This gorgeous evening bag came into my life yesterday. As of now I know very little about Henry Birks production of handbags but I am on a quest to find out more. The quality and detail is stunning!
The made in China bag suggests its quite recent - probably ten years old. China was making a lot of beaded 20s style bags then. It brought the prices down on the real ones.
Thank you Jonathan! I don't think that Birks was still making handbags 10 years ago as there are virtually none to be found. Your suggestion that it's more recent as it was made in China makes perfect sense to me, but the black and gold label has not been used in more recent years. I thought perhaps it could be a knock-off yet this company is not know for handbags, so there is no point in making fakes.
Henry Birks is a well known jewelry and fine gift shop that was established in Montreal. It is not the actual producer of this, it would have been made and then sold through one of their shops. With that made in China label I cannot see it being that old either. Bags similar to this were being produced in India during the 1980s and early 90s. It is a pretty evening bag.
I don’t think this is from THE Henry Birks. If it was, it would be labelled as Henry Birks & Sons or just Birks. The name is one of the giveaways, the poorly rendered lion logo another. This is their lion:
