oh my! when will u find your perfect AW!??!??!! so are u really returning your black emile??
sorry it didn't work out for you, but hey like you said, if you're gonna spend that much on a bag.... u have to love it 100%!!!
in regards to prisma tote.....
weight - light compared to rocco and emile
comfort - very roomy and very convenient to throw all your stuff in, infact i carried mine today.. had an 8-hr exam and took prisma along to give me some comfort during those 340 questions lol
leather - i have the azure one and the leather is soft, buttery and smooshy - i love it!
handles - obviously skinny as u can see haha but actually quite sturdy - i have to admit i used to be so scared to load it up at first but so far so good.... i'm not completely over that fear yet (they're sooo skinny!) but so far i haven't read anything about the handles breaking on the prisma so crossing my fingers AW and team tested the strength out on the prototypes before they produced it.
so overall, i love mine and it's definitely in the "forever" collection. but i have to be honest and say that if you're into the more structured bags (rocco, emile), then you won't like the prisma bc the only part that keeps its shape is the base, otherwise the sides fall unless you have it stuffed with a jacket, sweater, etc. it's very practical, but bc it's not as structured, i think it's less dressy than the other bags.
hope that helped and didn't make your decision even harder!!