The handbag fashion started in the late 19th century but it was around 1920 that handbags became an essential item of a woman’s wardrobe.
Louis Vuitton was the first manufacturer of “designer bags” and since he started it, all of others have jumped on the designer bag craze. No doubt seeing a good opportunity to make a lot of money by turning just an ordinary accessory of women into an object of fantasies and dreams. Designer Handbags are really expensive – But just how expensive are the most expensive ones? The following is a list of the top ten most expensive womens handbag.
- The Mouawad’s 1001 Nights Diamond Purse
The price tag? $3.8 million. That’s right, that much for a handbag this small. This was designed by the House of Mouawad (based in Dubai). This features 4,500 diamonds with a total carat weight of 381 carats. A hundred and five of the diamonds are yellow, 56 are pink, and the rest are colorless. This took four months to finish and 10 artisans worked on it.
2. The Hermes Birkin
The Hermes bags are made of platinum and consists of more than 2000 diamonds. It was apparently sold in 2008 for around $1.9 million. The beauty of this bag is that it is versatile. It means that you can also use the diamond strap as a necklace or bracelet just by removing it from the bag. The bag also consists of an 8-carat pear shaped shimmering diamond that can also be used separately. It is made of platinum and has over 2,000 diamonds.
3. The Chanel “Diamond Forever” Classic Handbag
“Diamond Forever” classic handbag boasts 334 diamonds for a total of 3.56 carats, in 18-carat white gold. The shoulder straps are also made from white gold. There are only 13 available worldwide, with five of them being in the USA. It makes sense because this perfectly combines two of what women love: bags and diamonds. This particular purse has 334 diamonds amounting to 3.56 carats. This also has white gold platinum (18 carats) and beautiful white alligator skin.
4. Lana Marks Cleopatra
Every year, only one Cleopatra purse is made by this company. The one pictured here was the 250,000-dollar beauty that was created several years back. It was encrusted with diamonds (of course) and made of white alligator skin. Other Lana Marks Cleopatra bags carry $100,000 price tags. Aside from the materials and rarity of the purses, the extravagant prices are also due to the facts that they look incredibly classy and elegant and they have become quite popular among equally elegant celebrities.
5. Louis Vuitton Urban Satchel
The Louie Vuitton Urban Satchel Bag is created from all sorts of urban junk e.g. cigarette packets, water bottle, tea bags and band aid. Apparently this handbag doesn’t actually exist and was put together as a spoof by an artist who I believe is called 14
6. Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin Bag
Hermes Matte Crocodile Birkin Bag is named after a British singer and actress “Jane Birkin”. The bag is made of crocodile skin and has a clasp containing 10 carats of white diamonds. This design and label already exude wealth and extravagance but this matte beauty tops the Birkin bag cake. The diamonds of this bag can be found on the clasp. This is also made of beautiful alligator leather. There are some cheaper versions of this bag also available in the market starting from $5000.
7. Leiber Precious Rose Bag
Judith Leiber is a popular name associated with eye-catching crystal-encrusted bags. This particular bag is shaped like the perfect rose and has over 1,000 diamonds. They hold a total carat weight is 42.56. This bag was also designed with more than a thousand pink sapphires and 800 tourmalines. These precious stones and crystals alone are reasons enough for the asking price but you have to remember that there is only one Precious Rose bag in the world
8. LV Tribute Patchwork Bag The main idea behind this bag was a combination of samples of other Louis Vuitton bags. That explains the name and the apparent “multiply personality” theme going on in these bags. The chain is made of gold. They do not exactly say high fashion or high end but the $42,000 price tag should make you think twice. The fact that no two Tribute Patchwork bags are the same also explains why this is part of this list. Only 24 were made. This bag has been seen being toted around by top celebrities.
9. Gadino Bag by Hilde Palladino
This gorgeous white bag features 39 diamonds. This Gadino Bag is made by Hilde Palladino who is a Norwegian designer . It is priced at $38,740.The designer of this luxurious bag wanted to make the general market (or those who can afford it) interested in the skills and methods of Italian bag-makers again. Only top quality leather, white gold, and precious stones were used to make this Gadino bag.
10. Fendi Selleria
This is also a tote bag that one can wear every day or when one feels like a million bucks. This costs $38,000 and is made of high-grade leather. Made of chinchilla and sable (the rarest and most expensive of pure leather today), this bag is also adorned with silver-colored metal hardware.