Brighton Collectibles
- Thread starter BgaHolic
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I owned one leather bag from Brighton about ten years ago. The leather of that bag was very durable and well made. The heart-shaped hang tag that dangled on a piece of leather in the front of that bag half tarnished after a few years. Everything else was perfect with the bag until I decided to donate it a few years back.
I only own one Brighton bag and it is probably 20+ years old.. While it is not like the bag you pictured, mine is quite durable and looks like new. Mine is smaller and hand held with a heart shaped handle. Not a drop of discoloration or surface rubbing, nor scratches! Apparently I paid $180.00 and purchased it at Nordstrom. It is adorable and I hope one day my daughter might enjoy carrying it. If you love it, why not get it? As you said they are reasonable priced, so you really can't lose..
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I managed a Brighton store 15 years ago. The red bag above, Corazon, was an extremely popular bag. She is in excellent shape. It is kind of cool to see it. Thank you for sharing @baghagg. I still have one woven bag with tooled leather flowers I plan to keep the rest of my life. I loved it since I saw the line drawings and a sample on a tour with the bag’s designer. I gave my last leather bag to Goodwill 5 or so years ago. I used it as a brief bag for work and no longer carried it. My mother has bought shoes and bags since I left and is always happy and satisfied.
I cannot speak as to current Brighton quality with certainty, but I can say the owners took great pride in craftsmanship. I visited the factory in CA where most bags were made and watched the process in action. At that time, all registered leather bags were made in the USA. Like many luxury design houses, Brighton controls the design process every step of the way from line drawings and tanning the hides to fabrication and applying the signature lacquered silver hardware.
The registered bags come with a 2 year warranty on defects. Find a luxury design house that will put that in writing—very rare. Brighton will also repair the bag beyond the warranty period. That is highly unusual for a contemporary designer and more in line with the luxury houses I am pretty sure they still complete some small repairs gratis. They used to clean and condition all registered bags for free, but I can’t verify that is still true from a quick perusal of the website.
TLDR. If you like the bag, can afford it and will use it, I definitely recommend you buy it. Take care of the bag (clean and condition; no need to baby it, though) and it will last you a very long time. If the bag happens to be truly defective, Brighton will make it right. It is a lot less of a gamble than buying a bag from a higher end designer.
I cannot speak as to current Brighton quality with certainty, but I can say the owners took great pride in craftsmanship. I visited the factory in CA where most bags were made and watched the process in action. At that time, all registered leather bags were made in the USA. Like many luxury design houses, Brighton controls the design process every step of the way from line drawings and tanning the hides to fabrication and applying the signature lacquered silver hardware.
The registered bags come with a 2 year warranty on defects. Find a luxury design house that will put that in writing—very rare. Brighton will also repair the bag beyond the warranty period. That is highly unusual for a contemporary designer and more in line with the luxury houses I am pretty sure they still complete some small repairs gratis. They used to clean and condition all registered bags for free, but I can’t verify that is still true from a quick perusal of the website.
TLDR. If you like the bag, can afford it and will use it, I definitely recommend you buy it. Take care of the bag (clean and condition; no need to baby it, though) and it will last you a very long time. If the bag happens to be truly defective, Brighton will make it right. It is a lot less of a gamble than buying a bag from a higher end designer.
I forget what they called the leather finish. It was far more durable than patent but shiny enough to give the look of patent. My assistant manager bought that very bag. Now I wonder if she still owns it!
Wow what a great post/backstory, one which I never knew! It makes perfect sense to me because I never babied this little bag and used it frequently and it shows absolutely no signs of wear and tear! As a matter of fact, it's in like-new condition! If Brighton can create such high quality bags, why can't the rest?
I also never knew the name of this bag so thank you for this information! I will keep this all in mind the next time I find myself walking thru the mall near the Brighton store. Definitely pop in for a look.
Yes, this bag definitely has some type of sheen to it, that's probably what drew me to it initially... Well, that and those handles! Not a scratch on them, nor tarnish, all these years later!
IMO, Brighton bags are the very high quality and well made. I would choose a Brighton over any other bag! I‘ve had some for YEARS, and they are still in great condition.