Docride's Hermes vintage bag nightmares & Hermes leather care

[docride]

Hello.
I just bought a very lovely vintage Kelly from 1997. The bag seems to be in pristine condition for a vintage but has some scratches under the handle. Do you think they will blend more in to the bag as it ages? Or is it something that can be done to make them less noticable?
I would also love you opinion on what kind of leather this is? The invoice from BrandOff says that it is veau box, but it does not look like box calf.
Hope you can help me
View attachment 3725318View attachment 3725319 View attachment 3725320 View attachment 3725321View attachment 3725324View attachment 3725325

Hello there,
It's a beautiful Veau Charmonix Kelly you've acquired congratulations !
This leather is very similar to box calf the main difference being its finish is matte rather than shiny
Spa can help blend small scratches back into the patina similarly to its cousin box calf
All the best
Doc

 

[docride]

Doc, I have just recently purchased a new Togo Birkin and realised that there is a small dot on the leather which appear a bit whitish to silver in colour. I have attached a photo below. Do you know if this is normal for Togo leather or if it is a defect? Many thanks.

Hello
Look at it with a loupe or magnifying glass
It might be a foreign particle just caught in between the grains or a small nick for instance
But I can not say from your photo you'll need to investigate further.

All the best doc

 

[docride]

Doc

I have a quick question - would you recommend to "nano coat" hermes leather bags - it's suppose to water-proof leather bags

Thanks.

Hello
I would NOT recommend anyone to nano coat any Hermes leather or exotic skin
I have personally had bags come into my shop with horrible so called protective coatings which were literally wrinkling and buckled on the bags surface
The leather could not breath nor receive conditioning quite the worst thing to do in my opinion
There are much kinder treatments which will help your bag handle weather
All the best doc

 

[docride]

It's really beautiful, is it Chamonix? I have no idea just wild guessing.

Yes it's veau charmonix [emoji106][emoji1]

 

[docride]

Dear doc
I have received my bag and tried putting on some saphir universal cream on the inner handle and the inside flap and buffed it off to just try it out. But I've noticed these the inner part of the handle is a lot smoother than the rest of the bag and there's a little chip at the edge, almost as if it had been painted over.
View attachment 3725611
View attachment 3725612
I'm worried because if it has had work done i View attachment 3725615wouldn't be able to get Hermes to refurbish it in the future.
I have also noticed these spots on the inner flap. It also looks as if it has been painted.
View attachment 3725613
Please let me know! Thank you

Hello
Yes I agree it looks like someone put something on the bag to cover some blemish. Those areas could probably be cleaned off if you wanted to send the bag in for Hermes servicing if that's what you are worried about ?
Or if the bag isn't what you thought it would be then talk to your seller
All the best doc

 

[sweilun]

Hi doc!

I recently purchased a kelly lakis 40, however the bag has some pretty bad scruffs and scratches. I was wondering if there's anything that I can do with your restoration kit. Or would it be better to send it to the spa.

I have attached some photos for your viewing.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

 

[redgreenblue]

And an additional question:

Do you think I should send the bag to the Hermes Spa, would that make a difference?

Dear Doc,
the bag arrived and it's definitely a keeper! The patina is fine, the main thing do do is cleaning.

The bag is much dirtier than I thought.

I started cleaning the smaller parts (the clochette), but I am not sure whether I have the best products for it. I am using glycerine soap for the Vache Espace which removes some but not all dirt, and I have nothing for the red lamb interior (the glycerine soap would remove the color and no idea what I can use for it).

What should I best use for cleaning, could you give me a recommendation? It is as though the bag was stored for a long time without dustbag.

Thanks a lot!

 

[sweilun]

here are the clearer pictures. the leather is box calf.

Hi doc!

I recently purchased a kelly lakis 40, however the bag has some pretty bad scruffs and scratches. I was wondering if there's anything that I can do with your restoration kit. Or would it be better to send it to the spa.

I have attached some photos for your viewing.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

View attachment 3731945View attachment 3731946View attachment 3731947

 

[docride]

here are the clearer pictures. the leather is box calf.

