Docride's Hermes vintage bag nightmares & Hermes leather care

[boopeep]

Here are the photos!

 

[docride]

Hi Doc! I would very much appreciate your thoughts on this vert fonce Drag. The tarnished hardware, worn corners and scratches don't bother me but the rip in the 6th picture is concerning. Does this mean the leather is dry since it ripped or it just needs to be restitched? Can this be fixed at H spa? TIA!!!
http://www.fashionphile.com/hermes-vintage-veau-box-drag-37-vert-fonce-173450

That's a leather tear out not a stitching drop
Not a simple h restitch to my eyes
When leather tears like that it's usually not something that can simply be restitched often times the leather is too forgone to hold stitches and tears away like stitching cardboard
Still a pretty color
I hope this helps ?
All the best doc

 

[docride]

Hi Docride!

I recently purchased my dream bag, a 1999 Black Fjord birkin. However, when I was conditioning her with Cadillac leather conditioner, I noticed a lot of black was coming off (attached a photo below as example, there was only one of ten stains, it wouldn't stop staining!) I then took non-alcoholic, fragrance free baby wipes and just started buffing the bag all over until it stopped bleeding as much. It still does a bit.

Do you think this is just 18 years worth of dirt or was this bag poorly dyed at some point? Do you think it's even worth taking into Hermes to have them take a look?

Thanks so much!

Ok stop
Do NOT use baby wipes on your bag
So the cleaner either lifted some old polish off or was removing some original finish or its dye
Then you rubbed oily baby wipe over the bleeding dye eek just stop please
The dye in the leather can certainly bleed out not unusual
The conditioner might be too harsh or the cleaners used in the past may have removed the finish at some point in the past
It could be some secondary polishes on the bag
I really can not tell from your photo or your story
So the question now is ,what's wrong at this point ?
Anything?
If nothing is actually wrong the. just stop mucking with it and go and rock your bag [emoji304][emoji106]
If there's a problem like missing color or other problems tell me more ok? And I'll try and help
All the best doc

 

[Sickgrl13]

That's a leather tear out not a stitching drop
Not a simple h restitch to my eyes
When leather tears like that it's usually not something that can simply be restitched often times the leather is too forgone to hold stitches and tears away like stitching cardboard
Still a pretty color
I hope this helps ?
All the best doc

Thank you doc for your expert eye. I am going to pass as who knows what could have caused a rip other than dryness, which is not encouraging. If the price were a little lower, I might consider it since I don't overstuff bags. I love vert fonce.

 

[docride]

Thank you doc for your expert eye. I am going to pass as who knows what could have caused a rip other than dryness, which is not encouraging. If the price were a little lower, I might consider it since I don't overstuff bags. I love vert fonce.

Hey there,
I think that's sound I don't like the tear out of the seam leather
Happy hunting your bag is out there[emoji304]
Doc

 

[lovely2008]

Hi Doc! Happy Mother's Day!

I'm still looking for a brown/gold/natural bag! I just find this one. It's a natural Kelly. I'm not sure what leather it is. Seller said it's "Vaud-Chamonix Mont-Blanc. Is this the same leather as the handles on LV's classic bags? as it will darken after use? Is this the same leather as your birkin on page 79 post 1178? Will it take tarrago color dye for corners touch up? TiA!

 

[docride]

Hi Doc! Happy Mother's Day!

I'm still looking for a brown/gold/natural bag! I just find this one. It's a natural Kelly. I'm not sure what leather it is. Seller said it's "Vaud-Chamonix Mont-Blanc. Is this the same leather as the handles on LV's classic bags? as it will darken after use? Is this the same leather as your birkin on page 79 post 1178? Will it take tarrago color dye for corners touch up? TiA!

Awe thank you [emoji178]
Weill that's a nice Kelly
This looks like veau charmonix in natural color
Similar to box calf but with a more matte finish
This is a finished leather
It will not darken like naked leather
Yes you can use color touch up on this leather to Doctor up the corners
Are you going to get it?
Hugs doc

 

[lovely2008]

Awe thank you [emoji178]
Weill that's a nice Kelly
This looks like veau charmonix in natural color
Similar to box calf but with a more matte finish
This is a finished leather
It will not darken like naked leather
Yes you can use color touch up on this leather to Doctor up the corners
Are you going to get it?
Hugs doc

Thank you so much for your fast response! Yah, I think I will get it! What should I use to clean, condition, and waterproof this leather?
Lexol wipes or blackrock for cleaning? And for condition, blackrock or ? Can I use Obenauf's to waterproof this leather? Do I need to use Meltonian polish (delicate cream) at the end?

