A 35cm-wide Hermes (pronounced air-mess) Birkin can cost anything from $10,000 if it is made in calf leather to $30,000 in crocodile leather. THE Birkin is not a new creation. It has its roots in 1984, when Hermes designed a bag for British actress-singer Jane Birkin, who is most famous for the song Je T'aime, a breathy duet with French composer Serge Gainsbourg. The design wasn't even unique. The Birkin is based on the Haut a Courroie, an Hermes carrier for men which has been around since the 1900s. Perhaps because of its price and quality, the Birkin became a symbol of stealth wealth and status, and has always been popular with high society women. Today, the bag counts as fans celebrities like Kate Moss, Madonna and Queen Noor of Jordan. So popular is it that it has spawned more copies than the American Idol franchise. The leather bag has rounded double handles, a fold-over top, a belt-like closure with a lock and key, and metal studs at the base. It looks quite ordinary. But each Birkin is handcrafted. It is said that, on average, each bag requires more than 2,600 hand-stitches and about 18 hours to assemble. That is also how long it takes to manufacture a BMW, wrote the British Financial Times last year. The bag is available in different sizes (from 30 to 40cm in width), leathers (calf and crocodile) and metal clasps (silver, gold or palladium). In Tokyo, Hermes' best-performing Asian market, about 40,000 orders for a Birkin were made in 2002, with an average five-year wait. This means that if you had ordered one that year, you'd only get it in 2007. Hermes Singapore declined to comment for this story, but it is believed that Singaporeans who want one now will have to wait till 2006 for it. Clients comprise mainly professional women from their mid-20s onwards.