I was indirectly and perhaps clumsily referring to
@Tina1010 ’s comment (whether it’s too much to ask that quilting on a CF be uniform). Of course, in an ideal world, quilted stitching should be uniform. It is clear that they are not. I will also say that even in my earliest bags from 1990, purchased new from the boutique by my mom, were not uniformly quilted either. One of my bags from the 1990s, a belt bag, also had a manufacturers defect in its hardware that required me to take it back to 57th st numerous times, so I don’t necessarily believe, as many others do, that chanel today is of significantly lower quality (I know that is an unpopular viewpoint, as well as my preference for lambskin over caviar).
Several bespoke leather artisans (one of whom had previously trained Hermes artisans) have told me that many chanel and Hermes bags are not hand stitched (in the strictest sense, in that they are made by machine, also see the link below). Parts of a CF are hand assembled, but I was referring to items entirely made by hand, by a single artisan. I was not referring to full custom or bespoke design available with Hermes Special command or Horizons projects.
I also did not mean to denigrate any leather artisan or criticize machine stitching with respect to hand stitching. In fact, some of my favorite chanel (so black mini chevron reissue) and Hermes (mini Della cavalleria) bags are machine stitched. I am also starting to purchase chanel bags again after a long hiatus of many years. Do I think machine stitched chanel bags are worth their current, eye watering, retail price? My answer would be, only if you absolutely adore one enough to overlook its flaws. As I am no leather expert myself, when I refer to highest quality hand stitching, I am simply comparing my own entirely hand stitched duret bag (no machine work whatsoever) to my current collection of kelly sellier and Birkin bags, not to CFs. Apples to apples.
JMO, from what I have been told, and of course YMMV
enclosed is a link to an article about the ‘hand crafted’ and machine sewn aspects of chanel bags
As the prices are SOARING at the house of Chanel, are these hand bags even hand made? Well the answer is YES & NO. There are some parts to making a Chanel bag that takes labor from the hands to do, i.e. tightening metal closures, lightly hammering some pieces into proper place and of cours
www.collectingluxury.com
ETA:
also a thread on Duret, whose artisan owner is arguably the pickiest bag person I have ever met
My journey for an exotic bag started a couple years ago. I spent enough time on my research. I found loads of information on this forum and I am very thankful two ladies Tracey SH and 880 who helped me enormously in this journey. The bag that appealed to me was on the Duret site. I liked her...
forum.purseblog.com
returning to the question: am I being too picky. IDK. For me, a bag purchase is more emotional than practical, so I think I’m actually somewhat blind to issues that may be flaws to others. I just feel that they are individual to the bag I love.