[RealDealCollection]

Pop Quiz Time

Can you tell whether the bags below are genuine Balenciaga or counterfeit?



Is it "A" or "B" or both...is this a trick question? It's not too easy with the strap tucked out of view.



The devil is in the detail so they say.



Subtle but different details, quite good at overall replication of the design.



And the bales...the detail that makes most fakes really easy to spot, is getting closer here.



I hope this was helpful whether you knew the answers or learned about the little things that make all the difference in Balenciaga bags.

The answer is bag "A" is fake and bag "B" is the real deal: S/S 2004 Green First with pewter hardware!

Stay safe from fakes and fakers, ya'll ;o)

[eeyore]

yay! i didn't win anything but i could tell that A was fake

[oogiewoogie]

WOW.... that had me going for awhile... thought A was authentic up until I saw the bales .... WOW.. thanks for posting RDC!!

[celafusion]

thanks for posting! i could tell by the hardware, but at first glance they both looked real!

[Jira]

Hmm... A is a pretty good fake. It was pretty hard to tell. Thanks for posting!

[chuggie]

Thanks, RDC. "A" was a good fake. The first indication of it being fake for me was the buckle on the front and the stitching. Still, at first glance (and without the picture of the bale, it is really difficult to tell them apart.

[CTgrl414]

wow. I also was tricked until the bales. stupid fakers!! arrg. anyway, thanks RDC! This just proves how important many pictures are (when purchasing a bag not in person) and how important research/learning before buying is

[Decophile]

thanks for an invaluable thread, RDC. Can you also post side by sides of the interior tag/plate? I'm curious to see just how well the fakers got it.

The bales are troubling since from some angles and distances, they'll look like the real thing. Goes to show how important it is for us to insist on clear closeup shots of the bales.

Also, can you tell the difference in leather feel? the leather on my nasty super-fake green makeup clutch looks identical to the leather on this fake. As soon as I held it in my hand I knew it was fake. The leather felt crinkly, thin and stiff as opposed to the butterly leather of its vintage era.

[hmwe46]

awesome!!

will move this to the Ref Lib after a bit

[Gonatcha]

The one on the left is a fake - haven't read the other responses yet.

[northerndancer]

Thanks so much for the education. I would love to see more.

[Laurenpop]

Thanks, Cory! I couldn't tell at ALL until you pointed out the differences. :/

[gro3602]

KDC,
Good photos!! The color is pretty close isn't it? The fakes are getting a little bit better. How do the tags look?

How about photos of the silver plate and the back of the leather tag for comparison?

What about those sellers who insist that their fakes are authentic, but they are "irregulars".

Do you ever hear that haha????

[RealDealCollection]

I knew the moment I touched this bag that it was fake. It wasn't the worst feeling fake I've experienced in the flesh, but it wasn't 2003 or 2004 leather...which varies but never into the soft-vinyl side of things.

Plus, the tassels were also splitting little thread frays b/c they aren't just glued leather...they are a coated fabric...which you can sometimes see in real Balenciaga bags around the leather supports for the handles and strap, but never the tassels.

Surprisingly this bag came with paper cards and everything:



But inside...the tag font is a little different from the correct font:



^ Fake on top ;o) and it had fallen off.



The style card numbers don't match underneath the counterfeit bag's tag either.

Unfortunately, this fake was purchased for a good deal of money, I hope "A" can get her money back from the eBay seller!

[Decophile]

Yep, my green makeup vomit is cut from this same cloth. One of the ways I've been able to tell the super fakes apart is that the stamping on the back of the interior leather tag is a little too agressive and ... er... contrived, for lack of a better word. Almost like it's trying too hard to look official with an exaggerated serif on the font.

The style number on the faker's leather tag is that of the makeup clutch. Looks like they started out with the fake MUs and just used the same tag on this First.

One more request, dear RDC. Can you also post a pic of the front side of the interior leather tag on the fake one? Since the metal tag came off, we can see what's underneath. I'd like to see the font on the BALENCIAGA.PARIS impression. If it's anything like mine, the lettering will be more vertically elongated than the boxy style of lettering on authentic bags.