The Hermès Birkin in 2025: Investment, Obsession, and the Truth About Waiting Lists
What the secondary market has taught us about the world's most coveted bag
The Birkin has outperformed the S&P 500, fine art, and real estate over the past decade. But the real story is more nuanced than the headlines suggest — and the path to ownership is considerably stranger.
By NorwegianSpark Editorial — written with AI assistance and reviewed by the NorwegianSpark SA editorial team.
Jane Birkin died in 2023, aged 76. The bag that bears her name — born from a 1984 encounter with Jean-Louis Dumas on a Paris-London flight, during which she complained about her existing bag — has outlasted its muse and shows no sign of losing cultural significance. If anything, the Birkin has become more dominant since her death.
The Investment Case
A 2016 Baghunter study found that the Birkin outperformed the S&P 500 by 500% over 35 years. Subsequent research has confirmed the trend. The 30cm Birkin in Togo leather in a neutral colour (black, gold, étoupe, craie) has appreciated at roughly 14% annually on the secondary market since 2010.
“The waiting list is a myth — or rather, it is a relationship. Hermès sells to those it knows. Become known.”
- 30cm Togo Birkin (black): retail €9,850, secondary market €18,000–22,000
- 35cm Togo Birkin: retail €10,200, secondary market €16,000–20,000
- 25cm Birkin (rare): premium of 20–30% over 30cm equivalent
- Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile 30cm: secondary market from €250,000
- Best investment colours: black, gold, étoupe, craie
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