Yes, like BAG SNOB, I still lust after other brands.
I have this BFF, and her dialogue goes this way: You have Hermes bags already, do not go back and backslide to the other brands.
My reply goes this way: Hello?! A bag is a bag is a bag. Repeat after me: a bag is never an ID, never a friend, never an extension of my DNA.
(Achi heard us once go through this walang kamatayang script, 2 daw kaming lukaret)
And yes, Birkins are heavy -- to start with. What more when my mantra is: choke, Bag, choke.
Togo and Clemence are sturdy leathers. Or, ewan ko lang -- baka these are the more common/easier delivered orders.
IF you will use your Hermes mainly in Asia, don't get a bag in Swift leather coz... uhmm, generally -- people in Asia do not respect personal space... magagasgasan lang agad and many times your Swift leather bag. And if it is said of gray that the color hides dirt well, well... Swift doesn't hide marks well.
Another good alternative is Chevre leather... goat. But it doesn't come in size 35 and bigger. Siguro, LOL, walang goat na mataba? If some expert here has alternative info, kindly correct my impression on this Chevre leather sizing.
Does a Birkin require extra care?
Let us put it this way.. puede mo bugbugin a Birkin, dapat lang coz well, it is a bag not a tiara.
(IMO, if you treat any bag like an infant when you use it... that is an inconvenient investment/expenditure

)
BUT other brands, like LV, have better capacity to absorb bugbog/abuse.
Well, it can't be helped .. you will not let your driver lug it around for you much, kahit na you load your Uzi in it... coz well, there are limitations to how much abuse/familiarity you will subject a bag that comes with its own raincoat (ako nga I own no raincoat eh).
A Birkin is just a bag... enjoy it, sure. But if you haven't got one yet... I do not think it is cause for any unhappiness, nor a sense of something missing in your life.
Pa OT, please! Where can I get hold of those ANG KIU KOK bags? What is the establishment selling it for what amt of min purchase, or for what kind of "arrangement"? BUT IF that bag comes with the name of say Legend/s (plural ba or singular that place name?), Pharoah or some massage center... hay naku, kahit na Amorsolo yan "pass" ako.

Thanks i/adv for any info.