Birkin Reveal: An Inside Look into the New System in Paris

By @favloves

Paris is one of my favorite cities, and the last time I visited was for an amazing girls’ trip back in 2014. That also happened to be the same trip where I brought home my first Birkin and attended my first Hermès sale.

So almost 5 years later, I was definitely excited to be visiting again. I’m still in Europe as I write this, as a longer trip was planned to include places we haven’t been like Belgium and Amsterdam.

Since this time I was going with DH, who has zero interest in shopping, our trip focus was on exploring and eating. I did still want to try visiting the Hermes mothership though, but was a bit unsure of this new appointment system. I discussed with my girlfriends who’d been and found out that you can only apply for an appointment the day before you plan to visit and that appointments were just given out randomly.

The girls suggested I make a request the day before I leave since we would be arriving early morning. But in the end, I decided not to as I rather just enjoy Paris given it’s been so long.

@favloves

Getting the Appointment

We arrived early morning and after settling in, I requested an Hermes appointment online using DH’s passport. Later after lunch, I also submitted my own request. I spaced out the two appointment requests as I wanted to see whether timing of the requests played any part. I received the same message both times stating that my request was received but only after 7:45pm would there be an email and sms letting you know if your request was successful.

Towards evening time, we decided to head out for an early dinner. DH took a wrong turn though, and realized we were actually coming up to Hermès. At this point, we still didn’t know if either request were successful, but decided to go in and see if there were any cancellations. Compared to my last trip and perhaps because it was close to closing, the leather department was fairly empty with only a handful of customers around.

Even so, when I politely asked, they said their appointments were full for the day and there were no cancellations. I went upstairs to look around and saw what I assumed were people having their appointments with various bags being shown. We left shortly after and headed to dinner.

Whilst we were at dinner, we got our notifications. Even tho DH’s request had gone in earlier, he’d been rejected, and I luckily received an appointment for the next day noting the time was subjected to change.

Upon checking the next day, my appointment time stayed around the same but I decided to head in a bit earlier as I had some non-leather items I wanted to check out. Surprisingly (I thought Paris would have more stock), both the earrings and ring I wanted weren’t available and neither was the rose bubblegum CDC, but I did find another ring and silk skirt I liked.

@favloves

The Request

It was then time to try my luck with my leather requests. Given that I’ve been collecting for awhile, it was very different to my last trip when I was very open to colors and even sizes. I was past the stage of wanting any bag other than those truly on my wish list. My top choices were a B25 touch in black or a K25 sellier in neutrals or rose azalea, rouge casaque and maybe cactus. Following this was a B25, but only in black or gold color and with GHW or RGHW. I did mention that I especially loved RGHW. If none of these were available, then a mini Constance in epsom with RGHW or any hardware in lime or mauve. Given the specifics, I honestly didn’t think my chances were very high and I had even confirmed that I only wanted these sizes, and nothing larger.

The SA took note of my wish list and disappeared to check. Even though I knew the odds were against me, I still couldn’t help feeling excited as I waited, and that excitement only grew when I saw her reappear carrying a small orange box. From the box shape, I knew straight away it wasn’t a Constance and was probably unlikely to be a Kelly too. The SA then said unfortunately this wasn’t a Kelly Sellier or an exotic, but she did find me a black B25. AND this one is more special as it’s with their latest hardware which is still not seen very often. I knew at this point it had to be rose gold (yay!) and started thanking her already. I then watched and savoured the anticipation as she slowly opened the box and revealed the bag. “Ooooh this is so pretty”, I thought and said out loud as I saw the black and rose gold together. I thanked her again and then took the bag myself for a closer look and to try on. It was in togo but rather veinless, which is something I much prefer, and I just adore this color combo and size. I did a quick check (and then later did a more detailed one back home), picked up a Calvi in the new mauve S also and, feeling very happy, I paid for my purchases. I requested the plain white bag as I wanted something more discreet since I planned to walk back to the hotel.

@favloves

@favloves

The Pros and Cons

For the record, I did continue to request appointments for DH when I remembered and tried in total 3 more times. All he got were rejections. Given our two very different experiences, I can see both the pros and cons of this new system. Pros being that if you get an appointment, it’s less time consuming and also less crowded which makes for a more pleasant shopping experience, and cons being that there’s no certainty of actually getting an appointment. In the end, like all things with Hermès, it comes down to timing and luck. But regardless, Paris is still as beautiful and enjoyable as when I last visited and no amount of shopping or lack of could change that.