Overview
- Sotheby’s will offer the 40 cm black Box leather Birkin nicknamed “Le Birkin Voyageur” in a live auction on December 5 in Abu Dhabi, with public viewing December 2–5 at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort as part of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Collectors’ Week.
- The auction house set an estimate of $240,000 to $440,000 following the nearly €8.6 million record achieved in July for Birkin’s original prototype in Paris.
- Hermès gifted the bag to Jane Birkin in 2003; she used it until 2007, when it was auctioned to benefit a human rights organization and then entered a private collection.
- Birkin wrote silver-ink notes and doodles inside, including the French line often translated as “My Birkin bag, my globetrotting companion,” along with her signature “Jane B.”
- The bag features made-to-order closed bridges reminiscent of the prototype’s fastening and shows visible wear consistent with Birkin’s everyday use.