If you were to ask fashion enthusiasts what the most valuable handbag ever made was, most would probably guess the Himalayan Birkin. It’s a good guess, but that’s technically just the most expensive one to ever be sold at auction, not that was ever produced.
I recently found out that the title of The World’s Most Valuable Handbag actually belongs to the creation of the Italian handbag brand, Boarini Milanesi.
Valued at $7 million, the ‘Parva Mea’ took the title from Mouawad’s ‘1001 Nights’ bag only two years ago, breaking its predecessor’s ten-year streak.
Anything from either one of these brands really has reputations that precede them, so it’s no surprise these bags are as mesmerizing as they are.
The Most Expensive Handbag In The World
Snatching up the title of “Most Valuable Handbag” in November of 2020, this blue beauty was made to raise awareness for ocean conservation.
It’s made of shiny aqua-colored alligator skin adorned with diamond, sapphire, and Paraiba tourmaline-encrusted butterflies resting delicately along the edges. (I’m not sure why there are butterflies for ocean-related causes, but they’re pretty!)
Only three of these have been produced since its release, but the brand seems open to creating one for lucky collector number 4.
I love bespoke Italian bags myself, so it’s exciting to see this break into the public sphere.
The Second Most Expensive Bag…
The ‘1001 Nights’ bag was created by high-end jewelry brand Mouawad with passion, romance, and fantasy in mind.
It got its name from the popular collection of Middle Eastern folk tales (called Arabian Nights in English) that tells the stories of lust, love, tragedy, and heartbreak.
Made out of solid 18-karat gold, this heart on a chain looks like something made for a Disney princess but on steroids. The clutch features 4,517 diamonds (4,356 colorless, 105 canary yellow, and 56 fancy pink) covering practically every inch of it.
Valued at $3.8 million, the 1001 Nights bag made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 and is actually only one of many record holders that help make up the brand’s renowned portfolio.
Mouawad still holds four other world records for the most valuable jewelry box, the most valuable necklace, the most expensive single pear cut diamond, and the most expensive bra (the 2003 Victoria’s Secret fantasy bra) to ever be made. It’s been the design house behind many of the Miss Universe crowns throughout the years.
The bling on the bag weighs an impressive 381.92 karats ﹘ that’s more than the 317 karat stone found in Queen Elizabeth’s crown!
I’ve expressed my opinion on whether I thought bags made by jewelry brands were hot or not, but this beauty gets a pass because it’s more of a museum piece meant for admiration rather than practical use.
Which one is your favorite?
Despite that they cost millions the designs look gaudy. For that amount of money I would think they would look classic & beautiful, but they don’t.
The Boarini Milanesi one MUST have been made just to be talked about – as most of these “most valuable” stuff always is – but gosh darn saying it’s for the oceans is sort of disgusting marketing. Even if they were completely ignoring the animal aspect somehow (because come on, exotic skin, or any animal skin for that matter), they’re not even addressing the plastic or regular trash killing the oceans. Look at that bag and explain to me how, other than the price tag, it helps bring awareness to the oceans. A simple Prada Re-Nylon even is more meaningful. There’s so many things they could’ve done to at least PRETEND to care about the ocean, but nah, it’s just a fancy exotic skin and diamonds bag which looks ugly AF to add insult to injury.
I’m not an activist by any means but *come on*. At least PRETEND. Use re-purposed plastic from bottles or ocean clean-up, use mushroom leather, say anything other than “also it’s a tax write-off”.
The heart shaped bag is worn by Nicole Kidman in the music video Somethin’ stupid. It is actually my favorite music video of all time! Not only because the “worlds most expensive bag” plays an important part in a sex scene, but also because the video is so much sexier than any of the ass-on-display-stuff produced today. I just love it and therefore this bag has a special place in my heart 🙂
Interesting content. I’m going to search for that. Thanks for actually contributing with your comment.
Slapping precious materials on a bag and calling it the most valuable is BS. You can roll any old stuff in diamonds and tag it the most valuable. Says nothing about the inherent value of the bag.
Expensive =/= valuable
Expensive =/= well-designed
So…you kill an animal for its skin to raise awareness for nature?
🤮🤮🤮 I wouldn’t even give you 1k for any of these gaudy bags