The Hermès specialist on your doorstep: how south-west London buys a Birkin or Kelly in 2026

Ask around a Saturday lunch in Wimbledon Village or a school gate in Barnes and someone will have a story about the bag. The one that took two years and a great deal of charm at the boutique. The one that arrived by courier from a website nobody had heard of and never quite looked right. The Hermès Birkin and Kelly remain the two most wanted handbags in the world, and buying one in London has never been more confusing. It is also, quietly, about to get easier for anyone who lives south of the river.

From Monday 5 October, JULL opens the doors of a private showroom at Harbour Yard, Chelsea Harbour: ten minutes from Putney Bridge, twenty from Wimbledon or Richmond, and a short walk from Imperial Wharf station. Founded by Guilherme Ribeiro, JULL holds more than 200 Hermès pieces at any one time — new, unworn and pre-owned Birkins, Kellys, Constances, Picotins, Lindys and Evelynes, a strong run of exotic skins, and what Guilherme believes is the largest selection of the Mini Kelly in the capital, with more than thirty on the shelf at the time of writing.

WHY THE BOUTIQUE IS NOT THE ONLY ROUTE

The first thing a new client learns is that a Birkin or a Kelly cannot simply be bought. The boutique does not take orders for either; the bags are offered, when they are offered, to clients the house already knows, and the wait is measured in years rather than weeks. That is not a complaint — it is why the bags hold their value — but it does leave a lot of people in SW19 and TW10 with a very clear idea of what they want and no way to get it.

A specialist solves that problem in the most literal way: the bag is in the room. JULL sources its pieces from private clients, collectors and trusted trade partners in London and Europe, and every one is inspected by hand before it is photographed and listed. The result is a stock list that looks like the boutique wishes it could: a Birkin 25 in black Togo with gold hardware, a Kelly 28 in Étoupe, a Mini Kelly in grey ostrich, a Picotin 18 in Rouge Sellier — all available today rather than in 2028.

WHAT A BIRKIN OR KELLY ACTUALLY COSTS IN LONDON

Prices on the secondary market move with the season, the colour and the leather, so treat the following as what JULL sees on its own shelves this autumn rather than a forecast. A Birkin 25 in a classic leather starts at around £21,500, and a Birkin 30 from £18,500. A Kelly 28 starts from £16,500 and a Kelly 25 from around £19,000. The Mini Kelly — the size that has become the hardest of all to obtain new — sits from around £20,000 in classic leathers, with the studded Clouté and the exotics considerably higher. Alligator and crocodile pieces run from the mid-tens of thousands to six figures.

It is not all Birkin money. More than forty pieces in stock sit under £10,000: the Picotin 18 from £3,900, the Kelly To Go wallet-on-strap from around £5,500, the Kelly Dépêches and the Evelyne. For a first Hermès bag, or a second one that will actually be carried on the school run, that is where most of JULL’s south-west London clients begin.

Hermès Birkin in black Togo leather with palladium hardware, photographed with a Kelly Cut clutch in orange Epsom / Hermès Picotin Lock 18, Rouge Sellier Clémence leather, gold hardware

HOW TO BUY WELL AND BUY ONCE

Guilherme’s advice to first-time buyers is unglamorous and, he says, saves people a great deal of money.

See it in hand. “The mistake people make is buying the photograph,” he says. “A Kelly 25 in Étoupe looks like beige on a screen and like a completely different bag in daylight next to a camel coat. Sit with it for ten minutes. If you still want it, it’s yours.” The showroom is open by appointment seven days a week, and viewings are unhurried and private.

Ask what comes with it, and what does not. Every JULL piece is graded plainly — new, unworn or pre-owned — with any wear described rather than hidden, and the blind stamp, hardware and stitching checked before the bag is offered. Box, dust bag and, where there is one, the original receipt are listed for each piece, so the price you are quoted is for exactly what arrives.

Pay in a way that protects you. A piece can be reserved online with a £3,000 deposit by card or Apple Pay; the balance is settled by bank transfer against an invoice from a UK limited company, either at the showroom or before insured next-day delivery anywhere in the UK once the payment has cleared. Nothing is ever paid to a personal account, and that, Guilherme says, is the simplest test of any seller.

Know who you are dealing with. BY JULL LTD is registered at Companies House, the founder’s name is on the website, and clients are welcome to check both before they part with a penny. “We are not Hermès and we do not pretend to be,” Guilherme says. “What we can do is put the bag you actually want in your hands this week, at a price we will put in writing, from a company you can look up.”

NOT ONLY BAGS

Two smaller services have quietly become JULL’s busiest. The first is sourcing: Oran sandals, Chypre sandals, the Clic H bracelet, Twillys and the Kelly belt — the pieces the boutique sells out of by lunchtime — sourced new, in the colour and size you want, and priced below the boutique’s own retail. The second is selling. Anyone with a Birkin that no longer gets carried can have it valued in the showroom and either sold outright or placed on consignment, with the same photography and the same honest grading that buyers see.

THE SHOWROOM

Harbour Yard, Chelsea Harbour, London SW10. JULL’s lease begins on 28 September and the showroom opens to clients on Monday 5 October, by appointment, seven days a week from 10am to 6pm. Time & Leisure readers are welcome to book a first look at the collection — including the Mini Kelly shelf — before the doors open to everyone else; mention the magazine when you book.

Book a viewing at byjull.com, email hello@byjull.com or WhatsApp +44 7704 870249.

JULL is an independent specialist and is not affiliated with Hermès.