Sotherby's Hermes Bag Sale demonstrates collectable market remains lucrative

F Scott Fitzgerald never said "the Rich are different from us", and Ernest Hemingway didn't reply, "yes they have more money".   This often referenced fictional exchange is best exemplified in no other market than art and collectibles.  Things of no other value than what those are willing to pay for them.

For some time now second hand fashion items have comprised part of the collectibles market, and this met it's final boss so to speak at auction in Sotherby's New York on 10 July 2025 for $10 million.

There's little to say on this.  Item's like this selling in this manner transcend concepts of value, and clearly represent something other than supply or demand.  Another example being the Leonardo Da Vinci Salvatore Mundi painting which was bought by the leader of Saudi Arabia for $450 million, who then gave it as a gift to the leader of the United Arab Emirates.  All while the provenance of the work remains in question.  

These sales and purchases, they transmit power, dominance, and ownership. They display wealth, and move money around in ways that aren't possible by other vehicles.  Or allow for tax write offs.  In the case of this handbag, it was purchased by Valuance Japan, a luxury goods reseller.  The purpose here is therefore quite clear.  A signal of Valuance's importance, free advertising drawing consumers to them, while simultaneously increasing the overall value of the second hand handbag market.

 

Anish Kapoor Limited Edition Remy Martin XO Cognac adds nothing

 

Celebrity collaborations, as we have often noted, are either pointless cash grabs, or particular and specific expressions of a creator and a brand.  The new Anish Kapoor Remy Martin XO Cognac falls firmly into the first camp, being at best pointless, at worst insulting.

According to Kapoor in a press release for this collaboration Remy Martin has special associations for the artist, as their father often drank it, and it had connotations of sophistication which that they wanted to express this with their collaboration. We can't help feeling they failed.  There really doesn't seem anything to distinguish this release from the standard XO, other than the rose gold coloured top, and slightly smoothed bottle shape. 

You really get the sense that LVMH's marketing department sent a couple of emails to Kapoor's team, and a fee for their name was negotiated, after which a few designs were sent over, one of which Kapoor gave a nod to.  Nothing makes this stand out from normal XO, and other than the price, which appears to be about a 15% premium on standard XO at £195 a bottle, it's pretty forgettable in our view.  

Dyson Admit Defeat and finally Discontinue Zone Air-Purifier Headphones

 

A few years ago Dyson announced their Air-Purifier headphones.  We predicted they would fail, and we appear to have been proven correct, as they've been discontinued, without any replacement announced.  In fact the ignominy is pretty extreme, with stockists foolish enough to buy sets not even able to shift them for £200 new, a whopping 75% off their initial retail price.

In fact, we went further than just saying they might or would fail.  We suggested it was an April Fool's joke as they seemed so ludicrous (here), and after it was finally released we maintained the position it was an April Fools joke, but that a senior Dyson Engineer got so upset about the ridicule, they decided to to make them (here).

We haven't changed our mind.  This sad experiment has limped along since 2022, and we have only seen a pair once in London, and we laughed, loudly.  There is simply no escaping the fact they look incredibly stupid.  But worse than that, they never even did anything particularly useful.  If they were some sort of rebreather, that would one thing.  But they just blew cold air at your face.  

Goodbye Zone, and good riddance. We look forward to the next joke of a product an over-sensitive Engineer decides to make out of spite after seeing how ridiculous people think they or their company is.

RIMOWA Vitra Collection.

Another day, another collaboration.  This time it's Vitra and Rimowa.  Seemingly odd bedfellows, as one makes furniture and home interiors, and the other makes luggage.  However, to reconcile this the collaboration has produced a piece of luggage, which is also furniture.  And a toolbox.

The main attraction is of course the stool.  Made from Rimow'a aluminium, with a snazzy interior, and soft cushion on the top, it attempts to fundamentally address that age old problem, not having anywhere to sit, and wanting to sit on your luggage.  This may sound flippant, but it's a reality.  We have lost track of the amounts of time when travelling and using Rimowa luggage that we have slumped down, turned the case on the side, and used it as a stool.  This simply adds a cushion to that arrangement.

