A Birkin Bag Just Sold for More Than $300,000 at Auction, Making It the Most Expensive Handbag - Ever!

The Hermès Birkin bag is one of the most exclusive purses on the planet (with the insanely high price tags and years-long wait list to prove it). So owning the world’s most expensive Birkin would be the ultimate stamp of luxury for a certain type of collector (for instance, a Kardashian — after all, Kim has so many, she can spare one to be turned into custom piece painted by baby North West). But one lucky bidder at Christie’s Hong Kong just beat them all, buying the priciest handbag ever sold at auction for a cool (scratch that — hot!) $300,168.

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On Monday, a private Asian collector sold the matte white Diamond Himalaya Niloticus crocodile Birkin 30 with 18k white gold and diamond hardware for the most expensive price ever spent at an auction. And to put its $300,168 price tag into perspective, the last Himalaya style sold at auction for $121,875 (and was 5 cm smaller in size).

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If you think the style looks awfully familiar, it’s because you recently saw Kim toting it around on a casual dinner date with Kourtney Kardashian. She was spotted in March carrying the extremely rare style while wearing a full-body Spanx outfit (naturally).

Bauer-Griffin/Bauergriffin.com

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The record-high sales come soon after the Parisian brand ran into trouble the bag’s namesake, British star Jane Birkin. In 2015, she threatened to have her name disassociated with the style after PETA raised concerns over the brand’s treatment of crocodiles. Hermès later specified that the crocodile farm shown in PETA’s video was not used by them and Birkin was “satisifed” that her name remain in use.

What do you think of the $300,000+ Birkin? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

— Colleen Kratofil