Rare handbags ‘are now a safe place to put your cash’

THE best place to put your money is in a handbag – not literally, but by actually purchasing one, according to auction experts.

The ubiquitous accessory is now considered to be one of the safest and fastest-growing ways to invest for the future, as long as they are rarely – ideally never – taken out in public.

Handbags, rather than fine wine or art, are “going through the roof” said auctioneers and look likely to continue to rise in the future.

According to specialist website Barnebys, the Hermes with a Birkin style designed by Jean-paul Gaultier is still the most valuable ever auctioned, going for £208,000.

Other makes that sell well include Chanel, Fendi, Prada, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. Auction prices start at £900 and rise from there.

Pontus Silfverstolpe, the co-founder of Barnebys, said: “Next time your partner says she wants a handbag and the price horrifies you, just think that it may in fact prove to be an investment.

“The value of these bags are linked to their limited availability, the rare quality of their materials, the elegance of their design and the condition they are in and also at times who owned them previously. Specialists at the auction houses advise that they be treated like any other rare investment and kept in a bank vault.”

Mr Silfverstolpe said the surge in value was being fuelled by buyers from Asian countries, especially China.

The record had been £142,000 in 2011 for a gold and diamond Hermes Birkin that had belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, but this was trumped in 2015 by a Hermes Birkin for £146,000.

The Gaultier bag exceeded both because only two had ever been made.