Hermes Birkin 35 Togo, Black

A spilled basket and a sketch

Hermes was founded in 1837 as a maker of saddles and harness. Its first bag, the Haut a Courroies of the early 20th century, was made for riders to carry their boots and saddle. In 1928 it made the Sac a depeches, the first men's briefcase to close with a lock.

The Birkin's origin story is told in slightly different versions. In the most common one, Jane Birkin found herself seated next to Hermes chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas on a flight. She was known for carrying a basket instead of a handbag, spilled its contents, and complained that she could not find a leather bag big enough for a young mother. In one telling she wanted room for scripts and diapers for her youngest daughter, Lou Doillon, then two. Dumas said she should have one with pockets; she replied that Hermes did not make pockets; he answered, "but I am Hermes!" She asked why the house did not make a bag four times the size of the Kelly, and he sketched one on the spot and offered to name it after her.

The sources disagree on the details. Most date the meeting and the bag to 1984; one account dates the flight to 1981 and says Birkin was traveling with her daughter Charlotte. Accounts also differ on whether the flight was from London to Paris or from Paris to London. What they agree on is that Hermes presented Birkin with her prototype in 1985 and that the first bag was in supple black leather.

The size that came first

When Hermes began making the Birkin commercially, the first bags came in two sizes, 40 and 35. Jane Birkin's own prototype was a hybrid of the two: it had the width and height of a Birkin 35 and the depth of a Birkin 40. That makes the 35 the closest standard size to the bag that started it all, which is why dealers often call it the original Birkin size.

Measurements vary a little from bag to bag and from listing to listing, because each one is made by hand. Published figures for the 35 include 35 x 25 x 18 cm, 14 x 10 x 7 inches with a 4-inch handle drop, and 13.75 x 11 x 7.25 inches; one auction listing measured a bag at 35 x 25 x 13 cm. Handle drops are given anywhere from 4 to 6 inches.

The line now also runs from the smaller 25 and 30 to larger sizes, among them a 42 that Jean-Paul Gaultier designed in 2005 for carrying on the shoulder. In recent years collector demand has shifted toward the smaller bags. A recent market overview noted that the smallest sizes, especially the Birkin 25, attract the greatest demand, reflecting a broader move toward miniature Hermes bags.

Black Togo, gold hardware: what to look for

Togo was introduced in 1997 and has become one of the house's most popular leathers. It is a calfskin with a natural pebble grain that resists scratches, which is why it is suited to a bag meant for daily use. It is supple enough to give the Birkin a relaxed drape while holding its shape.

Every Birkin is made by one craftsman, who signs the bag, using the saddle stitch the house developed in the 1800s; the work takes 15 to 20 hours. Hermes employs around 250 craftsmen to make Birkins in more than twenty workshops, and trains some of them in-house for a year and a half. The interior is lined in goatskin, usually called chevre, in the same color as the outside, typically with one zippered pocket and one open pocket.

The Birkin is recognized by its two handles, front flap, straps and turn-lock closure, with a padlock and a key held in a leather bell called the clochette. When the bag was launched commercially, Hermes used gold-plated hardware stamped with a check mark; palladium, rose gold and ruthenium finishes came later. A complete bag usually comes with the lock, two keys and clochette.

A blind stamp gives the year. From 1997 to 2014 the letter sat inside a square (M for 2009, N for 2010, Q for 2013, R for 2014); from 2015 the letters stand alone (T for 2015, A for 2017, C for 2018). One 2009 black Togo 35 offered at auction in New Orleans carried an M in a square on the back of the strap, with its lock, keys and clochette all numbered 160.

On the secondhand market

A black Togo 35 is one of the most traded Birkins in the resale world, so it changes hands often and at prices that track condition and age. At an online auction in Hong Kong on May 30, 2018, a 2017 bag in top condition brought HKD 125,000 against a HKD 60,000 to 80,000 estimate. In London on December 12, 2018, a 2018 bag brought GBP 18,750.

On June 17, 2025, at an online auction in New York, a 2015 black Togo 35 with gold hardware sold for $12,600. The same sale included a 2017 Birkin 35 in the red Rouge Casaque, also Togo, which brought $8,820.

Dealer asking prices run higher. On October 1, 2026, one dealer listed a black Togo 35 with gold hardware at $36,000; another dealer's $26,500 listing, for an example graded pristine, was already marked sold out. One major selling house describes leather Birkins in general as starting from $20,000 to $35,000.

