15 Most Expensive Birkin Bags, Ranked by Price

With the recent death of their namesake, Jane Birkin, let's take a look at some of the most expensive Birkin bags that have ever sold.

The Hermes Birkin bag is the most expensive bag in the world — only a few Birkins are made every year, and their styles are constantly shifting.

Birkin bags are extraordinarily high in quality and constructed with the rarest of rare materials. They’re also significantly more playful than the average bag. For instance, they may be shaped like wild animals, architecture or even vegetables. Oh, and they can’t be purchased by just anyone. You need to have an established relationship with the brand and be willing to wait up to years (if ever) to get one.

Birkin bags are valuable enough that many people don’t purchase them as a fashion statement. They purchase them as an investment. With the recent death of their namesake, Jane Birkin, in July 2023, there’s no doubt their value will skyrocket even further.

15. Tri-Color Casaque Leather Birkin

Taylor-Bramley Photography LLC / The Luxury Closet

Material: Casaque leather and palladium

Year: Recurring

Value: $20,661

Bottom line: This attractive tri-color leather bag is one of the most affordable of the “expensive Birkins.” This particular leather Birkin features three colors: beige, rose and orange. Together, they work to create a beautiful sunset-inspired landscape.

14. Red Leather Ostrich Birkin

1st Dibs

Material: Ostrich leather and gold

Year: 1996

Value: $39,995

Bottom line: At 35-centimeters wide (almost 14 inches), this Birkin bag is actually larger than many others. It’s notably prized for its bright-red ostrich leather, which has a remarkable and unique texture. Hermes has been creating ostrich leather bags for decades, making some of these items notable collectibles. As with the crocodile Birkins (which you’ll see on this list), some colors are prized.

13. Hitch Birkin

1st Dibs

Material: Leather and hardware

Year: 2021

Value: $55,000

Bottom line: There are some companies that customize Birkins and, remarkably, add value to already extremely expensive bags. The unique hardware on this Birkin leaves no doubt as to what makes it special. Studded with BOND “Hitch” hardware, this bag is a one-of-a-kind collectible.

12. Metallic Birkin

eBay

Material: Metallic chevre goat leather

Year: Recurring

Value: $124,000

Bottom line: The Metallic Birkin is a playful evolution of the classic. In most respects, it is designed in the classic Birkin format — the difference, however, is two-fold. First, the Metallic Birkin is made of metallic chevre goat leather, a soft and supple leather with a classy metallic sheen. Second, it’s one of the few “mini Birkins.” At 25-centimeters wide (about 10 inches), it’s smaller than the 30-centimeter standard (about 12 inches).

11. Blue Porosus Crocodile Birkin

1st Dibs

Material: Porosus crocodile and palladium

Year: Pending

Value: $125,750

Bottom line: This exciting Crocodile Birkin became popular because of its bright-blue color. With the silvery-white palladium hardware and the festive blue crocodile skin, this is a feel-good everyday bag. That is, of course, if you carry around $100,000 bags on the regular.

10. Ombre Birkin

Madison Avenue

Material: Lizard skin and palladium

Year: 2019

Value: $137,500

Bottom line: Most Birkin bags play with materials that would otherwise be unreasonable to use in a mass-produced product. The Ombre bag is no exception, using lizard skin and palladium. Understandably, lizard skin isn’t the best material for a bag. You might recall, that lizards are very small, which likely plays a role in this bag’s high price.

9. Matte Black Birkin

1st Dibs

Material: Niloticus and matte-black hardware

Year: 2010

Value: $175,000

Bottom line: Made from Niloticus crocodile leather, this is one of the few Birkin bags that’s completely black. Most Birkin bags have white-gold or gold hardware, or even palladium hardware, but this bag has matte-black hardware that vanishes into the deep Niloticus crocodile leather.

8. Blue Marine Diamond Skin Birkin

1st Dibs

Material: Porosus crocodile leather

Year: 2017

Value: $190,560

Bottom line: You know that you’ve reached the height of luxury when you aren’t just using crocodile leather; you’re using a specific type of crocodile leather. In this case, the Blue Marine Diamond Skin Birkin features crocodile skin as dark as the night. Previously sold for roughly $190,000 at auction, this Birkin also features white-gold and diamond hardware. It was the first of its kind auctioned at Christie’s.

7. Diamond Crocodile Birkin

1st Dibs

Material: Crocodile and diamond

Year: Recurring

Value: $190,000 to $260,000

Bottom line: Diamond Crocodile Birkins are the most generally collectible of all the Birkins. They’re released periodically, and what makes them so unique and charming is that they come in a wide range of colors.

With other Birkins, you get what you get. With the Diamond Crocodile Birkin, you can wait until your very favorite color is released — assuming you’re already in the market for a bag that costs more than a starter home, naturally.

6. Fuchsia Birkin

Fashionphile

Material: Crocodile skin, white gold and diamonds

Year: Unknown

Value: $222,000

Bottom line: When sold back in 2015, the Fuchsia Birkin was the most expensive bag ever sold. It is comprised of bright pink-dyed crocodile skin, white gold and diamonds. It was purchased by a bidder in Hong Kong. Quite a few Birkin bags sell at auction because the buyers cannot get them any other way.

5. Sac Birkin Faubourg

Sotheby’s

Material: Alligator skin

Year: 2019

Value: $275,000

Bottom line: This playful and unique bag was designed to mimic the original Hermes storefront. The entire bag is reminiscent of a tiny little shop, with cartoonish lines and bright colors. This bag is one of the smaller Birkin bags, measuring only 20-centimeters wide (less than 8 inches). But that also makes it a great everyday carry.

4. Shiny Rouge H Birkin

JaneFines

Material: Porosus crocodile skin, white gold and white diamonds

Year: 2011

Value: $298,000

Bottom line: This bright-red Birkin made a splash when it was sold for a record-breaking price in Dallas, Texas. Made with crocodile skin, white gold and white diamonds, the Birkin is probably notably exceptional due to its color and rarity.

Eventually, the Birkin was resold for $298,000.

3. Himalaya Birkin

The Real Real

Material: Himalayan crocodile leather

Year: Recurring

Value: $649,000

Bottom line: Diamond hardware and crocodile skin make the Himalaya Birkin one of the most expensive handbags in the world. Previously, versions of the Himalaya sold for $200,000 to $300,000. Only one or two of these bags are produced each year, and the waitlist for them is exceptional. It’s not just that someone has to afford to buy one — they have to be allowed to buy one.

Even the variant that isn’t diamond-encrusted will cost you $350,000 today. It’s known as the most expensive bag sold at auction, and it is the most expensive traditional Birkin bag.

2. Birkin by Ginza Tanaka

Sekhon Family Office

Material: Platinum and white diamonds

Year: 2008

Value: $1.9 million

Bottom line: Only one of these bags was ever made, making it one of the rarest Hermes Birkin bags ever. This particular bag was designed by Japanese designer Ginza Tanaka and made of platinum and white diamonds. The focal point of the bag is an 8-karat, pear-shaped “dazzling diamond,” which can be used separately as a piece of jewelry.

1. Sac Bijou Birkin

Sotheby’s

Material: Rose gold and white diamonds

Year: 2012

Value: $2 million

Bottom line: Designed by Pierre Hardy, this Birkin bag is intended to be a crossover between bag and jewelry. So, it’s cheating a little bit in regard to pricey handbags, but we’ll let it slide. This bag is made out of rose gold and 2,712 diamonds. While it’s a fully operational bag, it’s quite small and must be used as a coin purse.

Sold for a retail price of $2 million, it’s one of the rarest and most expensive Hermes Birkin bags.