Buying a designer handbag? It can be worth more than rare artwork, cars

Buying a designer handbag? It can be worth more than rare artwork, cars

Dubai: We are often told to look at stocks, bonds, and property as possible investments, but there have long been alternatives that may not seem like the most obvious way to invest at first. A case in point being designer handbags. In recent years, the investment potential of handbags outpaced rare artwork and cars, according to AMR, a UK-based art market researcher, when compiling ten years’ of global data. By 2027, the market is expected to reach $100 billion (Dh367 billion), compared to today's $72 billion (Dh264 billion). “Luxury handbags were considered an expensive gift until a series of crocodile skinned Hermès handbags started to break auction records around ten years ago,” the analysts at ARM revealed. Bags, from the likes of Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton, saw its valuation spike by an average 80 per cent in the last ten years, according to the report. To put that into context, coins have increased by 20 per cent in value, first-edition books by 40 per cent and watches by 72 per cent. According to the report, more than 3,500 designer handbags were auctioned in a year alone, which raked in 26.4 million pounds (Dh115.9 million) and was the highest sales