DALLAS, TX.- On Dec. 7, during Heritage’s Holiday Luxury Accessories Signature® Auction, one of the most incredible and sought-after handbags ever created realized $125,000: an Hermès 28cm Matte White Himalayan Niloticus Crocodile Retourne Kelly. The rare bag helped lead the auction to a total of $2,380,594.

A masterwork of wearable art, the handbag is fashioned from one of the scarcest materials on Earth — the hide of the Niloticus crocodile. Inspired by the snow-capped Himalayas, the natural olive brown skin is painstakingly bleached and hand-dyed to create an ombre of smoky grays that fade into a luminescent white.

“The Himalayan Kelly blends precious materials with exquisite craftsmanship, and it is produced in extremely limited quantities, making the bag one of the most coveted and elusive in the world,” says Diane D’Amato, Heritage Auctions’ Director of Luxury Accessories, Private Sales & The Boutique. “The bag is a spectacular find for any Hermès collector, and we’re thrilled for our winning bidder.”

Another rare find in the auction, an Hermès 30cm Matte White Himalayan Niloticus Crocodile Birkin, sold for $68,750.

The treasure-filled event, teeming with hard-to-find handbags, saw more than 1,100 bidders worldwide vying for pieces such as the iconic Hermès Barenia Leather & Osier Wicker Mini Kelly Picnic, which realized $47,500. Other Hermès highlights included the Limited Edition 25cm “One Two Three and Away We Go” Birkin that sold for $40,000, the 28cm Tangerine Orange Ostrich Sellier Kelly that realized $35,000, the 35cm Shiny Miel Porosus Crocodile Birkin that sold for $33,750 and the 25cm Violine Lizard Birkin that realized $32,500.

Four other Hermès bags realized $30,000: a 30cm Black Côte à Côte Tuffetage and Swift Leather Birkin, a special order Horseshoe Beton & Gris Tourterelle Bi-Color Ostrich Mini Kelly 20, a 35cm Matte Marron Alligator Birkin and a 25cm Black Togo Leather Birkin.

But the auction wasn’t all about handbags. There was also spectacular jewelry, as well as pieces for travel and home, including an extraordinarily rare Louis Vuitton Virgil Abloh Yellow Monogram Courrier Lozone 110 Pickleball Steamer Trunk. Unlike Louis Vuitton’s traditional steamer trunks, this piece houses four Monogramed pickleball paddles, five balls and a collapsible classic Brown Monogram coated canvas pickleball net. Designed by Abloh in 2021, the trunk was exclusively released in Louis Vuitton Indonesia in limited quantities. It sold for $41,250 in Heritage’s December auction.

Other standouts were a 160-piece Hermès porcelain and 24k gold “Mosaique au 24 Gold” dish set that realized $31,250 and an Hermès 18k rose gold Kelly Double Tour Bracelet encrusted with 840 diamonds that sold for $23,750.