The problem with this however is that in our experience the luggage buckles under our weight.  This might be an us problem, but we do wonder the practicality given our experience of selling luggage as a seating solution.  It's also not very large, being 47cm x 39cm x 40cm, which makes its capacity limited, but too large to put in some carry on's, doubly making its utility questionable.  

It's available now for £2,200, but we would caution sitting on it.  As for the toolbox, it's merely the classic Vitra toolbox in Rimowa's aluminium.  Oh and there's a set of stickers too, but no-one cares about those.

Dyson Bring Back the Personal Fan with the CF01.

 

Way back in the early noughts Dyson released their first blameless fan.  It was revolutionary in its design, and quite literally changed the landscape of the home fan market.  It's impossible now to look for a fan without being bombarded with numerous clones, all which frankly are quite superior to the original.

This is reality with the first release.  Put up against modern Dyson's it's quaint, and as mentioned, it's heated by competitors.  The original is of course well and truly discontinued, and in terms of functionality it would need to be termed a "personal" fan for a desk or small space.  However, we've been missing a small desk unit for some time.  

The PureCoolMe was the last time we saw one, but that was discontinued back in 2021.  Since then it's been huge units that are well over a meter in height.  This compact reissue is therefore a breath of fresh air, both figuratively, and literally. 

At 55cm high, and 36cm at the widest point, and weighing only 1.8kg, which is a good 600g lighter than the PureCoolMe, and full of modern features, and far more powerful, and quieter, than the original, it's also remarkably reasonably priced at just £249.00.

We approve.  In a sea of dross, this is a genuinely decent product.  Available now.

Non Functional Jewellery Trend.

A possible trend is emerging, of non-functional jewellery.  The term "trend" is difficult to define, however if enough repetition is identified then it might be possible to suggest a trend exists.  We feel if a few more of these are seen it's certain to be the case.  In respect of the phenomenon, we are referring here to pieces of jewellery which appear to be a device of some type, but in fact are entirely non-functional, and are purely for decoration.  

The two examples we have seen in the last couple of weeks are the "No Time" watch from Our Legacy, and the "RacerPods" necklace from Racer Worldwide.  

The Our Legacy has the shape, appearance, and look, of a simple dress watch, and the RacerPods appears to be a set of AirPods.  Both however are neither.  The No Time has on the back "no movement", and is a blank nothing.  While the RacerPods are likewise blank steel jewelery.  The No time costs £740, and is made from Sterling Silver, while the RacerPods are steel, and cost £55.

This is post-irony at its most ludicrous, and as joke products they are amusing.  The idea of paying money for these however is faintly ridiculous, and hopefully this whole concept dies a death before it becomes a trend.  We can only imagine the types of grinning idiots that would find these amusing or clever.  They're not.  As indeed the people who would wear them are also not clever.

One of a kind Gerald Charles sells at Christie for $120,000.

We rarely write about auctions, as frankly they're normally pretty dull.  When we do it's only when there's a combination of an unusual piece and record breaking or unreasonable price being met.  The Gerald Charles watch sold at Christies rare Watches auction on May 12 2025 meets both these criteria.

The piece itself is a one of a kind edition of the brands GC39 Remaster.  The watch sells in steel for $38,000, and this version in titanium has a unique opal dial.  Movie fans will remember an opal featured in Uncut Gems a few years ago.  In the film Kevin Garnett was captivated by the way light played through the stone.  This dial demonstrates all this beauty on top of a jumping hours complication.  The real personal touch is the winning buyer will have their initials engraved on the back of the case.

As for the sale price?  The watch was predicted to sell for  $47,000, a bit over the price a steel model goes for, however, the hammer price was $120,000, almost three times the pre-auction estimate.  

The buyer's anonymous, and apparently the proceeds will go to a children's charity that helps children digital lives.  Difficult to know what that means, and obviously if someone really wanted to help they shouldn't need to get a luxury watch in exchange for doing so.  However one things for certain in respect of what this sale shows, at a certain level of the economy the cost of living crisis doesn't appear to exist.