GOTTA CATCH ’EM ALL

Bag of Tricks

t may seem obvious that many women collect handbags—after all, the search for even a basic Hermès Birkin can be fraught with trials and tribulations before triumph—but imagine the excitement created by one of the rarer models. The one that has constantly smashed world records at auction houses is Hermès’ matte white Niloticus crocodile Himalaya Birkin (pictured). The official record was clinched in May 2017 in Hong Kong when a 30cm version with white gold and diamond hardware sold for US$365,000 million, far exceeding the pre-sale estimate of US$255,000. What separates this model from its brethren is the complicated hand-dyeing process that creates the white-and-grey ombre effect intended to resemble the hues of the Himalayan mountains, plus the diamonds that adorn it—and the fact that the maison