FLOAT 100 · Handbags · No. 15
Hermes Kelly 28 Retourne, Togo, Gold
A riding bag that a princess carried while expecting her first child became the Kelly, and its softest everyday form, the turned-seam Retourne in pebbled Gold Togo at 28 cm, is the Kelly built for everyday wear.
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- Hermès, Paris
- Model roots
- The Haut à courroies saddle bag, adapted into a women's handbag in the 1930s and launched in 1935
- Named for
- Grace Kelly, photographed with the bag in 1956 while expecting her first child
- Construction
- Retourne: stitched, then turned inside out for rounded, piped edges
- Dimensions
- 28 x 20 x 10 cm in auction catalogs; about 10.75 x 8.25 x 4.75 in
- Leather
- Togo calfskin, introduced 1997
- Color
- Gold, Hermès's caramel-brown
- Hardware
- Silver-tone turn-lock (listed as silver-plated), padlock and keys on the tracked example
- U.S. boutique price, 2026
- $14,400 for a Kelly 28 in Togo
- Recent auction
- $18,900 for a 2021 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 with gold hardware, June 12, 2023
From the saddle to the handbag
The Kelly started as equipment. Hermès made a tall leather bag called the Haut à courroies so riders could carry boots and saddles; the encyclopedia account dates it to 1892, while one collector guide gives 1852, and the sources do not settle which is right. In 1923 Émile-Maurice Hermès created the Torpedo, later renamed the Bolide.
In the 1930s Robert Dumas designed a smaller version for women. It launched in 1935 as the Sac à main de voyage, a travel handbag that could also be carried on a shoulder strap. Dumas went on to lead Hermès from 1951.
The trapezoid body, the cut-out flap, the saddle stitching in linen thread and the small padlock all carry over from that lineage. So does the bottom, built from three layers of leather and protected by four metal studs.
The photograph that renamed it
In 1954 Alfred Hitchcock let his costume designer, Edith Head, buy Hermès accessories for To Catch a Thief, released in 1955 with Grace Kelly. Kelly, born in Philadelphia on November 12, 1929, won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1955 for The Country Girl.
She married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in a civil ceremony on April 18, 1956, and a religious one the next day. Later that year, expecting her daughter Caroline, she was photographed again and again carrying the Hermès bag, and a photograph of the new princess with it was published in Life magazine. Caroline was born on January 23, 1957.
The pictures made the bag hers. Accounts differ on when Hermès made the name official: the encyclopedia entry says the late 1950s, while a collector guide says 1977. Grace Kelly died in Monaco on September 14, 1982, the day after a car crash.
Retourne: the soft Kelly
Kellys come in two constructions. Sellier, French for saddler, is stitched on the outside with visible seams sealed with resin for a rigid, sharp-cornered shape. Retourne, meaning turned over, is stitched and then turned inside out, so the seams sit inside and the edges are rounded and defined by piping.
The result is a softer bag that relaxes with use. Guides pair the Retourne with supple leathers such as Togo, Clemence and Swift, and the Sellier with firm ones such as Epsom, Box and Chèvre. A Retourne is the casual Kelly; a Sellier is the formal one.
Togo, introduced in 1997, is a pebbled, semi-matte calfskin that resists scratches and holds its shape, which makes it a natural partner for the softer construction.
28 cm in Gold
Hermès makes the Kelly in seven sizes, from 15 to 50 cm, in about 20 materials and about 50 colors. The 28 sits in the middle of the range: auction catalogs measure it at 28 x 20 x 10 cm, and a resale listing of a 2023 example gives a 10.75-inch base, 8.25-inch height and 4.75-inch depth, with a 3.75-inch handle drop and a 17.5-inch drop on the shoulder strap.
Gold is the house's caramel-brown, a color one reseller describes as drawn from its equestrian roots and among the fastest-selling in both Birkin and Kelly sizes. The tracked example pairs it with silver-tone hardware; Gold Togo Retourne Kellys are also made with gold hardware.
As of 2010 the Kelly was the best-selling of Hermès's 32 handbag styles.
Boutique price and resale price
In U.S. boutiques a Kelly 28 in Togo cost $10,600 in 2022, $11,300 in 2023 and $12,000 in 2024; the published price table gives no separate 2025 figure. After the January 2026 increase it costs $14,400, the same as the Kelly 28 in Epsom.
At auction, a 2021 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 with gold hardware sold online on June 12, 2023, for $18,900, against an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. A 2024 example in the same specification sold at auction in Hong Kong on March 6, 2025, for HK$163,800.
