Crocodile-skin handbag sells for a record $222,912

Breaks record for most expensive handbag sold at auction; price around 15% more than auction house's estimate

HONG KONG: A fuchsia-coloured crocodile-skin Hermes bag has broken the record for the most expensive handbag sold at auction, selling for US$222,912 at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong.

The shiny pink bag was sold to an Asian phone bidder in an auction that saw "fast-paced bidding from start to finish", Christie's said in a statement late on Monday.

The final price realised at the Monday auction was around 15 percent more than the auction house's estimate.

"With its 18k white gold and diamond hardware, Hermès Shiny Fuchsia Porosus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 35 dazzled the crowds, achieving a HK$1.72 million record," Christie's said in the statement.

The bag, part of the "Birkin" series named after British-born French actress and singer Jane Birkin, features a gold and diamond-encrusted clasp and padlock and is 35 centimetres in width and 25 centimetres in height.

At the same auction that saw some 300 designer handbags going under the hammer, a shiny black crocodile "Kelly" bag was sold for US$145,000, breaking the record for the most expensive "Kelly" bag sold at auction.

The "Kelly" product line is named after the late Princess Grace of Monaco.

The auction house's Handbags and Accessories sale achieved $5.99 million in sales.

Designer handbags are the latest craze for collectors, taking global auction houses by storm and fetching record prices.

The previous record was set at the sale of another Hermes Birkin by an American auction house valued at around $203,000 in 2011.