Nita Ambani, wife of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, worth $109 billion, is the epitome of fashion, culture, and timeless elegance. We can also safely add “owner of one of the most exceptional Hermès handbag collections” to that list. Recently, the founder of the NMACC in Mumbai was spotted at an event carrying a rare Hermès Himalaya Birkin, instantly recognizable and now enhanced beyond imagination. Even by billionaire standards, her latest blinged-out twist on the holy grail of handbags has made jaws drop, and for good reason.
Nita has been flaunting the nearly $400,000 Himalaya Birkin for years, but this time she added a personal spin that’s as cute as it is costly. Few people know that Hermès handbags are crafted by a single artisan from start to finish, and the maker even signs the bag internally. In Nita’s case, the bag is eternally special, emblazoned with something deeply meaningful to the matriarch of the Reliance Industries family, the initials of her four grandchildren. A rare handbag turned into a true memento, made priceless in every sense of the word.
Of course, that doesn’t take away from the fact that the 61-year-old owner of the IPL team Mumbai Indians has spent a fortune on the embellishments. The four initials are in solid 18k gold, created by Indian jewelry designer Ashna Mehta. The AKPV charms are studded with high-quality diamonds (think serious solitaires) along with the hottest gem of the season, Paraiba, a stone famous for its neon, electric hues. It’s said that the gem is so rare that only one Paraiba is mined for every 10,000 diamonds.
According to experts Luxurylaunches spoke to, Ambani’s AKPV charms, whose entry-level alphabets already sell for around $20,000 each, could easily represent the better part of $400,000 in stones and gold alone, before factoring in Bag Bijoux’s design fees or any Hermès-level markup. Each initial features at least eight to ten hefty diamonds surrounded by pavé-set Paraiba stones. Brazilian Paraiba neon blue is often quoted in the $20,000–30,000 per carat tier for the purest stones, and by the looks of these capital letters, they use at least eight carats.
These dazzling charms are attached to Nita’s Himalaya Birkin, crafted in matte Niloticus crocodile with palladium hardware. The bag itself is so rare that Christie’s has noted only one or two Diamond Himalaya Birkins are produced each year due to the painstaking dyeing and setting process. Trust Nita Ambani, the woman who gifted her daughter-in-law Shloka the $55 million Le Incomparable necklace, to make an already exuberant object even more extraordinary.
A devoted Hermès loyalist, she owns several of the maison’s most elusive creations, including a $2 million Hermès Sac Bijou Birkin cast in 18-karat gold and pavé-set with 2,712 diamonds. This “phantom bag” is one that most clients will never even be offered, and is now also bejeweled to her billionaire standards. And when you factor in the charms, the Himalaya Birkin on her arm edges close to the $800,000 mark, the price of a Ferrari, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, or even a season of superyacht living (hardly a stretch for a woman who spent $1.5 million on a custom Rolls-Royce Phantom finished in dreamy Rose Quartz).
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Even reality TV star Georgina Rodríguez had to wait five years before she could finally open that iconic orange box and call a Himalaya Birkin her own. Nita Ambani, however, is no stranger to the finer things in life and flaunts some of the most extraordinary examples of Hermès craftsmanship, including a $400,000 Neige Faubourg Birkin 20 White Matte Alligator handbag. The design of that piece pays homage to Hermès’ flagship store at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris. In reality, though, it screams status, and with her latest embellished Birkin, the bag now pays homage not just to the doting grandma’s effortless style but also to her love for family; a reminder that the hand that rocks the Rolex can just as effortlessly carry a nearly million-dollar Birkin.
