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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Lucy Williamson

Bag smaller than grain of salt sells for £50,000 - you need a microscope to view it

A microscopic handbag "smaller than a grain of salt" has been sold for $63,750 (£50,000) at auction.

Measuring a mere 657 x 222 x 700 micrometers, the bag's design is so tiny that a microscope is required to view it.

It is described as being "narrow enough to pass through the eye of a needle".

The handbag was created by the art collective known as MSCHF, a company based in Brooklyn which has gained notoriety for its boundary-pushing creations, including shoes containing human blood, trainers with holy water in the soles, and a cologne that smells like WD-40.

This time, MSCHF aimed to take the trend of small handbags to the extreme.

The tiny purse also appears to be a knockoff of a Louis Vuitton purse, as it features an LV label in the middle of it (Jam Press)

Constructed from photopolymer resin, the bag was crafted using 3D printing technology commonly employed for creating intricate mechanical models and structures.

During the production process, some of the bag's minuscule samples were so tiny that the MSCHF team reportedly lost them, according to the Smithsonian magazine.

However, the new owner of the bag need not worry about misplacing their purchase, as a microscope with a digital display was included with the sale.

Microscopes with digital displays can be bought from online retailers and can range in price from $60 to thousands of dollars (Jam Press)

The microscope, which enables viewing of the microscopic handbag, can be purchased separately and ranges in price from $60 to thousands of dollars from various online retailers.

In the auction listing, the price of the microscope was not itemized separately from the bag, with bidding for the item commencing at $15,000.

Adorned with luxury handbag designer Louis Vuitton branding, the microscopic bag has no affiliation with the renowned brand.

A microscope is needed to view the bag's design, with the tiny object measuring 657 x 222 x 700 micrometres (Jam Press)

Speaking about the use of Louis Vuitton branding on the bag, MSCHF's chief creative officer, Kevin Wiesner, told the New York Times earlier this month that the group had not sought permission from the brand to use it. "We are big in the 'ask forgiveness, not permission' school," he said.

MSCHF settled a lawsuit with Nike in 2021 over its sale of modified trainers containing a drop of human blood

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