Super news ! ImThank you!!!!! You really are the best - I hope to post about this bag with good news post-restoration
Excited this bag will be treated with kindness. All the very best of luck!
Doc
Docride's Hermes Lazarus Thread (can this Hermes be Saved? )
- Thread starter docride
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Excited this bag will be treated with kindness. All the very best of luck!
Doc
Hi Doc,
This is a bolide 31 in chamonix. absolutely love it.
I decided to post here so that all can share and learn together instead of pm you. I just received it and it seems overall good condition but a lot of drying out. its about 20 years old for this one.
im a bit worried about the hardware area where we can put the strap, will it snap? im going to use this bolide as my workhorse thus likely will carry heavier items like ipad and all thus will prefer to have a strap for ease of traveling.
Also the handle there's this tiny cutm not sure if its a crack or just dryness.
And the worst part is i think i can smell mould it's very musky. So i already placed a dehumidifier, silica gel and some baking powder (in a small cup) inside the bag. And air it.
Doesnt help with the weather in singapore, not sure how else i can improve it to get rid of the smell.
Inside is full of scratches but i will just try to condition it when the kit comes and give it some TLC before using it.
This is a bolide 31 in chamonix. absolutely love it.
I decided to post here so that all can share and learn together instead of pm you. I just received it and it seems overall good condition but a lot of drying out. its about 20 years old for this one.
im a bit worried about the hardware area where we can put the strap, will it snap? im going to use this bolide as my workhorse thus likely will carry heavier items like ipad and all thus will prefer to have a strap for ease of traveling.
Also the handle there's this tiny cutm not sure if its a crack or just dryness.
And the worst part is i think i can smell mould it's very musky. So i already placed a dehumidifier, silica gel and some baking powder (in a small cup) inside the bag. And air it.
Doesnt help with the weather in singapore, not sure how else i can improve it to get rid of the smell.
Inside is full of scratches but i will just try to condition it when the kit comes and give it some TLC before using it.
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Dear Doc, hope you are all well. My CdC B35 (~20 years old) just came back from the H spa for a full cleaning / makeup last month. While using it, I just noticed these small holes / rips on the corners of the bag (the below is the most prominent corner, but all four corners have a little bit of this going on). Could you please kindly opine on this? Is this beyond repair? Would I impact the integrity of the bag? They are very very small to be fair and I suspect that this is the stitching between the panels and piping that is just slightly ripping through the leather a little.
I don’t know when this started but it could honestly have been there since the bag was made and I just never saw it (might be due to the artisan pulling the thread a little too hard?). The leather on corners are firm to the touch and loose so maybe they are not really “ripping”.
Thank you so much for any help!!!
I don’t know when this started but it could honestly have been there since the bag was made and I just never saw it (might be due to the artisan pulling the thread a little too hard?). The leather on corners are firm to the touch and loose so maybe they are not really “ripping”.
Thank you so much for any help!!!
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Hi There, It looks ok from here but that’s not the same as handling the bag and feeling it. Looks like a very pretty Bolide
Doc
Thank you! I have received the bag (I bought it knowing it would never be fully new-looking, I just wanted it to be mostly useable) - and it seems like the back and base and one of the sides are very stiff and dry. Some of the grainyness of the leather has also gone away and it has been smoothed out. At this point, I could live with it but I wonder if I would be able to restore the leather somewhat? I also wonder if there is a place I can contact you to help as I trust your expertise. Although I'm a newbie, I believe it just needs A LOT OF conditioning, as there is no cracking in the leather - it's just exceptionally dry/stiff, to the point of being non-pliable in those aforementioned areas.
I would love to see a photo of how it actually looks beyond the listing and before and after shots from you.
Sure thing! So far I have conditioned it x2 and learned the best ways to "mold" the leather to make the wrinkles less obvious. I also was initially trying to maintain the structure as best as I could but I realized I prefer a more batwing look so now I've been molding it to hold that shape (pics are from before this realization). Overall it is definitely vintage-looking but hoping with more conditioning I can get it to a much more useable state. Open to any tips or advice. Here are the pictures I've taken thus far. It's definitely hard to be patient with the bag as patience is really not a trait that comes easy to me but I know that I need to allow it time to become what it can be - so it's a good lesson I suppose!
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Wow. If this really went through a washing machine, I didn’t look too bad. With your love, it might be enjoying a second phase of life. Good luck!
you have given it a new lease of life (hope you got it for a song)
keep loving it
it will have more shape when you have things in it
it will be a great everyday, pick-up and go, don't give a dam bag
you can use it just like Jane Birkin - that's 'style'
Thank you both for the vote of confidence!! It's funny, I was just saying that to myself - I know that typically people need to be so careful with their B25s (or larger but especially the B25s) because of their resale/market value (according to my observations, even people who say they do not care about resale and still use their bags imo still can't really fully USE them like they might a non-H bag) but to have gotten this bag for a relative steal that I really can't do much worse to or damage the resale value further makes me appreciate it so much more! I absolutely love that I don't have to be precious with it and I can truly just throw it around and use it with no worries! imho (and this is probably just my style speaking) the too prissy bags almost seem "fake" and it's just not a look I prefer - but I know with H it's such a conundrum due to the aforementioned. Happy to have found an answer out of it, for now at least!
It actually looks much better than I expected having seen only the listing shots you posted.
I admire and respect you for taking on this labour of love and cannot wait to see more photos as the bag progresses through its rehab.
Perhaps you should give it its own thread?
Well done and keep up the good work!
Oh gosh! You speak my language.
enjoy this bag and I'm happy you found each other!
Thank you!! I've taken your advice and created a separate thread to avoid throwing this thread off topic !!!
Hi there
Looks like you are having a good experience with your pretty rescue b25 congratulations. In order to give you some fees back …May I ask if the leather was stiff to begin with ?
And what do you mean by molding ?
All the best , doc