Mini Hermès Kelly Handbag Could Fetch $200,000 at Auction
2 min
A collection of “rare and exceptional” handbags—from the likes of Hermès, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton—is on offer from Christie’s, in an auction ending Dec. 12.
The sale also “includes a selection of costume jewellery from Chanel—the collection spans a range of generations with lots coming from the modern era of Karl Lagerfeld, dating back to iconic original designs created by Coco Chanel herself,” Christie’s said in a statement. “This fantastic section is being sold without reserve.”
The star of the show is a mini Hermès Kelly bag made from sterling silver and dating to the 1990s, according to the auction house. The bag features “a charming miniature version of the signature Cadena lock,” in addition to its “iconic silhouette,” the catalog said. Available at auction for the first time in seven years, the bag is estimated to fetch between US$100,000-US$200,000.
Christie’s Images
The “sterling silver Kelly [is] one of the rarest pieces ever created by Hermès and now available at auction for the first time in seven years,” according to a statement from Christie’s.
Two limited-edition Bolide bags, also from Hermès, are part of the sale. Inspired by automobile travel, these bags—created 100 years after the original—feature tiny wheels for a touch of whimsy, plus hardware made from Palladium. One example is bleu saphir epsom leather with orange wheels, while the other is gold with yellow wheels.
The classic handbag represents “the imagination and innovation that Hermès is known for,” the catalog said. “Its silhouette was made to seamlessly fit inside the trunk of a car and its zipper, the first to ever be featured on a handbag, allowed for elegant ease of access while traveling.”
“There are also several men’s handbags included in the sale, such as “The Rock” HAC Birkin by Hermès, which has an estimate of US$40,000 to US$50,000 and is on offer for the first time from Christie’s. “This is the first Birkin bag specifically crafted for men and inspired by the supple appeal of leather jackets,” according to the auction house.
The sale also an acrylic and crystal ice-cube clutch with silver hardware that was part of a fall 2010 Chanel runway show with an estimate of US$6,000 to US$8,000; a limited-edition yellow and black monogram leather pumpkin bag by Louis Vuitton with Yayoi Kusama that could fetch up to US$15,000; and a Louis Vuitton trunk, circa 1890, that is estimated to sell for between US$10,000 to US$15,000.
Handbags have had a banner year, with 2023 sales reaching a total of HK$154 million (US$20 million) in sales so far this year—a record in the handbags and accessories category, according to Christie’s. The record was broken at a November auction in Hong Kong, where the company sold nearly HK$55 million (US$7 million) in rare and designer handbags.
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From making unpopular decisions to learning when to listen, leaders from five businesses reveal what nobody prepared them for — and how running a company has challenged their expectations.
Technology and semiconductor shares fell sharply as investors questioned the debt financing the AI infrastructure boom and confronted higher rates and Chinese competition.
Elon Musk is exploring a potential merger between Tesla and SpaceX, a deal that could reshape the future of AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles and space technology. With a combined valuation potentially reaching $3.5 trillion, the move could bring Musk’s vision of an interconnected technology ecosystem closer to reality, although a deal remains uncertain.
5 min
Elon Musk has engineered ties between Tesla TSLA 3.41%increase; up pointing triangle and SpaceX SPCX 7.79%increase; up pointing triangle that are hard to break, and now he wants to fuse them together permanently.
Musk has run both Tesla and SpaceX concurrently over the past two decades, using a schedule that dictated which days he spent focused on each business.
The companies have often shared resources and personnel, signaling their close ties. Last year, SpaceX looked into creating a spacesuit for Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus, a person familiar with the matter said. Tesla last week showed off its new Roadster, a vehicle featuring SpaceX rocket thrusters that it hopes to soon bring to market.
And in recent months, Musk has repositioned both companies by expanding beyond their core operations toward a shared mission centered on artificial intelligence.
The world’s richest man on Tuesday signaled his interest in tying up SpaceX and Tesla, marking what would be the biggest corporate merger of all time. Because he serves as chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, Musk said committees of independent directors at both companies are evaluating a possible deal, adding that a transaction might not come to fruition.
The committees will likely evaluate, with lawyers and bankers, how each company would fare in a potential deal and how a deal might best be structured. They then present their conclusions to their respective boards, who typically vote on whether to proceed.
