Just weeks after Hermès opened its newly revamped Beverly Hills boutique, Matthew Rubinger, director of luxury accessories at Heritage Auctions is again luring locals with the French fashion house’s famed bags. Heritage Auctions is hosting its first Boutique Jewelry & Designer Bags Auction in Los Angeles on Monday, September 23. “This category is my baby, we launched it three years ago and this is the first time we’ve held an auction in our Beverly Hills offices,” he says. The sale combines vintage leather goods and jewelry, and Rubinger says he’s amassed some of the most spectacular Hermès offerings he’s seen. “We have an electric blue Porosus crocodile bag with an indigo interior and gold hardware. It’s a really striking, special piece.” The auction will take about six hours and bids are taken in person at the Olympic Boulevard offices of Heritage Auctions, or via phone or online. And, for those who miss the Monday sale, Rubinger’s auction house launched a partnership with Barneys New York in August that includes a vitrine filled with 30 vintage bags—with a heavy emphasis on Chanel and Hermès designs—near the Wilshire entrance of the department store’s L.A. flagship.

But how did the 25-year-old auctioneer become such an expert on leather goods? While still in school, he interned at Portero.com, a luxury jewelry and bag resale site. “When I went back to college, I kept clients that I’d been working with as a dealer. I was planning to go into marketing for Procter and Gamble, but customers in Texas introduced me to Heritage.” The match suited Rubinger and his clients. He realized that shoppers were becoming collectors and that bags were holding value. He finds accessories to be more accessible than art in the current market. But, just like the market for paintings by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, these items also trigger frenzied exuberance among buyers. “I always say I’ve created all these little monsters; it starts with one bag and now they want to complete the sets they’ve started to collect,” says Rubinger.

by Elizabeth Varnell

Pictured: Matt Rubinger
Photo Courtesy of Heritage Auctions

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