A collector guide says pristine leather Kelly 25 and 28 bags were selling for about $28,000 to $33,000 in early 2026, roughly 2.5 times the boutique price. The resale listing tracked for this page, a 2023 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 with silver-tone hardware in excellent condition, was asking $25,195 on October 1, 2026, marked down from $27,995.
How one is made and what comes with it
Each Kelly is made by a single artisan. A collector guide counts 36 pieces of leather, 680 stitches and 18 to 24 hours of work; the encyclopedia entry says 18 to 20 hours. Artisans train for about 18 months on average.
A Retourne Kelly 28 has a single leather top handle, a detachable shoulder strap, a crossover flap with a strap closure and a turn-lock, plus a padlock and two keys in a clochette. Inside are a zip pocket and patch pockets, and the lining is goatskin.
The tracked 2023 example came with its box, dust bag, shoulder strap, clochette, lock and two keys. Its condition notes are typical of the type: marks and faint corner wear, wear at the resin glazing on the handle, and the factory protective stickers still on the hardware.
The numbers
- Dimensions
- 28 x 20 x 10 cm; about 10.75 x 8.25 x 4.75 in
- Drops
- Handle about 3.75 in; shoulder strap about 17.5 in
- Material
- Togo calfskin exterior, goatskin lining
- Construction
- Retourne (seams turned inside, piped edges)
- Hardware
- Silver-tone turn-lock, padlock, two keys, clochette
- Production quantity
- Not published
Timeline
Thierry Hermès founds the house in Paris as a harness workshop.
Hermès introduces the Haut à courroies riding bag (one guide dates it to 1852).
Émile-Maurice Hermès creates the Torpedo, later the Bolide.
Robert Dumas's women's version launches as the Sac à main de voyage.
Robert Dumas takes over Hermès.
Edith Head buys Hermès accessories for To Catch a Thief.
Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Expecting Caroline, Kelly is photographed with the bag; Life magazine publishes the image.
Princess Caroline is born.
One guide dates the official renaming to the Kelly to this year; another account places it in the late 1950s.
Grace Kelly dies in Monaco after a car crash the day before.
Hermès introduces Togo calfskin.
The Kelly is the best-selling of Hermès's 32 handbag styles.
U.S. boutique price of a Kelly 28 in Togo: $10,600.
A 2021 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 with gold hardware sells at online auction for $18,900.
A 2024 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 with gold hardware sells at auction in Hong Kong for HK$163,800.
U.S. boutique price of a Kelly 28 in Togo rises to $14,400.
A 2023 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 with silver-tone hardware is offered for $25,195.
The world in 1956
The Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Videotape is demonstrated publicly for the first time.
Grace Kelly marries Rainier III in a civil ceremony in Monaco; the religious service follows the next day.
Egypt's President Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal.
The Hungarian Revolution begins with a student demonstration in Budapest.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is reelected, defeating Adlai Stevenson again.
The Summer Olympics open in Melbourne.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $10,600 | Asking price, not a saleU.S. boutique retail price, Kelly 28 in Togo (all colors). |
| 2023 | $11,300 | Asking price, not a saleU.S. boutique retail price, Kelly 28 in Togo. |
| Jun 12, 2023 | $18,900 | Sold at auctionGold Togo Retourne Kelly 28 made 2021, gold hardware (not silver-tone); online auction; estimate $10,000-$15,000. |
| 2024 | $12,000 | Asking price, not a saleU.S. boutique retail price, Kelly 28 in Togo. |
| Mar 6, 2025 | $21,078 | Sold at auctionAt an online auction in Hong Kong: HKD 163,800 (including buyer's premium), shown in USD at the Federal Reserve rate on the sale date (1 HKD = 0.1287 USD). |
| Jan 2026 | $14,400 | Asking price, not a saleU.S. boutique retail price after the January 2026 increase. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $25,195 | Asking price, not a saleResale listing, 2023 Gold Togo Retourne Kelly 28, silver-tone hardware, excellent; marked down from $27,995. |
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, Hermes Kelly 28 Retourne, Togo, Gold is number 18 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 (15 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Retourne means 'turned over': the bag is sewn and then turned inside out.
- The Kelly's ancestor was a bag for carrying a rider's boots and saddle.
- Grace Kelly was photographed again and again with the bag in 1956 while expecting her daughter Caroline.
- Hermès makes the Kelly in seven sizes, from 15 cm to 50 cm.
- A collector guide counts 680 stitches in a Kelly.
- In January 2026 the Kelly 28 in Togo and the Kelly 28 in Epsom were priced the same in U.S. boutiques: $14,400.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026