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Top Ten Most Expensive Handbags
According to CoolDesignerHandbags.com
January 28th, 2008
1. Fendi “B.Bag“
$27,700*
Hailing the return of the structured bag, this might be Fendi’s best seller since the Baguette. Although the white lambskin runway bag (pictured on the runway) was well-received, the $27,700 black crocodile version is truly coveted.
2. Hermès “Birkin”
$20,000-plus*
Nearly all Hermès Birkin bags, named after English actress and ’60s fashion icon Jane Birkin, are special orders, like this red leather version. Most Birkins are upwards of $20,000, but the final price depends on skin and hardware.
3. Yves Saint Laurent “Muse”
$18,990*
Seen on the arm of everyone from Kate Moss to Jessica Simpson, the roomy yet refined Muse riffs on the traditional bowling bag. Linda Evangelista’s sage green version, pictured above at Paris Fashion Week last February, is now available in white crocodile for $18,990.
4. Prada “Frame Bag”
$15,090*
This structured crocodile bag, embossed with the signature Prada emblem, made its first appearance on the Autumn/Winter 2006 runway in Milan. It is available in the tan color shown above, known as Krusca.
5. Zac Posen “Alexia”
$15,000*
With his first line of bags, Posen has created the ultimate homage to the ’70s. This blue crocodile version oozes opulence.
6. Ralph Lauren “Ricky”
$14,000*
The latest of the exclusive bag set, Ralph Lauren’s is named for his wife and is available in silver crocodile. For the shocking orange version, you’ll have to travel to RL’s newly opened Japanese flagship.
7. Chloe “Paddington”
$12,880*
After experiencing a huge wave of popularity a couple of years back, the Paddington satchel, which features metal accoutrements, including the signature golden padlock closure, remains relevant by maintaining its exclusivity. This grey leather version was the bag du jour last autumn, and now admirers can scoop up the chocolate crocodile style for close to $13,000. Due to high demand, luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman allows customers to order no more than three every 30 days.
8. Gucci “Boston”
$11,990-plus*
This medium-sized croc bag, with bamboo details and gold hardware, rings in at almost $12,000, but the larger version will set you back $13,900. It’s also available in black crocodile, patent leather and guccissima leather.
9. Bottega Veneta “Bambina”
$7,800*
Unlike powerhouses Louis Vuitton or Chanel, Bottega Veneta has no recognizable logo or trademark handbag shape. Available only at Bottega Veneta boutiques, the spring line offers quality, exclusivity and status. This soft crocodile Bambina, available in Biscotto Fume, has a suede lining and magnetic closure.
10. Devi Kroell “Crystal Disco Ball”
$4,900*
Devi Kroell, who first became well known in fashion circles for her slouchy, metallic python hobos, gives the evening bag a much-needed injection of edgy glamour by covering it in black crystals.Source forbes.com
The world’s most expensive doghouse.
This doghouse, features Hello Kitty, was created by Sanrio for a sales event at a department store in Tokyo. It has 7,600 Swarovski crystal beads and is large enough for a Chihuahua or terrier.
This one-of-a-kind Hello Kitty doghouse sold for a mere $31,660.
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A 1,000-year-old carved rock crystal ewer, one of only seven known surviving examples, will be offered for auction next month at Christie's Islamic art sale and is expected to fetch over 3 million pounds ($5.3 million).
The auctioneer said the ewer was made for the court of the Fatimid rulers of Cairo in the late 10th or early 11th century, and has been embellished in enameled gold mounts made in 1854 by a French silversmith.
The ewer is the same one that came up for auction in Britain in January this year and fetched 220,000 pounds, or more than one thousand times its pre-sale estimate.
It was catalogued then as a 19th century French claret jug and valued at 100-200 pounds, but experts said they believed it was in fact an extremely rare ewer from the Fatimid dynasty which ruled parts of northern Africa and the Middle East in the 10th-12th centuries.
Auction house sources said the January sale was later "annulled by agreement," but gave no further details.
The ewer was carved from a single piece of flawless rock crystal which was hollowed out and carved by hand, and is decorated with cheetahs and link-chains.
According to Christie's, by the middle of the 11th century the Fatimid state had become so impoverished that much of the contents of the Royal Treasury had to be sold, including the ewers.
Of the other six surviving examples, one is in London's Victoria & Albert Museum, two are in the treasury of the Basilica of San Marco, Venice, one is in the Cathedral of Fermo, Italy, another is in the Louvre in Paris and one was stolen from the Museum of Limoges, France, in 1980.
There was one other known ewer, but it was dropped by an employee of a museum in Florence in 1998 and shattered irreparably, according to reports.
Christie's holds its sale of Islamic and Indian art on October 7 in London, and expects to raise more than 11 million pounds in all.
In April, rival auction house Sotheby's sold a 12 century key to the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest site in Islam, for 9.2 million pounds, setting a new record for an Islamic work of art at auction.
The Abbasid period key, made of iron and measuring 37 cm long, sold for more than 18 times its pre-sale estimate.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
