Hong Kong billionaire's Hermes handbags auction fetches over $3.2 million

The auction, now closed, was called: "The Art of Collecting Handbags - The Visionary Collection of Joseph Lau." (Image: Sotheby's)

A fugitive Hong Kong billionaire has earned millions after auctioning a number of designer bags, mostly from Hermes.

The auction at Sotheby’s was the largest single-owner handbag sale in Asia’s auction market and fetched Joseph Lau a whopping $3.2 million. Up for sale were 76 bags from Hermes and one from Chanel. Sotheby’s said a portion of the sale will go to charity but there was no specification on the percentage.

The auction, now closed, was called: "The Art of Collecting Handbags - The Visionary Collection of Joseph Lau."

The most expensive to be auctioned was a 2006 Bleu Jean Shiny Porosus Crocodile Birkin 25 with 18-karat white gold and diamond, which fetched HK$1.52 million, Sotheby’s said. Six diamond Birkins and a rare bronze Kelly was also sold in the auction.

Lau’s family still owns over 1,000 Hermes bags. He had bought more than 1,500 to gift his friends and family.

The 71-year-old former chairman of Hong Kong developer Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. is a well-known collector and seller. He has offloaded at least $177 million in various collections since early 2020. He owns a famous Andy Warhol painting, a David Hockney painting, a Gauguin that amount to approximately $1 billion and a number of Chinese antiques.

“Mao” by Andy Warhol and “Everything Must Go” by Jean-Michel Basquiat, both owned by Lau, will be up for display in his upcoming art gallery in London, speculations say.

Lau’s $6 billion fortune is mainly derived from his and his family’s ownership of commercial properties, and a stake in Chinese Estates. He was convicted in 2014 for money laundering and bribery in Macau but hasn’t served any jail time.