Hermes handbag sells for a record amount at Christie's

A fuchsia-coloured crocodile-skin Hermes bag has broken the record for the most expensive handbag sold at auction, selling for 222,912 dollars at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong.

The shiny pink bag was sold to an Asian phone bidder in an auction that saw "fast-paced bidding from start to finish", Christie's said in a statement late Monday.

The final price realised at the Monday auction was around 15 percent more than the auction house's estimate. "With its 18k white gold and diamond hardware, Hermès Shiny Fuchsia Porosus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 35 dazzled the crowds, achieving a 1.72 million Hong Kong dollars record," Christie's said in the statement.

The bag, part of the "Birkin" series named after actress and singer Jane Birkin, who was born in Britain and is based in France, features a gold and diamond-encrusted clasp and padlock and is 35 centimetres in width and 25 centimetres in height.

At the same auction that saw some 300 designer handbags going under the hammer, a shiny black crocodile "Kelly" bag was sold for 145,000 dollars breaking the record for the most expensive "Kelly" bag sold at auction.

The "Kelly" product line is named after the late Princess Grace of Monaco. The auction house's Handbags and Accessories sale achieved 5.99 million dollars in sales. Designer handbags are the latest craze for collectors, taking global auction houses by storm and fetching record prices.

The previous record was set at the sale of another Hermes Birkin by an American auction house valued at around 203,000 dollars in 2011. (AFP)