Are vintage bags made in Costa Rico not as good as the ones made in USA?

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#16
dstalksalot said:
WOW, this is great insight. How many of us can compare several generations of the same bag all at once? I was just thinking about this since I just picked up a Costa Rico station bag.
I have 2 Costa Rico bags a murphy K8P- 9930 and a Station D9P- 5130. Both feel great however, the Murphy which I believe is slightly older feels like better leather. Not sure but the other bag may be a rerelease? My Creed reading sucks, but I think the bags were 88 and 89 or is that 98 and 99???? What the heck does that P stand for????
My USA leather on my older bags feel slightly more lush than the Costa Rico bags. Zippers and hardware feel sturdier. Since the styles are different though, I can not make concrete observations on the two. I see no huge differences.
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1998 and 1999. Bags made before 1994 didn't have any manufacturing or style codes in their serial number. Read and study this, there will be a quiz on it tomorrow :graucho:
http://forum.purseblog.com/coach-shopping/answers-to-authenticity-questions-94198-3.html#post1944848

And the third digit "P" is Coach's code for the Costa Rica plant.
 
#17
Hyacinth said:
Just minor differences. And the bigger the bag is, the more someone might appreciate a slightly thinner leather. Coach DID make an effort to take a few extra ounces off their bags in the late 1980s and 1990s because some customers were complaining about the heavy bags causing problems with the nerves and muscles in their necks and shoulders. That's why they introduced the Lightweights which later became the Sohos. I've had several Taft Bags from different countries and with that large and heavy a bag, the one from Costa Rica is probably the easiest to carry. Of course it doesn't hurt that it's red.

I have leather bags from every place Coach made them and probably the only ones (besides the recent Chinese ones) that I wasn't completely happy with were Hungary and Turkey. My top-rated plant locations would be Italy, US, and Costa Rica in no particular order.

JMO. Your mileage may differ.
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Hello. I LOVE Your insight on everything Coach.

I'm hunting on ebay for a stewardess vintage bag in a specific color. I would LOVE for it to be made in the USA, but I found one that's made in Costa Rica.
I shouldn't be TOO bummed out that it's not made in the USA because I guess the leather quality within the 90s shouldn't have changed THAT much, right??
Would I regret getting a made in Costa Rica bag?
I guess it's 100% better than the current NOP's stewardess bags made in China, right?

Do you think there is a leather quality difference between black and british tan leather?
 
#18
PlatinumSerenity said:
Hello. I LOVE Your insight on everything Coach.

I'm hunting on ebay for a stewardess vintage bag in a specific color. I would LOVE for it to be made in the USA, but I found one that's made in Costa Rica.
I shouldn't be TOO bummed out that it's not made in the USA because I guess the leather quality within the 90s shouldn't have changed THAT much, right??
Would I regret getting a made in Costa Rica bag?
I guess it's 100% better than the current NOP's stewardess bags made in China, right?

Do you think there is a leather quality difference between black and british tan leather?
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Aside from a slight difference in thickness I haven't noticed any quality differences, either in the leather or the craftsmanship. Quite a few of my bags are made in Costa Rica. But there's a HUGE difference in the bags made in North and Central America vs. the ones made in China. I have a Willis and a City Bag from China and if it wasn't for the fact that they're both very unusual colors I probably wouldn't have bought them. I did buy a red Made in China City Bag that I returned, it just couldn't compare to my old ones.

From what I've read about the NOP "classics", you're better off buying ten classic or vintage Coaches or one decent used LV than those apparently poor remakes.

As for leather quality between colors it's hard to say. I think those two colors go through very different coloring processes so there may be differences. Older black bags tend to fade and sometimes it's hard to tell if they're black, charcoal gray, dark navy or dark green. The tan bags develop the best patina with use. I've never cared for black bags so I don't have many and don't have much experience with them either.
 
#19
Hyacinth said:
Aside from a slight difference in thickness I haven't noticed any quality differences, either in the leather or the craftsmanship. Quite a few of my bags are made in Costa Rica. But there's a HUGE difference in the bags made in North and Central America vs. the ones made in China. I have a Willis and a City Bag from China and if it wasn't for the fact that they're both very unusual colors I probably wouldn't have bought them. I did buy a red Made in China City Bag that I returned, it just couldn't compare to my old ones.

From what I've read about the NOP "classics", you're better off buying ten classic or vintage Coaches or one decent used LV than those apparently poor remakes.

As for leather quality between colors it's hard to say. I think those two colors go through very different coloring processes so there may be differences. Older black bags tend to fade and sometimes it's hard to tell if they're black, charcoal gray, dark navy or dark green. The tan bags develop the best patina with use. I've never cared for black bags so I don't have many and don't have much experience with them either.
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Thank you again.

Have you noticed that a lot of the British tan bags from the 90s are made in Costa Rica? I noticed this on ebay.. or maybe it's just the ones on ebay.
 
#21
I received my coach bag in stewardess in british tan from ebay.

It's made from costa rica. I compared this to my bag from US-- it's black color.
The costa rica bag is slightly thinner leather than the black made in USA bag.

Do you think it's because of the color difference too that the bag is slightly thinner?
Or... is this all in my mind of the thickness of the leather?
 
#24
Comparing my pre 1994 US bag, the Shelton from 1992 or 1993, to my 1999 Rambler's Legacy also made in the US: the leather on both is similar. The Shelton flap is double thickness so that the inside of the flap is finished leather whereas the Rambler's Legacy is not. However, to me the leather on the body of the Rambler's Legacy feels slightly thicker than the Shelton. There are probably natural variations in the thickness of hides. Several of my Costa Rica bags have slightly thinner leather, but my Maggie from 1998, made in Costa Rica, has very thick leather - just as thick as the Rambler's Legacy. I only have one NYC bag - it is from 1980. I don't believe the leather is thicker but it is stiffer. I don't know if this is due to the age or if it was originally stiff, since it is a tote bag and you would want it to have some structure. The straps are made of two pieces of leather sewn together so that both sides are finished, and while they are thicker than some of the straps of my newer purses, they aren't thicker than all of them, including my 1997 made in the US mini-Willis.

I don't believe you can make a blanket statement that bags made in NYC are better quality than later bags made in the US or Costa Rica. Some styles were meant to have thinner leather, like the Soho line, and it doesn't necessarily make their quality worse. The style of the Soho belted bag requires it to fold easily so it works better in a slightly thinner leather.

Judging bags by the leather thickness only fails to take into account all the other features that contribute to the quality of the bags. The Italian Madison line has gorgeous pebbled leather which can't be compared to the classic styles. Both are beautiful in their own way.

Bags made in NYC are collectable because they are older but they are more likely to be in poor shape.
 
#25
I love my Costa Rica Stewardess bag, and as BIG as that bag is, I am glad it isn't any thicker or heavier. But I agree that the older US/NYC bags have a thicker feel
 
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