Latest news with #auctionrecord
The Sun
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Star Wars-themed piece of folded cardboard sells for huge 5-figure sum after bidding war
A STAR Wars-themed piece of folded cardboard has sold for a world record £71,000 after an unlikely bidding war. The 1977 shop display, featuring Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and R2-D2, was made to promote Christmas sales of the movie action figures. It had been expected to go for £7,500 at auction — but there was worldwide interest as it was the first time such an item had come up for sale. The bidding war meant it was bought for nearly ten times the estimate at Hake's in the US. With fees, the buyer had to pay nearly £85,000 for the display, with stickers and a coupon. It set a world auction record for any action figure shop display. A Hake's spokesperson said: "This was one of the most sought-after Star Wars display pieces and the first time this display had ever been offered at auction. "The store display was not only the top lot in the auction but also set a world auction record for any store display associated with any action figure line. "Collectors are definitely showing keen interest in point-of-purchase and promotional materials from the earliest days of popular toy franchises." 1
Japan Times
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
Hermes' original Birkin bag sells for $10 million at auction to a Japanese buyer
The original Birkin bag sold for a record €8.58 million ($10 million) at auction, showing demand remains robust for unique luxury collectibles. The black leather Hermes handbag made some forty years ago for the late singer and actor Jane Birkin was sold in a bidding war that lasted more than 10 minutes at Sotheby's in Paris Thursday. The buyer was a private collector from Japan, bidding via telephone, according to the auction house. The price shattered the previous record for a handbag at auction, a rare Himalaya Kelly bag in crocodile with a diamond, also by Hermes, that sold at a Christie's sale in 2021 for $4 million Hong Kong dollars ($510,000.) The original Birkin was commissioned in 1984 for Jane Birkin by Hermes International SCA's then Chief Executive Officer Jean-Louis Dumas. It was delivered to her a year later. Birkin recalled in interviews how she bumped into Dumas on a flight and complained about the lack of a Hermes handbag big enough for her needs. She said she sketched a model of what she wanted on a "vomit bag' during that encounter. The following year, the brand presented her with its prototype. The company went on to commercialize the product under her name, but the features on the original bag weren't replicated on any other Birkin bag. Birkin sold her handbag in 1994 to raise funds for an AIDS charity. It was auctioned again in 2000, and has, until now, belonged to the collector who goes by the name "Catherine B' on Instagram. "Today it's the most sought-after bag that everybody dreams about,' she said ahead of the auction Thursday, explaining that she kept it during the past 25 years in a safe-like location at appropriate temperatures to protect it, while occasionally taking it out for some events. The seller didn't wish to share her family name. Hermes bags often fetch higher prices at resale than in boutiques due to long waiting lists. Sotheby's didn't release estimates for what the piece could fetch ahead of Thursday's auction.
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Jane Birkin's original Hermès bag sells for £7m at Sotheby's auction
The original Birkin bag, which set the template for arguably the most coveted accessory in fashion history, has been bought for €8.6m (£7.4m; $10.1m), becoming the most valuable handbag ever sold at black leather bag was made for singer Jane Birkin in 1985 after she spilled her belongings while sitting next to the boss of luxury fashion house Hermès on a asked why they didn't make bigger bags, so he sketched out the design for a new, more practical but still highly desirable item on the aeroplane's sick prototype he made was sold to a private collector from Japan at Sotheby's in Paris on Thursday, far surpassing the $513,000 (£378,000; €439,000) previous record sale. The auction house said there was an "electrifying" 10-minute bidding war between "nine determined collectors".Morgane Halimi, Sotheby's global head of handbags and fashion, said the price was a "startling demonstration of the power of a legend and its capacity to ignite the passion and desire of collectors seeking exceptional items with unique provenance, to own its origin".She added: "The Birkin prototype is exactly that, the starting point of an extraordinary story that has given us a modern icon, the Birkin bag, the most coveted handbag in the world."The €8,582,500 total includes commission and fees. Sotheby's did not publish a pre-auction estimate. The icon who inspired the Birkin bag After creating the bag for the Anglo-French singer and actress, Hermès put the bag into commercial production, and it remains one of the most exclusive status symbols in styles cost many tens of thousands of dollars and have waiting lists of years, with owners including celebrities like Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham and Jennifer original has some unique features, such as Birkin's initials on the front flap, a non-removable shoulder strap, the nail clippers she kept attached to the strap, and marks where she put stickers for causes she supported, such as Médecins du Monde and who died in 2023 at the age of 76, owned the original bag for a decade and donated it to an auction to raise funds for an Aids charity in was later bought by Catherine Benier, who has a luxury boutique in Paris, who owned it for 25 years before selling it on said the previous record price for a handbag was set by a White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Retourne Kelly 28 in 2021.
