Purses are available in all sorts and sizes. Most are of average value, but this does not apply to the purses of the famous exclusive brand Hermès. So, when Annemei Kalden was at a French flea market and stumbled upon a real Hermès purse, she couldn't believe her eyes...
"My passion is searching for vintage purses at flea markets in France. These are usually in typical French farming villages, sometimes very idyllic, but sometimes also very poor. Usually, my friend and I leave around 7 am so we can find the best stuff. We visit several flea markets a day, so usually you'll arrive quite late at the last one. Most of the interesting items will be long gone by then. One day we had visited four markets already and we were considering if we should go to a fifth one or not. It was already getting late. In the end, we still went and I'm glad we did. From a distance, I saw a striking purse between all kinds of household items."
"It was immediately clear that it was a beautiful purse. I walked towards it and studied it fromup close. When I opened it to look inside, the brand became visible. Hermès Paris, made in France. My heart skipped a beat. This can't be true, it's probably a good fake, I thought. There was also an orange bag in the purse. At first, I thought that someone forgot to empty the purse. Sometimes, I find the craziest things in purses! But that turned out to be the dust bag with the Hermès logo, where the lock was kept. I asked for the price of the purse. It was only a few euros! I didn't have to think about it very long. On the way back, of course, we discussed it a lot: is it a real one? Probably not, we thought.
Once back at the cottage, I looked at the features of a genuine Birkin purse on the internet. Because this model is named after the actor Jane Birkin. Those characteristics were eerily similar to my bag. There was only one thing to do when we were back home, call the Hermès store in Amsterdam. The staff members told me that I had to come by so they could study the purse."
It's a real one!
"So, to Amsterdam we went. I was extremely nervous of course. At first, they thought the purse was a fake because of the leather, which is no longer being used. Several shopkeepers came to study it and they became increasingly enthusiastic. It had to be a real one. But if I really wanted to make sure, I had to go to the Hermès flagship store in Paris. So, back to the French capital! I've been back and forth for a day. The Hermès shop in Paris is very big and of course full of gorgeous purses. There, they were able to determine it was a genuine Hermès purse within 3 minutes. Why is it so beautiful? It's immediately clear that it's high-end, beautiful and skillfully made. It's therefore completely different than any of my other purses. Of course, it's extra special because it's such a sought-after purse. Hermès are the Bentley under the purses."
Sold
"In the beginning, I doubted very much if I would sell the purse, eventually I kept it almost a year. I was immediately in love when I saw it, after all. But I don't think I'd be comfortable with a purse that has a retail value of 6000 pounds and I have so many dreams that I could pursue if I sold the purse. That's why I finally decided to sell it. The gainings are currently on the savings account. I still have many plans for my own business, including a beautiful web shop and designing and creating purses. This seems like a good investment to me, I've had that dream for a while now and so this find feels like it was meant to be."
Do you want to be the owner of a designer purse? Keep an eye on our fashion purses auction. Do you also have a valuable purse like that and would you like to sell it? You can register here to start selling.