Rare Hermes bag, named after movie star Grace Kelly, breaks auction records in Europe

The Himalaya Retourne Kelly 25. (Image credit: Sotheby's)

A rare handbag from French luxury design house Hermes sold for a record €352,800 ($346,802) at an auction in Paris last week.  Known as the "holy grail of handbags", it broke auction records in Europe, The Times reported.

The pearl-coloured Himalaya Retourne Kelly 25 bag fetched a bid nearly three times higher than what was estimated.

The bag was originally known as the sac à dépêches, Bloomberg reported. But later it was named after movie star Grace Kelly, who had been spotted carrying it 1956.

The Himalaya Retourne Kelly is made of crocodile skin and has a goat-skin interior. Sotheby's said with its pearl shade, the bag replicates the grandeur of the snow-capped Himalaya mountain range.

The handbag is one of the most difficult ones to get, Morgane Halimi, who heads handbags and accessories at Sotheby’s, told Bloomberg.

Halimi added the bag is seen as “real investment for the long term".

A different version of the Himalaya Retourné Kelly had fetched approximately $512,246 at an auction by Christie's last year, an all-time high price. That variant had diamond hardware.