Jakarta – A bag became the star of Miami Art Week. The luxurious bag was released with a fantastic price of IDR 19 billion. What is it like?
Art Basel held in Miami featured bags by artist Evens Saint Clair. Saint Clair is not only known as an artist but also as a diamond mine developer.
Saint Clair released a bag named La Reine priced at US$ 1.2 million or around Rp 19 billion. The bag was made over two years in Japan in collaboration with local artisans. Saint Clair worked with a renowned carpenter in Japan known as Mr. Kyoto. The bag with a handmade wooden frame is lined with Italian leather and adorned with pieces of rare silk kimono fabric. The bag is also lined with gold with mother-of-pearl and sprinkled with more than 18 carats of diamonds.
The bag becomes even more luxurious with a chain entirely made of gold. The chain of the bag is also adorned with stones ranging from gemstones, emeralds, and pearls.
“I am reviving the art of craftsmanship.” Currently, everything is just sent to China to be made as cheaply as possible, but true luxury is not something that is mass-produced. “I have invested years of travel, research, and innovation in the creation of these bags and their luxurious storage boxes because I believe in beauty, happiness, and giving something back,” said Saint Clair in an interview with the New York Post. The luxury of the bags is further enhanced by their storage boxes. Each bag comes with a special storage box activated by a fingerprint.
In addition to the La Reine bag, Saint Clair also makes bags for Wicked fans. The crocodile leather bag, which comes in green, is sold for US$ 670,000 or around Rp 10.6 billion and is adorned with diamonds and jade.
Saint Clair admitted to having personally sold some of these expensive bags to wealthy women in Guinea, West Africa. Clair is developing diamond and gold mines in Guinea. However, he does not want to disclose the names of his clients for reasons of privacy and security.
