Hermès Miniature Magnifying Glass with Leather Case
View Similar Items
Hermès Miniature Magnifying Glass with Leather Case
About the Item
- Creator:Hermès (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 2 in (5.08 cm)Width: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2001
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Vancouver, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU105364590823
Hermès
For Hermès, what began as a maker of leather equestrian goods for European noblemen would eventually grow into one of the most storied fashion labels in the world. In 1837, German-born French entrepreneur Thierry Hermès opened a saddle and harness purveyor in Paris. Gradually, the house extended into accessories and luggage for its riders, and today, in paying homage to its origins, the family-run luxury brand resurfaces horse motifs in everything from clothing and modernist jewelry to pillows and handbags.
The first top-handled bag ever produced by Hermès was the Haut à courroies, which made its debut in 1892. A tall bag secured with a folded leather flap (fastened with bridle-inspired straps), it was designed to transport riding boots and a harness.
As the world made the switch from horse to automobile, the bag adapted, becoming a multifunctional travel satchel instead of a designated saddlebag. Today, 120 years later, the HAC remains in Hermès’s line — and its distinctive flap and clasping straps have laid the groundwork for some of the house’s other iconic bags.
In the 1930s, Robert Dumas (son-in-law to Émile-Maurice Hermès, Thierry’s grandson) designed a smaller, trapezoidal take on the flap bag with a handle and two side straps. Later, actress Grace Kelly, then engaged to Prince Rainier of Monaco, is said to have used one of these bags to conceal her pregnancy during the 1950s. Because she was photographed constantly, the coverage catapulted her handbag to international popularity.
In 1977, Hermès officially renamed the model for her, and the Kelly bag was born. Each Kelly bag takes between 18 and 25 hours to produce, and its 680 hand stitches owe solely to one Hermès artisan.
Robert Dumas was also responsible for another one of the brand’s most iconic offerings: the launch of its first silk scarf on the occasion of Hermès’s 100th anniversary in 1937. Based on a woodblock designed by Dumas and printed on Chinese silk, the accessory was an immediate hit.
Today, vintage Hermès scarves, typically adorned in rich colors and elaborate patterns, serve many functions, just as they did back then. Well-heeled women wear it on their heads, around their necks and, in a genius piece of cross-promotion, tied to the straps of their Hermès bags. Kelly even once used one as a sling for her broken arm.
In 1981, Robert Dumas’s son Jean-Louis Dumas, then Hermès chairman, found himself sitting next to French actress and musician Jane Birkin on a plane, where she was complaining about finding a suitable carryall for the necessary accoutrements of motherhood. After the two travelers were properly introduced, Birkin helped design Jean-Louis’s most famous contribution to the Hermès canon: the Birkin bag, a roomy, square catchall with the HAC’s trademark leather flap top and the addition of a lock and key.
Owing to the brand’s legendary commitment to deft, handcrafted construction, the Birkin is an investment that is coveted by collectors everywhere.
While the Kelly and Birkin may be standouts, gracing the arms of everyone from royal heiresses to hip-hop stars in the past few decades, the handbags are but a small part of Hermès’s fashion offerings.
Since the 1920s, the brand has produced some of the most desirable leather goods in the world. There’s the Constance bag, a favorite of Jacqueline Kennedy, the recently relaunched 1970s-era Evelyne and, on the vintage market, a slew of designs dating back to the 1920s.
Good design never goes out of style. Find a variety of vintage Hermès handbags, day dresses, shoes and more on 1stDibs.
