My story begins without a map and nowhere near the ocean but rather in my quiet hometown of Ocala, Florida and with my husband searching for a special Mother's Day gift for me. We often shop in local second-hand shops and have managed to find some of the most unique items at some of the most unkempt of places. My husband happened to walk into one such place in the same manner we usually do; with the mentality that some days garner more fabulous finds than others. Little did he know that he would unearth, so to speak, the mother of all Mother's Day gifts.
I'm not really much of a purse enthusiast but I, like most women, appreciate a nicely crafted bag. I don't pay attention to labels much. If it's a quality bag, designer or not, who can turn a nose up at it? So with this in mind, my husband rummages through a bundle of bags hanging sloppily on a rack and pays close attention to each little detail, which is most definitely a very important part of this story. He has a great eye for detail! It is safe to say that he can spot whether something is made of real leather without laying a hand on the item. With a great majority of donated purses often being thrown around in a thrift store they can get banged up and dirty rather quickly so it is important to look closely at labels as the old adage holds true: "you should never judge a book by its cover."
Continuing on, my husband picks two lovely purses, both leather and both with nice looking hardware. He spotted potential right away. One bag read upon its interior that it was made in England but a brand name was nowhere to be seen. On the other bag, in small engraved letters read a recognizable designer's name. Hermes, Made in France. Still unaware of the true value of his chosen item, he still knew it was likely a costly bag once upon a time before it was tossed away and forgotten and doubted the possibility of such a bag still holding much value other than for mere fashion purposes.
Here is the Hermes before any kind of cleaning:
Later that evening as he set out on an internet search for this type of bag we were stunned by what he found. Not to mention, we have found enough information about this particular purse to verify its authenticity. The Eclair zipper is one such example as Eclair makes the handles and zippers for Hermes.
Several facts about his style of Hermes are:
*It is made of fine leather and stands upright on it's own with no drooping.
*All Hermes handbags are hand crafted by a single artisan and can take up to 18 hours to create
*There is a wait time of 3 years for those who can afford this bag
*A stamp indicating what year the bag was made can be found underneath one of the front straps and verifies that THIS bag was made in 1974 so it can possibly be considered vintage, although I'm not certain of that.
*Lastly, the cost of this bag purchased new will typically run anywhere between 10,000-60,000 dollars and Hermes bags are highly sought after among fashionably savvy (and rich) individuals.
*Amount of money spent on this purse...$3.00 plus tax
Here are several more pictures after a quick cleanup:
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| Photo of Grace Kelly with the famous purse. Courtesy: LIFE Magazine |
So in conclusion, as I ponder the history of this purse and the mystery surrounding it, I have to ask, in a very Marylin Monroe type of voice, "My goodness honey! What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Not to mention my curiosity regarding its previous owner, where it was originally purchased and why on earth such a highly sought after bag was neglected in such a manner. Nonetheless, this sets a clear example of how much pride we should take in buying second-hand goods. Hopefully a comforting thought for those who HAVE to buy previously used items due to lack of financial stability. And perhaps some of us, in very "Antiques Roadshow-esque" fashion could "dig up" that rare, hidden jewel.
PLEASE NOTE:
I am not interested in selling this bag at this time. It is within my interest at the moment to speak to someone who has thorough knowledge of these bags as I need to know the value of this particular bag. It has some signs of wear around the bottom corners and was covered with mildew and is missing its key for the lock but is still quite lovely.
