How To Tell If An Hermès or Chanel Bag Is The Real Deal

Price: $4,600

Hardware: It should be consistent throughout. If the chain strap is gold, clasps and even the brand printed inside the bag should be gold too.

Stitching: Neat, straight and uniform, and equal on both sides. That is, if there are five stitches on one side of the bag, there ought to be five stitches on the opposite side as well. The stitching on the flap and body of the bag should be aligned as well. Back pockets, too.

Just ’cos a bag comes with an authenticity card doesn’t mean it’s the real deal. The genuine card (left) has precise printing and consistent fonts and spacing, and feels sturdier than the fake flimsy one (right).

Serial numbers: Typically, Chanel serial numbers are seven to nine-digits long. Every bag also has a hologram sticker with a serial number inside on the base of the bag interior, and the number should match the one on the authenticity card.

Price: $15,000

Hardware: Like Chanel, hardware all round the bag has to match. Fonts and printing of text and serial numbers on the bag also has to be consistent with its other products, though it takes some practice to be able to see the nuances between a fake and a genuine Hermès.

Instead of serial numbers, these come with a blind stamp on the inside of the strap. This unique code tells you when it was manufactured, and identifies the craftsman who made it. The year it was manufactured is represented by a single letter encased in a shape such as a circle or square. However, you ought to question its authenticity if never-seen-before shapes, such as a star, are used.

Price: $900

Monogram: LV’s signature monogram should be uniform, and of equal spacing and size.

Louis Vuitton bags don’t come with authenticity cards. Instead, the brand has date codes embossed onto a leather tag sewn on to the bag’s interior. The letters represent where the bag was manufactured, and the numbers tell you when it was made. In this case, ‘0052’ means it was completed in the fifth week of 2002.

On a genuine bag, printing should be precise like the one on the bottom, and the material should be of good quality.

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