“It’s an odd Kabuki dance where two groups of people are talking and I can’t be in the conversation,” Musk told SpaceX investors on Tuesday in response to an analyst’s question about a potential deal.
For Musk, the merger supports his vision of a world full of autonomous cars, humanoid robots and weekly rocket launches, as well as the data centers and satellites required to keep the whole thing running.
Some investors and analysts said they expect a transaction would be structured as an all-stock deal, with SpaceX potentially paying a modest premium for Tesla shares.
SpaceX, which has a market value of about $2 trillion, said it is seeing sharp growth in revenue across its businesses, which include operating data centers, launching rockets and operating satellite networks such as the internet service Starlink. Tesla is valued at about $1.5 trillion and is expanding its operations beyond its automotive and energy business. Shares in both companies traded higher following the news Tuesday.
Musk’s substantial ownership stakes in both companies, along with voting control at SpaceX, has enabled him to set the deal in motion. Analysts and investors said the deal will probably face regulatory scrutiny internationally, though some see Musk’s close relationship with the Trump administration as an asset to getting approval.
Blurred lines
The companies haven’t said which directors are on the special committees evaluating a potential deal. Several SpaceX and Tesla board members have either personal or business ties to Musk. And like Musk, venture capitalist Ira Ehrenpreis sits on both boards.
In a filing this week, Tesla outlined millions of dollars in business agreements with SpaceX and its subsidiaries last year, including $143 million in car sales to SpaceX, $3.3 million in advertising that it bought on the social-media platform X and $430 million in revenue from the sale of Megapack batteries for SpaceX’s data centers.
The companies also split the cost of resources including the use of Musk’s SpaceX jet and the bill for his personal security, which he runs through a private company.
Employees at both companies routinely move between companies to work on special projects, and some executives have dual roles, including Charles Kuehmann, vice president of materials engineering at both SpaceX and Tesla, and Ashok Elluswamy, the vice president of AI software at Tesla who runs a joint venture with SpaceX called Digital Optimus.
Over the years, Musk has launched new startups within his empire, including brain-implant company Neuralink, underground-tunnel developer the Boring Company and xAI, the AI startup that merged with SpaceX in February.
It is that AI business that Musk thinks can serve a market worth tens of trillions of dollars, justifying the need for a merger.
The business case goes like this: Tesla is developing robotaxis and robots, which it calls “physical AI.” SpaceX is working on the back end of physical AI: the data-center capacity and internet connection required for those robotaxis and robots to operate continuously.
“I don’t see what the value of Tesla is if it’s not merged with SpaceX,” said investment adviser Ross Gerber, a former Tesla bull turned critic invested in both companies. “If they don’t merge, the brains of everything that runs Tesla is owned by another company.”
On top of it all, both companies face constraints on the supply chains they need to make this world a reality, particularly when it comes to chips. To address this, Musk earlier this year announced a joint venture between Tesla, SpaceX and Intel to design and manufacture chips in Texas. “The most epic chip-building exercise by far,” he has said.
Musk at the wheel
For Musk, a merger would also solve two problems: demands on his attention and his lack of control at Tesla.
Tesla for years was Musk’s only public company, a status that came with greater scrutiny. There, Musk reports to a public board, as well as individual investors who make up around 30% of Tesla’s voting power, according to FactSet.
The question of Musk’s attention became a particular focus for investors and the board in recent years after he acquired Twitter in 2022 and launched xAI in 2023, and again in 2025 as he spent time in Washington, D.C., running the Department of Government Efficiency in the early months of President Trump’s second term.
As Tesla’s car business suffered in 2025, Musk threatened to take his AI ambitions outside the company if he wasn’t granted 25% voting control. Last November, Tesla shareholders approved a new pay package for Musk, which created a path for him to vastly expand his stake.
As of Sept. 30, Musk owned a roughly 20% stake in Tesla, according to the company’s proxy filing.
The SpaceX IPO gave Musk a different path. When SpaceX went public in June, the deal’s structure enabled him to have more than 80% voting power at the company—so much that he can’t be fired and decisions can’t be made without his support.
If SpaceX acquires Tesla, he will likely stay in control.
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