Jane Birkin's Voyager Hermes handbag to be auctioned in Abu Dhabi - with salaam
As-salamu alaykum. After the original Birkin prototype set a record in Paris by selling for over $10 million, Sotheby’s will auction another piece from Jane Birkin’s collection this December - this time in Abu Dhabi.
The unique Le Birkin Voyageur will be offered during the first Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort from December 2–5. The bag comes from the actress and singer’s own Hermes Birkin collection.
The Birkin became famous after Jane Birkin met Jean‑Louis Dumas on a plane and told him she couldn’t find a bag that worked for her needs. He designed and presented the Birkin to her, and named it after her. Since that meeting in 1984, the Birkin has grown into one of the world’s most desired handbags. Jane Birkin sold the original prototype in 1994 for charity; this July Sotheby’s Paris resold that same bag for $10.1 million, a new auction record for a handbag.
The Voyageur up for auction is one of only five Birkins Jane Birkin owned, all gifts from Hermes. This particular bag takes its name from an inscription Jane wrote inside. Sotheby’s notes the bag shows signs of regular use, reflecting that she carried it as an everyday item between 2003 and 2007.
It is classic black box leather, 40cm, with a white‑on‑black inscription reading: “Mon Birkin bag qui m'a accompagné dans le monde entier” - “My Birkin bag, my globetrotting companion.” After receiving it in 2003, Birkin sold this Voyageur at auction in 2007 to raise funds for the Human Rights Association; it has since been privately owned.
Sotheby’s estimates the Voyageur at $240,000–$440,000 (up to about Dh1.6 million). Morgane Halimi, Sotheby’s global head of handbags and fashion, said it’s notable to present two of Jane Birkin’s personal Hermes bags in a single year, offering collectors a more personal link to the woman behind the iconic design.
The inaugural Abu Dhabi auction is expected to feature other high‑profile lots alongside the bag.
May this news be of interest to collectors and lovers of design. Jazakum Allah khair.
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