PADDINGTON Authentication Tips ~ NO CHATTER

[+sonja+]

This is such a useful thread, great idea!!

I'm adding here few points with pictures of my authentic taupe paddy:

The rings on the zippers are thicker in authentic paddys, and they get a bit narrower on the part that they attach to zip. The rings in fakes are thin all around (without any narrower part) - sorry the pic is a bit blurry but as you you can see there's definitely a narrower part on a thick ring in auth paddy

Also he handle looks different in most fakes I've seen, they have somekind of "leather ball" or something if you look inside the handle - as you can there's nothing inside there in auth bag, there's only a wrinkle!

EDIT / Gosh I just read about hallmarking - chloe-babe is right! I dunno hw to do it

This is such a great thread and I'm messing here around making things more difficult to understand - sorry :shame: ush:

But I'm adding here a picture of fake whiskey bag and you can see there's something weird inside the handle - that's the weird "leather ball" I mentioned. I hope this clarifys my explonation a bit.
Here's again my authentic taupe paddy for comparisor and it has only a wrinkle inside the handle, that's how it's supposed to be

 

[Roxane]

11) External Tags: Chloe purchase tags (the rounded tags you get with the bag) should tell you the serial number, what the brass & leather is made of and the color of the bag. The description comes in English and then French.

I got 2 medium Paddys recently from the FW06 collection: one orange and one navy, and both had tags only in French and says "Made in Italie", rather than the usual "Made in Italy" that is on the tags with both Fench and English. Since the bags came directly from Europe from LVR and are definitely autnentic, I suspect that bags for European distribution may not come with English. After all, I am sure women outside of English-speaking countries buy Chloes.

 

[chloehandbags]

Big hugs to lordguinny and everyone else who has taken the time to contribute to this thread!

Not to be too pedantic, but I just thought I should mention that I'm pretty certain that the lining fabric is cotton twill (not corduroy). Modern corduroy is generally a tufted pile (velvety) twill fabric.


Here is the encyclopedia definition for cotton twill:

Reference.com/Encyclopedia/Twill


...and corduroy:

Reference.com/Encyclopedia/Corduroy

 

[Audrey]

A few pics of my Authentic 2005 Craie Box-style Paddington:

#1 Lock and hardware
#2 2005 Plastic zipper (inside)
#3 Stamp code

 

[Rockerchic]

Just wanted to note another inconsistency with the paddy so that no one get alarmed by a prior comment:
...
"The rings on the zippers are thicker in authentic paddys, and they get a bit narrower on the part that they attach to zip. The rings in fakes are thin all around (without any narrower part) - sorry the pic is a bit blurry but as you you can see there's definitely a narrower part on a thick ring in auth paddy"

The rings may actually be thin on some authentic paddys--here are two pictures of variations with the ring

 

[Audrey]

Here's the name plate on my whiskey paddington:

 

[Roxane]

The care card comes in english, french and japanese (the Chinese are not such avid consumers of designer goods *yet*, but that day will come soon).

The round tags do *not* always have both french and english. The Paddys I got from LVR both have only french (we surely cannot be so presumptuous to imagine english must be on everything!). I posted this in post #57 of this thread on page 4. *All* my Paddys have the colour listed on the round tag where the bag code is.

Btw, shouldn't this discussion belong to the authentication thread?

 

[chicky]

Something else i've noticed:

On fake paddies, the square brassware that holds the handle to the bag via the tear drop, is always more square than it should be.

It seems to be a uniform trait, so i'm putting it up here.

Comparison pics:
jaune - genuine, with curvier brassware
black - fake, with square, angular brassware

 

[chicky]

And another...with regard to Brass hardware bags.

On the Chloe nameplate that holds the padlock (see pic) the fakes seem to quite often have a 'brushed' effect, as though they've been rubbed down with a wire brush, to attempt to recreate that vintage look.
Failing miserably, of course.

On a genuine bag, this plate should have the same oxidised appearance as the padlock.

 

[Roxane]

And another...with regard to Brass hardware bags.

On the Chloe nameplate that holds the padlock (see pic) the fakes seem to quite often have a 'brushed' effect, as though they've been rubbed down with a wire brush, to attempt to recreate that vintage look.
Failing miserably, of course.

On a genuine bag, this plate should have the same oxidised appearance as the padlock.

The brushed look is actually not any attempt. It is an inherent result of the cold rolling process that produces the metal sheet from which the name plate is cut. Those are abrasive marks from the rollers. (Sorry, I am a college professor in metallurgy and friction/wear happens to be my research area.)