 

[lovely2008]

Awe thank you [emoji178]
Weill that's a nice Kelly
This looks like veau charmonix in natural color
Similar to box calf but with a more matte finish
This is a finished leather
It will not darken like naked leather
Yes you can use color touch up on this leather to Doctor up the corners
Are you going to get it?
Hugs doc

Seller called the color "natural." It looks gold. What do you think? Are the colors really different from different leathers?

 

[docride]

Seller called the color "natural." It looks gold. What do you think? Are the colors really different from different leathers?

Hi again
I mentioned this appears to be veau charmonix in natural color in my prior answer

So yes I believe the color to be "natural"

There is confusion about this very often

Natural can be a color of a finished leather with a painted /colored top coat a color like gold or black or red

Natural can be referring to an unfinished leather one without a painted /colored top coat

In this case
You have a finished leather and the finish color is called natural


How are we doing here ok?

Colors vary from vat to vat , leather to leather and year to year

On finished leather Natural color and gold seem similar yes because they are both shades of tan

Natural is usually the lighter tan and gold a deeper shade of tan
But as you see here especially with vintage bags some of which were made before the advent of hermes gold being added as a color
Well who's to say exactly how close the two colors are
Sometimes two seemingly identical colors are introduced under different names after being rested or discontinued

Not to mention most sellers don't know hermes colors very well including some major auction houses who you would think would know better
Have a look at some auction catalogues sometime leathers and colors are quite often incorrect

The take home message is if you like it all is well
You can always describe it in any terms you choose [emoji6]

Ok just my two cents

Enough said ?

Doc

 

[docride]

Thank you so much for your fast response! Yah, I think I will get it! What should I use to clean, condition, and waterproof this leather?
Lexol wipes or blackrock for cleaning? And for condition, blackrock or ? Can I use Obenauf's to waterproof this leather? Do I need to use Meltonian polish (delicate cream) at the end?

Hi there
I do not recommend B or O please do not use them
Lexol oh are find for saddles and saddle leathers but not a first choice for fine leathers
You can try saphir products and study them well or Kelly or meltonian or google luxury handbag spa kits for a no worries result

I hope this helps ?
All the best doc

 

[Angelalaaa]

Dear Doc
Could you please enlighten me on whether the dryness seen on this black box leather is redeemable with a good quality conditioner? The leather looks a bit dry and strained, especially on the mid left pic and bottom right corner pic, and I was wondering if I should go for this bag.

Thanks!

 

[lovely2008]

Hi there
I do not recommend B or O please do not use them
Lexol oh are find for saddles and saddle leathers but not a first choice for fine leathers
You can try saphir products and study them well or Kelly or meltonian or google luxury handbag spa kits for a no worries result

I hope this helps ?
All the best doc

ok thank you as always for your help!

 

[docride]

Dear Doc
Could you please enlighten me on whether the dryness seen on this black box leather is redeemable with a good quality conditioner? The leather looks a bit dry and strained, especially on the mid left pic and bottom right corner pic, and I was wondering if I should go for this bag.

Thanks!

Hey there,
Oddly enough the circled areas aren't what give me pause
The surface finish has that slightly rippled appearance this happens when bags leather dries and shrinks below the finish
So a conditioner can help the leather but the slightly less than smooth finish will continue to have the somewhat rippled appearance
While that doesn't mean the bag is dire straights as a mater of course , it does mean to look extra closely at the handle,handle base's and dee ring handle attachment leathers checking for cracks and tears at these and all flexing and bending stress areas such as top flap edges and side creases
If those areas I mentioned aren't scary looking. And you don't mind a slightly rippled finish and the price is right
I say go for it
Over all from the photos it looks very nice
A classic Hermes bbk is a very special bag
I hope this helps ?
All the best doc

 

[Angelalaaa]

Hey there,
Oddly enough the circled areas aren't what give me pause
The surface finish has that slightly rippled appearance this happens when bags leather dries and shrinks below the finish
So a conditioner can help the leather but the slightly less than smooth finish will continue to have the somewhat rippled appearance
While that doesn't mean the bag is dire straights as a mater of course , it does mean to look extra closely at the handle,handle base's and dee ring handle attachment leathers checking for cracks and tears at these and all flexing and bending stress areas such as top flap edges and side creases
If those areas I mentioned aren't scary looking. And you don't mind a slightly rippled finish and the price is right
I say go for it
Over all from the photos it looks very nice
A classic Hermes bbk is a very special bag
I hope this helps ?
All the best doc

Thanks docride!
So the rippled effect (that I interpreted as dryness as strain) is because the leather has shrunk below the finish right? So even if the leather was conditioned the finish will still look rippled (I think I read it in one of your posts but can't find the post)
The handle looks alright but the D ring part on both sides has a little white tear (middle left and bottom left):

and the price is about 5k USD, do you think it's OK for the price point or should I keep hunting? TIA!