How to spot a fake Chanel Bag.
Discount designer Chanel
handbags anyone, How
to tell the difference?
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“The best things in life are free,
the second best are expensive”
Said Coco Chanel, the original founder of The House of
Chanel established in Paris in 1903.
Chanel handbags are arguably the best in the world. They command
high prices which start from £1300 for the most basic bag,
and can rise to tens of thousands of pounds depending on
which model you are looking at:
If you have to ask the price you probably cannot afford it,
as the saying goes, and the sordid subject of money is
certainly never raised on their website.
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How to Spot a Real Chanel handbag.
Many people who want genuine Chanel have never actually seen a
real Chanel bag , let alone owned one , but still the allure and
sophistication of the brand make them a “must have “ item for many
people. This makes Chanel goods a hot target for counterfeiters. So
it is hardly surprising that fakes and replicas are widespread.
Cut price fake Chanel goods, mostly originating from China and
the Far East have flooded the Global market and in some cases are
being bought and passed off as being genuine. There is a huge
discrepancy in prices. For example, the classic 255 quilted bag on
sale today from Selfridges London for £1300 is being advertised for
just £95 from one supposedly genuine Chanel retailer based in the
UK. It just doesn’t add up.
Authenticity Chanel does not come from China.
Genuine new Chanel bags are only ever available from Chanel
boutiques, sometimes located within prestigious department stores
such as Harrods in London or Saks in New York. Real Chanel handbags
are never available from online businesses selling off surplus stock
and Chanel destroy all imperfect “seconds” themselves. In short,
there is no such thing as a genuine new Chanel bag being sold cheap!
How to buy a genuine used Chanel item.
Buying a second hand Chanel bag can be a minefield. The seller
may seem to have a perfectly valid reason for the sale, and it is
tempting to assume that they may not know the true value themselves
enabling you to pick the bag up for a fraction of the price. This is
unlikely but possible, so it is important that you do some research
and homework first.
Here is a quick guide to identifying fake Chanel bags. Be warned,
some counterfeit Chanel bags are very convincing.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN A REPLICA CHANEL HANDBAG
The Material on a Chanel handbag
When looking for a certain bag it is useful to know which
material the particular bag should be made of. Fakes are often made
from different materials to those originally used by Chanel and this
knowledge can be the first clue to spotting a counterfeit. Chanel
use many different materials for their bags but lambskin, calfskin
and caviar leather are among their most popular leathers.
Chanel also make non-leather bags from materials such as tweed
or vinyl so if you spot a bag originally made in vinyl, now in
patent leather it is obviously not genuine, however good it looks.
The Stitching
on a Chanel
All the stitching should be neat and straight and have a high
stitch to inch ratio. Bags vary, but a genuine Chanel bag should
have at least 10 stitches per inch whereas a fake may have only 6.
Bags with stitched design such as the classic quilted bag should be
perfect and there should be no break in the pattern for pockets or
other features. Again check the stitch count and examine the quality
of the work.
The Logo
on a Chanel
The Chanel logo is made up of two interlocking letter Cs often
stitched into the leather. The right facing letter C should overlap
the left facing letter C. If the logo is in metal the same rule
applies - the right hand C always overlaps the wrong facing left
hand C. If it doesn’t, it is a fake.
The Authenticity Card
on a Chanel
There should be an authenticity card with the bag. This is an
embossed black card with crisp gold lettering and trim and it should
display a serial number. It will not have fuzzy printing or spelling
mistakes as fakes sometimes do. The design of this authenticity card
has not changed in the last 25 years so any other type of booklet or
authenticity card is a fake, however convincing it may look.
The Serial Number
on a Chanel Bag
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Serial
Numbers
Example of 10218184 a
Known fake serial Number
on a Chanel replica bag |
The serial number on the card should match the serial number
inside the bag. There is always a serial number sticker inside a
genuine Chanel bag. It may not be easy to find because it is often
tucked away, perhaps in a pocket or under a zip. By contrast the
serial number in a fake bag is usually put in a very noticeable
position.
The genuine Chanel serial number is printed on a hologram
sticker, encased in plastic and attached to the bag. This should be
impossible to remove without breaking the sticker. If the sticker
can be removed in one piece the bag is certainly a fake.
There are several known fake serial numbers - 9395451 is
commonly used, but also 7244764, 8947749, 9316391, 9395451, 9395455,
9675223, 9777617, 9889754, 9892039, 10218184, 10380486, 10501946,
10803549 10995820, and 11062948. Beware; if a bag carries any of
these numbers then it could be a fake.
The Zip and Metal Parts
on a Chanel
The zip should have the Chanel logo engraved on one side and
the word Chanel engraved on the other. The engraving should be at
least one millimetre thick. Buttons on the bag should have either
the logo or the word Chanel engraved, you should find the Chanel
logo or the word Chanel engraved into the metal elsewhere on the
other metal parts of the bag, such as on the chain of the handle.
CONCLUSION
Finally, if a seller offers you written authentication
purporting to come from Chanel, walk away because Chanel never give
written verifications of authenticity. And if you are buying from
the Internet at a price too good to be true, then it probably is!
