Good As Gold

Why your next big investment should be a handbag

- Kritika Kakkar

When the Christie’s Handbags and Accessories Auction, London promises “a guide through over 50 years of handbag history”, it is not an idle boast. The sale—featuring 229 items in a wide variety of designers, styles, and price-points—not only reflects the handbag’s status as both a practical fashion accessory and collector’s item, but also traces how women’s lives have changed over the last few generations.

It is this duality of status that Christie’s associate specialist for handbags and accessories in London, Rachel Koffsky, credits with the growth of these auctions over the past few years. Almost all women own a bag of some sort, so there is a real comfort and familiarity to the category that does not require prior knowledge of, and doesn’t have the stigma of ‘serious collectors only’. This has led to these auctions attracting a younger, mostly female, and more diverse clientele than average.