The reason why the roll marks are not so obvious in genuine Chloes is because of the thick oxidized layer that covers the base metal. However, I have seen authentic Chloe name-plates where you can see the marks faintly through the oxidized layer when the light is bright and shining at an angle. How deep the roll marks would vary from batch to batch of metal – these depend on many things, e.g. variations in brass composition thereby affecting metal hardness, how worn the rollers are, the roller material, roller pressure, etc. Furthermore, the oxidized layer can also vary in thickness even if the production process is the same, due to variations in material compositions.

It is possible that when the roll marks are deeper or oxidized layer is thinner, even the layer cannot totally cover the appearance of fine lines (like how make-up becomes increasingly less effective when one ages!!!)

 

[chicky]

The brushed look is actually not any attempt. It is an inherent result of the cold rolling process that produces the metal sheet from which the name plate is cut. Those are abrasive marks from the rollers. (Sorry, I am a college professor in metallurgy and friction/wear happens to be my research area.)

The reason why the roll marks are not so obvious in genuine Chloes is because of the thick oxidized layer that covers the base metal. However, I have seen authentic Chloe name-plates where you can see the marks faintly through the oxidized layer when the light is bright and shining at an angle. How deep the roll marks would vary from batch to batch of metal – these depend on many things, e.g. variations in brass composition thereby affecting metal hardness, how worn the rollers are, the roller material, roller pressure, etc. Furthermore, the oxidized layer can also vary in thickness even if the production process is the same, due to variations in material compositions.

It is possible that when the roll marks are deeper or oxidized layer is thinner, even the layer cannot totally cover the appearance of fine lines (like how make-up becomes increasingly less effective when one ages!!!)

I appreciate what you are saying, as you obviously know what you are talking about, and thank you for your input.

However, what i was trying to say is that genuine bags do not have this marking in an *obvious* fashion, like the fakes do.

As you said yourself, this marking is underneath the oxidised layer, therefore it shouldn't really be noticeable. Certainly on most bags, if not all?

On both of my authentic bags, no 'scratch' roller markings are visible at all. I think i'd be quite disappointed if there were! The surface is smooth - in both bright light and normal daylight.

On the fakes i've studied, it is very obvious.
Including the fake Chloe paddy bowler that i own.

 

[joyfishyu]

Hi guys! I know that all the paddy owners will be able to pick out the real one ... but I wanted to show pics to help those planning to buy their first paddy on Ebay and may have never seen a real one IRL. Here's some pics to show what people should be looking for ... hope you guys have fun! Let me know which pics are the fake and which are the authentic one?

I should say the one on the right (from the viewer's angle) is auth. I can see the padlock is more of a matte look and the edge of the leather seam is not white. Also the dust bag is more like a velour feel, but the one on the left is just low-quality cotton bag.

Correct me if I am wrong. It is fun to use lordguinny's tips for a little practise. Thanks again！

 

[chicky]

so...are the handles in the paddington meant to be hollow? or are they supposed to have some kind of stuffing???? i thought they would have something inside them, just to keep shape.etc...
cheers
how come there is no paddington in a marmalade colour?

The handles do have some kind of 'stuffing' - they're made of a rolled material, maybe cotton, or something? Then the leather goes on top of that to keep the handles in shape, whilst still remaining flexible.

With regards to authentication - you're not supposed to see this 'stuffing' coming out the end of the handle (underneath the leather) on to the 'tear-drop' shape.

 

[lordguinny]

The interior lining in my 2005 paddy seems to be canvas. It's got lines running through it but it's definitely not corduroy. Has anyone found this to be true? I got mine from a Chloe boutique so I know it's definitely authentic.

It isn't actually corduroy but a corduroy consistency. The comparison was made because most corduroy items have lines running through them. Hope that helps!

 

[chicky]

Just wanted to share a couple of pics i took earlier.

Note, the fake padlock on the left (which, ironically, has the key STUCK in the padlock - quality!)

And of course, the real deal padlock on the right.

The padlocks were both pictured facing the same way up, or down.

Take note of:
The Chloe font
The stitching
The keyhole
The colour of the brass
The padlock hook and it's positioning
The screws and their positioning
The leather strip

Of course, this is just one example.
There are always many, many examples.

IMO, this is a very clever fake, because at 1st glance, you wouldn't necessarily notice any of the above mentioned.

Some fakes make it glaringly obvious (i.e bold print for those with poor eyesight, blinging brassware so you can see the bag in the dark etc etc) but there are also some very clever ones out there!

Hope this helps just a little