ANKARA
A hand bag made entirely of 22-carat gold is attracting attention at the market in Bursa.
The bag, at the Jewelry Shop in Bursa's Covered Market, in northwestern Anatolia, has been drawing the attention of high-net worth tourists.
The bag costs a staggering 120,000 Turkish lira ($47,000).
Speaking to The Anadolu Agency, Jewelry Shop owner Emre Korkmaz said the bag is specially made from 100 percent 22-carat gold, and weighs 820 grams.
“It is a special product for Turkey, all hand made,” he said.
Korkmaz said the bag is made with Bursa’s traditional gold jewelry art ‘telkari,’ which is like a type of needlework or lacework using gold or silver wires, as thin as hair.
If you look up the meaning of Telkari, it is defined as a form of art using wires. Tel in Turkish means “wire,” whereas kar means “profit”; hence the name Telkari.
Telkari is also known as vav work, derived from the Arabic letter vav, whose shape is often applied as a motif in the Telkari designs.
The bag costs 40,000 liras more than the cost of the gold used in it.
“Visitors from Arab countries certainly are asking its price and negotiating to buy it, but I do not intend to sell for under 120 thousand lira," Korkmaz added.
