The World's Priciest Hermes Birkin Bag

Everyone that knows even a little bit about fashion or designer handbags knows about the Hermes Birkin bag. It is the single most coveted purse available. Although Birkins are all different and designed to customers' specifications, they are a bag that is unmistakable upon sight. Famous for being one of the most expensive designer handbags on the market, they are only for the richest of the rich and the ultimate status symbol for any fashionista. So if these luscious bags start at $7,000, what is the most expensive Birkin available? This is a question that has been asked several times over by the curious fashionista and the precocious socialite alike. Before we discuss the answer, let's explore the history of the famous Birkin bag a little so that upon discovery of the most expensive one, it is better appreciated and understood.

It all began in 1984 on a plane flight from Paris to London. Hermes' chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was sitting next to the actress Jane Birkin. As she was placing her purse in the overhead compartment, all of the contents suddenly fell to the floor and left the actress highly irritated. Dumas began to help her pick up the items and a conversation ensued. She then began to complain about how she was unable to find a weekend bag that was suitable to her liking. After their brief encounter and the discovery of her blatant disgust for the current selection weekend handbags, Dumas decided to create a designer handbag for her that was based on the Haut Courroies, a design by Hermes from around the turn of the century. This is where the craze began.

Following this initial gift came a lust for a designer handbag that had never been seen before. Women from around the world were swooning at the very mention of its name. Fashionistas were longing to call the almost fully customizable purse theirs. The skins were exotic with hides such as ostrich and crocodile, and options such as encrusted diamonds were easily available. Each bag was handcrafted and could take anywhere from seventy-two hours to two weeks to complete. This lengthy assembly of each bag created a rather long wait list. In fact, at one point the wait was estimated to be at six years. Luckily, the wait list has since been eliminated. While the bag may have taken an exceptionally long time to receive, the recipients always felt that it was worth the wait for their customizable bag.

It is also these customizations that led to the jaw-dropping prices. This leads us back to the bag in question. What is the most expensive Hermes Birkin bag ever created? The answer is the Platinum Birkin Bag designed by Ginza Tanaka. It comes in at a cool $1.9 million. The base of the bag is made completely of platinum metal and the precious bag is adorned by 2,000 diamonds. The bag goes above and beyond the standard of any regular purse by possessing a level of versatility that has gone unsurpassed since its creation. The diamond strap is easily removed and may be used as a necklace or a bracelet. Additionally, the bag displays an 8 karat pear-shaped diamond that also may be removed and used separately. This uber expensive bag was actually classified as the world's most expensive purse until the 1001 Nights Diamond Purse by the House of Mouawad was introduced.

While the Platinum Birkin Bag designed by Ginza Tanaka is gorgeous, the best that most people can hope for is to dream of owning it. However, owning a designer handbag should not have to merely be a dream. There are several places that offer designer handbags at a discount. Online stores such as Queen Bee of Beverly Hills offer great deals on authentic designer name brands. They allow more ladies their chance at owning a designer handbag that they love just as much as all of the owners of the uber expensive Hermes Birkin bags.