and attaching and polishing the hardware.

In addition to the top-quality materials and impeccable craftsmanship, the value of a Birkin lies in their limited quantity. This scarcity causes the price of the bag to increase as more and more people crave this precious bag, often turning to the resale market to get one.

What is the most expensive Birkin ever sold?




The Hermès Birkin White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Skin Diamond is the most expensive Birkin ever sold, going for over $379,000 at Christie's in Hong Kong in 2016. The bag was handcrafted from Niloticus alligator leather with more than 240 diamonds on 18 karat gold hardware.

Special Birkins


In addition to the usual Birkin bags currently on the market, as well as bags made with extremely rare and expensive materials, Hermès also releases special versions of the iconic handbag.



Why is the Birkin more precious than gold?


The Birkin is considered a good investment, meaning the luxury item has increasing demand and corresponding prices due to its scarcity, not to mention its reputation as a status symbol.

With that said, owning a Birkin can be considered a smarter investment than gold as its value only increases over time. According to The Fashion Law, "unlike the S&P 500 and gold, the value of Birkin handbags has never decreased and has steadily and consistently increased."

How can you buy a Birkin?


Unless you're a celebrity - and often even then - you'll be hard pressed to get a Birkin just by walking into an Hermès boutique. The Hermès Birkin is a tough designer item to hunt, especially since the brand doesn't reveal how many of them they will make in a year. Also, not all stores have the opportunity to display Birkin bags, and the waiting list seems to be endless.

It seems that in addition to having plenty of money, you will also need a fortune to get the chance to buy the bag in the store. And if you get lucky, the staff selling you your dream Birkin bag is a whole different story.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×