None of these figures approaches the Birkins with famous owners. Jane Birkin's own prototype, in black box leather, sold in Paris in July 2025 for $10.1 million (reported as 8.6 million euros), the highest price ever paid for a handbag at auction. Her personal Birkin 40, also in black box leather, brought $2.9 million at auction in Abu Dhabi in December 2025.

A bag that outgrew its owner

Jane Birkin carried her prototype nearly every day for about a decade, covered it with stickers for Medecins du Monde and UNICEF, and in 1994 gave it to a charity auction for a French AIDS charity. She was frank about the bag's weight, joking that she needed an operation for tendinitis in her shoulder. In July 2015 she asked Hermes to take her name off its crocodile Birkin after an animal-rights group exposed conditions at reptile farms; in September she said she was satisfied with the changes Hermes had made.

The bag became shorthand for wealth. It was reputed in 2006 to carry a waiting list of up to six years; in April 2010 Hermes said the waiting list no longer existed. An analyst quoted in 2019 estimated more than a million Birkins on the market. In 2020, retail prices started at $11,400 for a Birkin 25.

Fame brought copies. In September 2020 a French court sentenced ten people, including former Hermes workers, for making dozens of counterfeit Birkins and other bags that sold for tens of thousands of euros each. In 2024 lookalike bags priced around $78 to $102 went viral online as the "Wirkin." Jane Birkin died in Paris on July 16, 2023, at 76.

The numbers

Dimensions

About 35 x 25 x 18 cm (14 x 10 x 7 in); listings vary, with handle drops given from 4 to 6 in

Material

Togo calfskin (introduced 1997), black; chevre goatskin lining

Hardware

Gold-plated lock, two keys, clochette, turn-lock and feet

Date stamp

Letter in a square for 1997-2014 bags; letter alone from 2015

Production quantity

Not published by Hermes; total Birkin output estimated at 70,000 in 2014

Craft

One craftsman per bag, 15 to 20 hours of work

Timeline

1. 1837

   Hermes is founded as a saddle and harness maker.

2. 1984

   The Birkin is created after Jean-Louis Dumas meets Jane Birkin on a flight (one account dates the flight to 1981).

3. 1985

   Hermes presents Jane Birkin with her prototype, a hybrid of the 35 and 40 sizes.

4. 1994

   Jane Birkin gives her prototype to a charity auction for a French AIDS charity.

5. 1997

   Hermes introduces Togo leather and begins framing date-stamp letters in a square.

6. May 2000

   Jane Birkin's prototype is sold again at auction.

7. 2005

   Jean-Paul Gaultier designs the shoulder-friendly Birkin 42.

8. Apr 2010

   Hermes says the Birkin waiting list no longer exists.

9. 2014

   An estimate puts Hermes' Birkin output at 70,000 bags for the year.

10. 2015

    Hermes date stamps drop the square; Jane Birkin asks for her name off crocodile Birkins in July, then says in September she is satisfied.

11. May 30, 2018

    A 2017 black Togo 35 brings HKD 125,000 at an online auction in Hong Kong.

12. Dec 12, 2018

    A 2018 black Togo 35 brings GBP 18,750 in London.

13. Sep 2020

    A French court sentences ten people for counterfeiting Hermes bags.

14. Jul 16, 2023

    Jane Birkin dies in Paris at 76.

15. Jun 17, 2025

    A 2015 black Togo 35 with gold hardware sells for $12,600 at an online auction in New York.

16. Jul 2025

    Jane Birkin's prototype sells in Paris for $10.1 million, a record for any handbag.

The world in 1984

• Jan 24, 1984

  Apple launches the Macintosh.

• Feb 8, 1984

  The Winter Olympics open in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.

• Jul 28, 1984

  The Summer Olympics open in Los Angeles, boycotted by the Soviet Union.

• Oct 31, 1984

  Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated.

• Nov 6, 1984

  Ronald Reagan is reelected president with 59 percent of the popular vote.

• Dec 3, 1984

  A gas leak at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills thousands.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this bag every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

Every grade and recorded sale for this bag

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Hermes Birkin 35 Togo, Black is number 26 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 (20 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Jane Birkin's own prototype was neither a 35 nor a 40: it had the width and height of a 35 and the depth of a 40.
• The first commercial Birkins had gold-plated hardware stamped with a check mark; palladium came later.
• Togo leather did not exist when the Birkin was born; Hermes introduced it in 1997.
• Jane Birkin kept a nail clipper on a chain inside her original bag.
• Each Birkin is made start to finish by one craftsman, who signs it.
• Jane Birkin joked that the bag was so heavy she needed an operation for tendinitis.
• On the same June 2025 sale day, a black Togo 35 brought $12,600 while a red Rouge Casaque Togo 35 brought $8,820.