5 minutes with... A metallic bronze Birkin 25
Inspired by the window displays of the Hermès flagship store in Paris, and produced in a strictly limited edition, this rare Birkin with gold hardware is more work of art than accessory, says our handbag specialist Lucile Andreani. It sold for €100,000 in 2017
‘I have a passion for metallics,’ says Lucile Andreani, head of Handbags and Accessories at Christie’s in Paris. ‘This is exactly the type of bag I always hope to find when sourcing pieces for our Paris auctions.’
The metallic bronze Chèvre leather Birkin 25 with gold hardware that Andreani is pictured with above sold for €100,000 in the Sacs & Accessoires sale in Paris on 12 December 2017. Metallic Hermès bags are particularly sought-after collector’s items, and this example, says the specilaist, is ‘a vintage treasure’. Among the rarest bags offered in the sale, it is one of Andreani’s ‘absolute favourites’.
The bag, crafted in 2005, was inspired by the famous window displays designed by Leïla Menchari for the Hermès flagship store at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. Menchari, who began working at Hermès in 1961, oversaw the design and installation of the house’s windows from 1978 to 2013. Her elaborate, wide-ranging set pieces included aluminium horses, mother-of-pearl Moroccan souks and grottoes, and cobwebs made of glistening thread.
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A rare metallic bronze Chèvre leather Birkin 25 with gold hardware, Hermès, 2005. Sold for €100,000 on 12 December 2017 at Christie’s in Paris
All of Menchari’s windows featured co-ordinated Hermès bags: steel Kellys for her Trojan horse windows; pieces in iridescent sea-foam green crocodile for her grotto; fretwork lace Birkins for her Alhambra; metallic leather for her Rococo creations. Produced to Menchari’s exacting requirements by Hermès craftsmen in the house’s atelier in Pantin, the bags were not available for sale.
Subsequently, however, Hermès did release a range of metallics as part of its Mondore collection. Available only to VIP clients, the line has since been discontinued. This extremely delicate bag from that collection was produced in a strictly limited edition, says Andreani.
To produce the metallic bronze colour — which Andreani describes as ‘very versatile’ — Hermès craftsmen ‘add so much colouring that the resulting texture differs from the usual Chèvre material’.
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As the market for Birkins in the miniature 25 size has strengthened — and collectors have become more aware of the existence of the rare metallic range — the metallic leather Birkin 25 has become hugely coveted by Hermès lovers, says Andreani.
‘Prior to this piece, most of the metallic bags I had seen were in the Hermès windows designed by Menchari,’ adds the specialist. ‘When I received this little treasure in Paris, I couldn’t believe how stunning the metallic effect is in real life. I was absolutely fascinated by the sophistication of its details. It seems to have been considered a work of art, not an everyday accessory.’
Related makers: Hermès