Using A Rare Silk Kimono Covered With Gold, A Luxury Bag Of IDR 19 Billion Becomes The Main Star In Miami Art Week

Gold-plated luxury bags (Instagram/@evenssintclairart)

JAKARTA - Recently, a bag at a fantastic price of Rp. 19 billion managed to attract the world's attention. But this time not only because of its status as a luxury item, but because it became a star in a leading art exhibition. Not carelessly, this bag is a work of art that combines design, hand expertise, and historical value.

Reported by VOI from the NY Post page on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, Art Basel which was held in Miami Art Week presents a bag by artist Evens Saint Clair for USD 1.2 million or IDR 19 billion rupiah which is referred to as an "art statue". For some people, the bag is more precisely referred to as a luxurious fashion work.

The luxury bag is named La Reine. This is the result of a long collaboration between Saint Clair and local craftsmen in Japan. Saint Clair, who is also a diamond mine developer. He spent two years meeting Japanese craftsmen, including a famous carpenter named Mr. Kyoto.

The wood frame made by Japanese hands is coated with Italian skin and pieces of rare silk cloth covered with gold leaves, and reinforced with pearl skin.

No less than 18 carats the diamond is placed in various parts of the bag, ranging from signposts in front of the bag, gold feet under the bag, to several gold chains decorated with diamonds, and pearls.

"I brought back handicraft," said Saint Clair.

"Currently, everything is only produced in China at the cheapest possible price. But the luxury of this bag is not mass produced. I have invested years of travel, research, and innovation into these works, because I believe in beauty, happiness, and give back," he continued.

Each bag takes up to a year to produce and pass through several countries, including Japan, Guinea, Italy, and Turkey, before arriving at Saint Clair's home in Bal Harbor, Florida, for the final touch.

For Wicked fans, there is a special edition of a bag with green crocodile skin material for USD 670,000 or Rp. 10 billion equipped with a circle-shaped badge from a jade and decorated with diamonds.

One of the bags with the lowest price of Saint Clair, namely Pangea, is valued at USD 110,000 or IDR 1.7 billion using pernis bamboo from Japan, a sparkling gold chain decorated with diamonds, and python skin from the Everglades ecosystem in Miami.

Saint Clair sees his luxury bags as smart investment, given the ever-increasing price of gold, diamonds, and gemstones. Therefore, each bag is equipped with a special storage box that can be opened with fingerprints.

The Veneer-plated wooden box was designed by Saint Clair himself, inspired by a collector's cigar box from the Dominican Republic he sent to a wood maker in Japan.

Although these luxurious bags were launched lively at Miami Art Week through a big party at the St. Hotel. Regis at Bal Harbor on Saturday night, Saint Clair has sold some of the expensive bags personally to wealthy women in Guinea, where he developed the diamond and gold mines. He declined to reveal the names of buyers for privacy and security concerns.