NEW YORK, NY.- A one-of-a-kind Hermès Special Order Horseshoe 35cm Shiny Electric & Alezan Porosus Crocodile Birkin Bag with Gold Hardware – a stand-out custom-order handbag and one of the most difficult for collectors to acquire – realized $81,250 as the lead lot in Heritage Auctions' Feb. 9 Luxury Accessories Valentine Signature Auction in New York. The auction's nearly 200 lots span of carefully-selected handbags showed solid strength overall with the auction totaling more than $1.16 million.

"Hermès remains the gold standard in the luxury re-sale market," said Max Brownawell, Senior Specialist for Luxury Accessories. "No name conjures more passion in collectors than Hermes and they turned out in force for the gems offered here."

A timely arrival for spring was a sunning Hermès 35cm Shiny Amethyst Porosus Crocodile Birkin Bag with Gold Hardware, representing one of the rarest and most beautiful color combinations in all of Hermès repertoire, which realized $71,875.

An elegant Hermès 35cm Matte Poussiere Alligator Birkin Bag with Gold Hardware proved very popular with a price realized of $50,000, while an Hermès 35cm Shiny Black Porosus Crocodile Birkin Bag with Gold Hardware rose to $35,000 , an Hermès 35cm Shiny Violet Porosus Crocodile Birkin Bag with Palladium Hardware proved irresistible to a collector at $43,750 and an Hermès Limited Edition 35cm Shiny Black & Orange H Porosus Crocodile Birkin Bag with Ruthenium Hardware drew a final of $32,500.