Preowned Bags -- purchase ritual?

Sus

Sus

O.G.
Sep 21, 2006
6,568
252
#1
So far I have only purchased new Hermes items both from the boutiques and resellers. I'd consider purchasing preowned bags if I saw the right one and was wondering . . . .

Does anyone who has purchased a preowned bag do anything special to the bag to make it yours - take it to the spa, special cleaning etc?
 
#2
Immediately take it in to have a "spa treatment" so that you can rest assured that it's real and so it's fully cleaned and conditioned to be taken out on the town by you. They also check to make sure the integrity of the stitching is as it should be. The cost is $80-100 USD and worth every penny for the piece of mind that comes from it. Fakes are sometimes easy to spot but sometimes they are not. I know someone that purchased a fake unknowingly and were told by the Hermes boutique that the leather was close to identical to TOGO and that it was a very good fake. The ONLY think that showed it's fakeness to my friend is that the hardware tarnished 6 months later. The boutique told my friend (This was before they stopped authenticating) that the craftsman mark was off. But my friend stubbornly thought that a hand made piece would differ sometimes. DENIAL big time and she carried that bag till the gold became dull and gross. Then she was outraged. She paid full retail so please be very careful. That bag is buried in her back yard.
 
#3
gazoo said:
Immediately take it in to have a "spa treatment" so that you can rest assured that it's real and so it's fully cleaned and conditioned to be taken out on the town by you. They also check to make sure the integrity of the stitching is as it should be. The cost is $80-100 USD and worth every penny for the piece of mind that comes from it. Fakes are sometimes easy to spot but sometimes they are not. I know someone that purchased a fake unknowingly and were told by the Hermes boutique that the leather was close to identical to TOGO and that it was a very good fake. The ONLY think that showed it's fakeness to my friend is that the hardware tarnished 6 months later. The boutique told my friend (This was before they stopped authenticating) that the craftsman mark was off. But my friend stubbornly thought that a hand made piece would differ sometimes. DENIAL big time and she carried that bag till the gold became dull and gross. Then she was outraged. She paid full retail so please be very careful. That bag is buried in her back yard.
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can't it be obvious whats 24k gold plated? ive compared even the gold hardware on my Vuitton bags to the Birkin and the Birkin looks like jewelery and the LV looks duller in comparison- not duller exactly just more fabricated looking, like costume jewelery.
i got my initials embossed by Manuela. im pretty positive she checks the bag everywhere to make sure its real before working on it. in fact, she showed me the j stamp and craftsman id on my strap to show me how the tone on tone embossing would look.
hopefully this is good stuff to know sus for authenticity purposes.
 
#4
the "gold" on gold tone hermes hardware is gold plated, (I was told at the FSH store), but it is a "heavy" plating, so it last well, some fake bags have a very thin layer of gold plating, or just highly polished brass! what I forgot to ask what the "k" is...some say 18k some say 24...I will have to ask next time.
 
#5
Sus said:
So far I have only purchased new Hermes items both from the boutiques and resellers. I'd consider purchasing preowned bags if I saw the right one and was wondering . . . .

Does anyone who has purchased a preowned bag do anything special to the bag to make it yours - take it to the spa, special cleaning etc?
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I never bought pre-owned, but if I did, I would take it in to be cleaned and refurbished at Hermes:flowers:
 
#7
Croissant said:
well that's just GREAT. now im going to be paranoid about the gold plating and searching for signs of tarnishing for the next 6 months.:censor:
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You shouldn't be. Didn't TWO craftsman say it was okay? This bag that my friend had was apparent to the SA at the boutique and she was right - it was not authentic. If CRAFTSMAN say all is well you should rest assured! :love:
 
#10
I've just bought them and been lucky and very happy...not living all that close to a store I've not had anything refurbished at this point...I got very lucky in purchasing my ostrich kelly from an e-bay seller who has since come on over to the board! I wouldn't have purchased it new for the full price...ever...so it worked for me!
 
#11
How long does the spa treatment take? How old can a bag be for the "spa" to make a difference, ie, can you see improvement with a 10-20 year old bag?
 
#13
gazoo said:
You shouldn't be. Didn't TWO craftsman say it was okay? This bag that my friend had was apparent to the SA at the boutique and she was right - it was not authentic. If CRAFTSMAN say all is well you should rest assured! :love:
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nobody ever says its "ok" , unfortunately lol. they simply accept it for repair, etc or not. and i've been accepted for work on the bag twice by two different craftsmen so yeah. (once to get my initials embossed, and the 2nd time to have a thread stuffed into the piping.
 
#15
I've yet to see any true Hermes with black hardware. Even the vintage ones that had brass hardware, the tarnish is apparent in greenish tones that brass gets when it needs polishing. The fake bag I am talking about was as if it had been dipped in gold paint and it chipped and turned very dark almost black. It took 6 months but the hardware looked awful. The leather was still beautiful. I don't think anyone with a geniune Hermes with gold hardware needs to worry. And if I remember correctly my friend mentioned that something that was leaning against her bag's hardware in the closet actually had green transfer, like you get when wearing very bad costume jewelry. If I remember correctly it other item that the fake bag was thrown on haphazardly was a camel color lambskin Chanel bag. The Chanel ended up with greenish marks on it in the shape of the Hermes hardware. All in all it was a mess. She was stupid because she did not do research and just bought the first bag that came along without researching the Birkin itself and the seller. She is wealthy and impatient and she paid the price dearly.

Also the craftsman mark looked like it was carved with a knife, not a pressed letter. Once the SA showed us (I drove her to the boutique myself) an authentic Hermes strap with the marks I knew for sure it was fake - but my friend was still stubbornly adamant. I think the fact that I was present made her more upset too. Her husband and family teased her for being so stupid...
 
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