Hello
A good cleaning and proper conditioning will make it look much better and won't effect Hermes accepting it for servicing
The color loss on the corners could be handled with color touch up
Why not just clean and condition it and see how looks ? Then see what else it needs?
All the best doc

 

[docride]

And an additional question:

Do you think I should send the bag to the Hermes Spa, would that make a difference?

Do not get the lamb skin wet and try to not clean or condition it it can shrink or stretch and it can become a disaster area inside your bag

Much of what you think is dirt is actually wear and loss of semi finish
So, it is not just gong to clean off. So Hermes of anyone else isn't going to clean it off either see?

I personally would not have used glycerine soap on your bag. How did it go?

Best regards , doc

 

[redgreenblue]

Do not get the lamb skin wet and try to not clean or condition it it can shrink or stretch and it can become a disaster area inside your bag

Much of what you think is dirt is actually wear and loss of semi finish
So, it is not just gong to clean off. So Hermes of anyone else isn't going to clean it off either see?

I personally would not have used glycerine soap on your bag. How did it go?

Best regards , doc

The glycerine soap went really quite well. But I only did the smaller parts, the pouch, the clochette, the lock and the strap. The soap did lighten or even remove some of the marks and dirt, the leather overall seems to be cleaner.. Maybe I removed part of the semi finish?

I wiped the inside of the pouch which is also red lamb leather just with a damp cloth, and it is clean now.

The inside of the bag itself has dirty areas and pen marks. I tried a very soft leather cleaner on the dirty parts just a few hours ago, because I found them unbearable, and it seems that they improved quite a lot. I have to check this tomorrow in daylight. I tried to remove the pen marks with a special cleaner for old pen marks that I bought (I only had experience with the same cleaner for fresh pen marks), but this had absolutely no effect at all and thus I will leave the pen marks.

So, what's really left is the exterior of the bag, but I don't want to experiment there as with the other parts. That's why I thought about the Hermes spa.

 

[docride]

The glycerine soap went really quite well. But I only did the smaller parts, the pouch, the clochette, the lock and the strap. The soap did lighten or even remove some of the marks and dirt, the leather overall seems to be cleaner.. Maybe I removed part of the semi finish?

I wiped the inside of the pouch which is also red lamb leather just with a damp cloth, and it is clean now.

The inside of the bag itself has dirty areas and pen marks. I tried a very soft leather cleaner on the dirty parts just a few hours ago, because I found them unbearable, and it seems that they improved quite a lot. I have to check this tomorrow in daylight. I tried to remove the pen marks with a special cleaner for old pen marks that I bought (I only had experience with the same cleaner for fresh pen marks), but this had absolutely no effect at all and thus I will leave the pen marks.

So, what's really left is the exterior of the bag, but I don't want to experiment there as with the other parts. That's why I thought about the Hermes spa.

Hey there
I'm glad it worked out for you
Hermes spa give it a go and see
I'm still not clear what you are trying to accomplish ? How does the bag look?
All the best doc

 

[sweilun]

Hello
A good cleaning and proper conditioning will make it look much better and won't effect Hermes accepting it for servicing
The color loss on the corners could be handled with color touch up
Why not just clean and condition it and see how looks ? Then see what else it needs?
All the best doc

Thanks for the reply doc, would you consider 2006 box calf as vintage? And what would you recommend me to use for the cleaning and conditioning? Thanks!

 

[lamsis]

Hi doc, I am considering to get a tri color kelly 32. But the the leather in the edge of the corner is of some concern. Do u think I can polish and smoothen it with conditioner? As to other scratch sign on the surface, can conditioner polishing will help?

What do you think? I have a k28 1972, by not condition is better.... want to hear you view, pls. Love box...

https://www.collectorsquare.com/sac...-bordeaux-rouge-rouille-et-marron-337261.html

Thanks!!!

 

[Coconuts40]

Dear Decride, I have read so much of this thread, and want to thank you for all the valuable input you are able to provide here!

I am considering purchasing a preloved Kelly 35 Gold, Togo Leather. It is from 2015. However, when I look at the edges of the bag I see what appears to be cracking but likely the grains of the togo leather at the edges above the stitching. I am wondering if this is considered 'normal' or as a result of insufficient sealing of the edges, and whether this will be problematic in the future? I don't want to purchase this only to find out there is an inherent problem with this bag. Thank you in advance!