Jane Birkin, on December 7, 2016. CAROLE BELLAICHE
A Hermès handbag that once belonged to Jane Birkin will be auctioned in Abu Dhabi on December 5, following the record-breaking sale of the original for over $10 million, Sotheby's said on Tuesday, October 21. Nicknamed the "Birkin Voyageur," the estimated value of the late actor's black leather bag hovers between $230,000 and $430,000.
The Birkin Voyageur stands out with a handwritten note in French from the actor herself, inscribed on the inside: "My Birkin bag, my globetrotting companion." The bag will be displayed in Abu Dhabi from December 2 to December 5.
Gifted to Birkin by Hermès in 2003, it is one of four that the celebrity owned after auctioning the original to raise money for an AIDS charity in 1994.
This one was first auctioned to help a human rights organization in 2007, and ended up in a private collection. "Selling her Birkin bags to raise funds for charities she cared deeply about (...) became a tradition for Jane Birkin, with Hermès replacing them every time," Sotheby's stated.
