The Birkin Bag: Better Than Gold

When Carrie Bradshaw said in Sex and The City, "I like my money where I can see it, hanging in my closet," she was actually showing her shrewd business sense, as a recent study has found that one of fashion's most iconic bags, the Hermès Birkin, has proven to be a sounder investment that gold and stock-market shares since its creation.

Heralded as "the safest and least volatile investment market" by the study (which was conducted by online retail platform Baghunter), the Birkin bag has soundly increased in value by 500 per cent in the last 35 years, compared to other investments which regularly fluctuate.

"As a whole, the study findings show how stable the ultra-luxury industry has been over the past 35 years when compared to more traditional investment opportunities," Evelyn Fox, founder of Baghunter, told Luxurydaily.com. "In particular, the study displays how high-end, rare and sought-after luxury items such as Hermès Birkin handbags have never dropped in value, even during times of recession and economic difficulty."

"There is a difference between luxury and ultra-luxury," she continued. "While the luxury market suffers during worse economic times, the ultra-luxury market is impervious to economic factors that can affect other industries such as high-street retail and stock markets."

An excuse, if ever one was needed, to go forth and invest.