Delvaux Le Brillant PM

A bag for a world's fair

In April 1958 Brussels opened Expo 58, the first major world's fair officially recognized after the Second World War. It ran until October 19 and drew about 41.5 million visitors, who came to see the Atomium and pavilions from more than 40 countries. For the occasion Delvaux introduced a new handbag, the Brillant.

Delvaux says the bag was inspired by the Philips Pavilion, the fair's most striking building, which it credits to Le Corbusier; inside, the pavilion played the Poeme electronique through 425 speakers placed by Le Corbusier and the composer Iannis Xenakis. One design magazine describes the original Brillant as both a handbag and a sculpture, drawing on symbolism and surrealism, two art movements closely tied to Belgium.

The Brillant's signature is its buckle, a D-shaped metal clasp on the flap. Accounts differ on how it relates to the house logo: one says the bag carried the brand's first logo in the form of the D buckle, while a history of the house says the D appeared on 1960s designs such as the Brillant and was later turned into a key brand feature by Solange Schwennicke.

The oldest house and the women who ran it

Charles Delvaux and his wife, Jeanne-Joseph Present, opened a trunk and travel goods workshop in Brussels in 1829, a year before Belgium declared independence. The house became official supplier to the Belgian royal court in 1883 and filed what it calls the first luxury handbag patent in 1908. Delvaux describes itself as the oldest fine leather luxury goods house in the world, a claim it makes for itself.

By 1933 little was left but a name and a storefront. Edmond Delvaux, the founder's great-grandson, sold the business to Franz Schwennicke, an agricultural engineer back from the Congo, who brought design and production in-house. After 1945 the clientele became largely female, and Delvaux's leading designers were almost all women. Paule Goethals, with the house from 1953 to 1989, designed the Brillant.

When Franz Schwennicke died in 1970, his widow Solange took over and more than doubled sales by 1979. Later owners include the investment arm of Hong Kong's Fung Group, which took a majority stake in 2011, and Richemont, which acquired Delvaux in 2021.

How to recognize a Brillant PM

Delvaux's current Brillant PM, reference AA0569AAM099ZDO in black, is made of smooth box calf sourced from France and crafted in the house's workshops in Belgium and France. It has a natural calfskin lining, an exterior back pocket, an interior zipped pocket with a vanity mirror, a removable and adjustable leather shoulder strap and gold-tone hardware. The site lists it at 9.4 by 4.7 by 7.5 inches. Other current sizes are the Nano, Mini and MM.

A vintage burgundy Brillant PM offered by a Belgian dealer measured 24 by 19 by 13 cm and shows the classic layout: the flap closed by the Brillant buckle, an interior lined entirely in box calf with two large pockets, one a zipped gusset, a snap hook on a leather strap, and four metal feet underneath for protection.

Box calf ages rather than wears out. Delvaux aniline-dyes its leather instead of heavily pigmenting it so that bags develop a patina, about 80 percent of its leather is calf from a French tannery, and a 2009 exhibition catalogue reported the house repaired or renovated about 8,000 bags a year, almost as many as it sold.

Reinventions and prices

The Brillant has become a canvas for anniversaries. For its 50th in 2008 Delvaux made a maxi version, the Brillant Black Edition; other editions have shrunk it into Little Bitty Brillants, cast it in PVC, wrapped it in exotic skins and printed it with graphics. For the 60th in 2018 came The Diva, inspired by Hollywood's golden age and made in a new, high-shine Norwegian bull leather.

In October 2026 Delvaux's U.S. site listed the Brillant PM in black box calf at $8,100. Other Brillants ran from $7,300 for a Mini in box calf to $20,200 for an MM in exotic leather. The burgundy box calf PM described in this entry is not a current color; vintage examples trade through European dealers, often priced in pounds or euros.

The Belgian alternative

Delvaux is sometimes called the Belgian equivalent of Hermes, and the Brillant is the bag that earns the comparison: a structured top-handle born in the 1950s, made in the house's own workshops, and kept in production with only small changes. Since 1908 Delvaux has recorded more than three thousand designs in its Livre d'Or, and the house still calls the Brillant emblematic of the Maison.

The numbers

Dimensions

24 x 19 x 13 cm (vintage burgundy example); 9.4 x 4.7 x 7.5 in (current PM, as listed)

Material

Box calf, sourced from France; box calf or natural calfskin lining

Hardware

Brillant D buckle; gold-tone on this colorway; four metal feet

Interior

Zipped pocket (with vanity mirror on current bags), second pocket, snap hook

Reference

AA0569AAM099ZDO (current PM, black)

Production quantity

Not published

Timeline

1. 1829

   Charles Delvaux and Jeanne-Joseph Present open a travel goods workshop in Brussels.

2. 1883

   Delvaux becomes official supplier to the Belgian royal court.

3. 1908

   Delvaux files a handbag patent, which it calls the first for a luxury leather handbag.

4. 1933

   Franz Schwennicke buys the business from Edmond Delvaux.

5. 1946

   Schwennicke patents the aluminum frame of the Avia suitcase.

6. 1953

   Paule Goethals joins Delvaux as a designer.

7. 1958

   The Brillant debuts for Expo 58 in Brussels.

8. 1970

   Solange Schwennicke takes over after her husband's death.

9. 1988

   Delvaux opens a second workshop in Bourg-Argental, France.

10. 1989

    Paule Goethals ends her 36 years with the house.

11. 2008

    The Brillant's 50th anniversary brings the maxi Brillant Black Edition.

12. 2011

    The Fung Group's investment arm acquires a majority stake.

13. 2018

    The 60th anniversary edition, The Diva, is released.

14. 2021

    Richemont acquires Delvaux.

The world in 1958

• Apr 17, 1958

  Expo 58 opens in Brussels, the first major world's fair recognized after World War II.

• 1958

  The Atomium, meant to be temporary, becomes the symbol of Brussels.

• 1958

  The Philips Pavilion plays the Poeme electronique through 425 speakers.

• Oct 19, 1958

  Expo 58 closes after about 41.5 million visits.

• 1953

  Delvaux adds complex fastenings to handbags to deter pickpockets on the Brussels tram.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Delvaux Le Brillant PM is number 44 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (90 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Delvaux was founded in 1829, a year before Belgium itself.
• The Brillant was designed for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair.
• Delvaux says the bag was inspired by the Philips Pavilion at that fair.
• Delvaux's handbag designers after 1945 were almost all women.
• Delvaux once added complex fastenings to bags to foil pickpockets on the Brussels tram.
• The house repaired about as many bags a year as it sold, according to a 2009 catalogue.