A TikToker said she bought a 1920s Cartier purse for $1 on a whim and forgot about it. A year later, it sold for $9,450.

• Vintage clothes seller Chandler Lesesne West said she bought a Cartier bag at an estate sale for $1.
• After Facebook helped her discover it was made with real diamonds she sold it at auction for $9,450.

The owner of a vintage Etsy store purchased a purse for $1, put it in a pile, and forgot about it. A year later, thanks to the help of online sleuths, she discovered it was a rare vintage Cartier piece and sold it for $9,450 — going viral on TikTok in the process.

On December 21, 2022, 29-year-old Chandler Lesesne West from Charlotte, North Carolina, shared an upload to TikTok which showed her addressing the camera while holding a small fabric purse. "This is the story of how this antique handbag that I bought for $1 ended up being worth two to three times my rent," she said at the beginning of the video.

In the upload, which received over 350,000 views, West said she came across the purse in November 2021, while sourcing items for her Etsy store at an online estate sale.

After purchasing "a large lot of vintage clothing" for $75, she looked around at some smaller items and decided to add the bag, which had no existing bids, since she was already paying for shipping. She said based on a single photo she thought it looked "antique-level old" and would be worth more than the $1 asking price.

For over a year, the purse sat in a pile of things West planned to research but hadn't gotten around to, until she picked it up again in November 2022 to examine, she said. After doing some initial research on Google, she hit a wall, and reached out to a Facebook group dedicated to identifying antique and vintage clothing for help.

She said she received a response telling her the item was a 1920s French art deco evening bag, and that the gems in the buckle might be real diamonds, recommending West take it to a jewelry store to get it checked.

In a follow-up TikTok video posted on December 23, 2022, which received over 305,000 views, West said she was "a little bit doubtful" about the authenticity of the bag as she couldn't see a label inside, until she discovered a Cartier marking on the clasp "after much squinting and flashlight shining."

West said she took the bag to a jeweler to have it examined, who confirmed it had 12 diamonds and recommended she reach out to auction houses as a next step. After speaking with multiple auction houses she ended up choosing Rago Auctions who estimated it could be worth up to $4,000 dollars, she said.

On February 16, West uploaded a clip to TikTok that showed a split screen of what appeared to be a live, online auction of the handbag which started at $2,000, and her reactions to the increasing bids. West appeared visibly emotional as bidders went back and forth, with the bag ultimately selling for $7,500. (The final sale to her TikTok amounted to $9,450, as this included the 26% buyer's premium that the auction house takes.)

The video, which received over 10.3 million views, was captioned "lucky girl syndrome at its finest," referencing a TikTok subculture in which users refer to themselves as "lucky girls" as a way to try and manifest positive outcomes.

West told Insider she recorded her reaction to share with family and friends and after "freaking out in the best way" decided it would be fun to share on TikTok too. "People have been so kind! I've gotten tons of congratulatory messages, compliments on my 'eye' for recognizing that I had something special, that kind of thing," she said.

"It's not lucky girl syndrome, it's smart girl syndrome," one comment read beneath the video, which received over 8,400 likes. "I need a clear picture of this purse. How exciting, I'm so happy for you!!!" another comment read with over 13,600 likes.

West told Insider that, after fees, her own takeaway was $6,600.

"A portion of it will go to completely paying off my credit card balance," West told Insider. "After that, a portion will be invested back into my business and I want to splurge on a pretty vintage dress I've had my eye on. Then, the rest goes to savings."

While West said she doesn't expect something like this to happen again, she is "always on the lookout for more hidden gems" as this find has "proven they're definitely out there" and the search itself is "so much fun even when the treasures I find aren't on the 1920s Cartier level."

West has over 22,100 followers on TikTok where she shares vintage-themed dresses of the day, and her vintage art collection. In her spare time she runs a vintage Etsy shop, selling clothes and accessories from the Victorian era through the 1970s.

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