- Cigarette Case Fired Enamel with Still Life Miniature Sterling Silver SalimbeniBy Franco Salimbeni, SalimbeniLocated in Firenze, FIRectangular table cigarette case with rounded corners in sterling silver 925/1000 gold plated with beautiful miniature fire enamelled and hand painted by the painter Beatrice Mellana reproducing a "still life" by the Flemish painter Willem Claes Heda. Dimensions cm. 5.7 x 9 x 1.7. Weight gr. 174. Designed by Franco Salimbeni in 1969 and manufactured in Florence in numerous specimens with various subjects and different colors, in the headquarters of the Salimbeni Company with completely manual execution by artisan artists with thick slab and large reinforcements suitable for withstanding numerous enamelled firings at about 800° C. Miniature is a very ancient technique which consists of painting works in small proportions. It was born for the decoration of the first letter of the paragraph of the books. Over the years, however, this technique is refined and enriched, then moving on to precious personal items. Hand-painted miniatures can be done with multiple different techniques. The most important that we use on our articles are of three kinds: 1) Fire enamel. 2) Water tempera on an ivory plate. 3) Painted on mother-of-pearl. Fire enameled miniatures: On a first layer of enamel generally white or very clear or even transparent suitably liquefied at a temperature of about 750 ° C, the chosen subject is painted using miniature colors which are as many colored crystals, ground and reduced to a very fine, almost impalpable powder washed and purified in distilled water with the addition of small quantities of deoxidizing acids which, diluted with essential oils (usually essential oil of solder), can be mixed to form a palette of colors. With very fine sable hair brushes you draw the subject starting from the perimeter and then gradually adding various layers of color. It is necessary to carry out various firings very often so that the colors harden and are not absorbed by the underlying glaze as, during the subsequent firings at 750 ° C, during liquefaction, it would spread irremediably. Hence the need to form the painting a little at a time, cooking it numerous times. Therefore it is necessary to proceed with numerous retouching, often overlapping different colors that only the painter's experience knows. A beautiful miniature needs from 20 to over 50 firings and is finished when the painter deems he does not have to further intervene. Some colors must have darker tones than others because then, by superimposing the transparent enamel placed at the end of the miniature, they fade. This transparent layer, called “fondant” in jargon, must be smoothed and polished like all other translucent enamel colors. The miniatures with water tempera colors are painted on real ivory...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Art Deco Decorative Boxes
MaterialsGold Plate, Enamel, Sterling Silver
- Antique Chinese Export Carved Bone & Sterling Silver Magnifying GlassLocated in Atlanta, GAA very fine antique chinese export magnifying glass. The handle constructed from bone and heavily carved with foliage, finger handles and shell style butt. Marked to the silver space...Category
Antique 19th Century Sterling Silver
MaterialsSterling Silver
$716 Sale Price20% Off - Antique Victorian Sterling Silver Sandwich Box with Leather CaseBy Walker & HallLocated in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon TyneAn exceptional, fine and impressive antique Victorian English sterling silver sandwich box with leather carrying case, an addition to our diverse Victoria...Category
Antique 1890s British Victorian Sterling Silver
MaterialsSilver, Sterling Silver
- Pocket Cigarette Case Vessel Miniature Hand-Painted Sterling Silver Enamel SalimBy Giorgio Salimbeni, SalimbeniLocated in Firenze, FI6238-7239- Pocket cigarette case with spring button in 925/1000 fire-enamelled sterling silver with beautiful vessel miniature hand-painted by th...Category
1990s Italian Empire Cigar Boxes and Humidors
MaterialsSterling Silver, Enamel
- Pocket Cigarette Case Hunting Dogs Miniature hand painted Sterling Silver EnamelBy Giorgio Salimbeni, SalimbeniLocated in Firenze, FIRectangular table cigarette box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamels on guillochè and fine miniature hand painted...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Art Nouveau Cigar Boxes and Humidors
MaterialsSterling Silver, Enamel
- Edwardian Sterling Silver and Deep Pink Enamel-Mounted Magnifying GlassLocated in New York, NYEdwardian, sterling silver and deep pink guilloche enamel-mounted magnifying glass, Sheffield, England, year-hallmarked for 1905, James Scholes -maker. Glass...Category
Antique Early 1900s English Edwardian Sterling Silver
MaterialsMetal, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The Hermès Passe-Guide Bag Might Not Be as Well Known as the Birkin or Kelly, But It’s Every Bit as Chic
Find out why this under-the-radar piece is so exceptional.
How to Spot a Fake Hermès Birkin Bag
The iconic Birkin bag is much coveted — and often copied. Find out how to tell the real deal from a convincing fake. Of course, you don't have to worry about this on 1stDibs, where every seller is highly vetted.