Some pieces, like Faberge eggs, are heirlooms. They are meant to be admired in a quiet, reverential manner, not unlike witnessing the Pope walk down the aisle for a packed Easter Sunday service.
Take, for example, the Hermes Birkin.
Acquiring this bag is like acquiring treasure. There is a two to six year wait list for the most elusive bags, especially if the leather supplier has run out leather ingredients like white bull calf, fuchsia goatskin etc. needed to make them. Even if you had the money for such a purchase you will likely have to wait; Birkins typically sell out the moment they are received. Some retail for over $60,000.
Therefore you can – in the event of a recession… sell your Birkin wares to pay off your mortgage or buy the latest island off the coast of Fiji. To a true connoisseur, like Michael Tonello, author of “Bringing Home the Birkin,” the bag represents a sense of achievement.
Stepping into his profession of reseller of all things Hermès almost serendipitously, Michael began his career in Barcelona, first as a struggling makeup artist, then subsequently a reseller of all things Hermes. He realized –when he sold a $90 plaid scarf for $430 on eBay– the power of the internet and all things Hermes.
If there’s one art that Tonello has mastered, it’s the art of skilful deception. As sly as Houdini, Tonello manages to create and execute a proprietary “secret formula” for acquiring a possession that many would give their firstborn for.
The trick is to act and dress the part of a millionaire. Adorn one’s neck with the appropriately expensive Hermes scarf, etc. Then to drop several thousands of dollars shopping for Hermes items in the store (which will be resold at a later date on eBay) and then delicately skip to the subject of the Birkin with the salesman.
At which point the salesman, or saleswoman (who is judged appropriately as a “grandmother,” a “Nazi” etc.) will give in and sell Mr. Tonello the only remaining Birkin in the store’s inventory because he or she knows that Tonello is a genuine millionaire. No doubt this purchase will land happily on eBay’s site, at an appropriate markup, and land in the lap of some delighted, impatient owner.
Top marks for creativity, manipulation, uber-skillful entrepreneurship!
The book is a charming, embellished account of whirlwind trips in search of his prize, from Cape Cod to Barcelona to St. Tropez. It’s a lighthearted, whirlwind frolic of a read that will be sure to entertain you as much as the latest blockbuster film.
To win the coveted bag (which comes in the signature orange box with brown grosgrain ribbon) and to buy the book, click here.
Maybe the Hermes gods will smile upon you…