Fresh from Leather Surgeons Reveal

luxfun

Member
Mar 20, 2016
175
701
Hi Everyone!

Some of you know that I sent 3 bags off to Leather Surgeons last week and lots of you were interested in the results. Well, I just got a UPS notification that they will arrive today by 6 pm, so I though I might as well start this thread. My hope is that I will be able to post "after" pictures before I use any of the bags this weekend.

The first bag is my beloved Chanel So Black Chevron Lambskin. I bought this bag in Paris and it was my first lambskin bag. I only owned caviar and calfskin bags before this purchase and just had no idea that lambskin was so much more delicate.

Looking back, I honestly don't think that I mistreated the bag, but I definitely didn't baby it. And based on the damage, I had clearly let the bag rub up against jeans or other abrasive materials. Long story short, the back and the corners were in bad shape - cracked and rough. Also, a little spot of the black hardware color on the tip of the CC turnlock had worn off.

Here are the before pictures of the Chanel So Black Chevron.
 

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Ok, now for the second bag. Very near and dear to my heart. This was my first ever Chanel purchase of any kind! I bought this bag with my very first bonus back in 2009. I knew absolutely nothing about Chanel at that time, other than knowing I wanted the iconic black quilted bag with the "CC's" that made my heart sing every time I saw it.

So, I walked my little naive self into Chanel on Rodeo Drive (of all places - how cliche!) with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. The SA asked me what I wanted, and I nervously said "the classic Chanel bag" - ha! I didn't even know the sizing. Anyway, the SA was very very sweet and pulled out this Classic Black Jumbo Caviar with GHW, telling me that I was very lucky she had it in stock and it was only there because someone had reserved it and didn't show up. Apparently, that's all I needed to hear! I pulled out my credit card and said "I'll take her!"

Then, I almost had a full on PANIC ATTACK after signing the receipt!!!! It was more than my monthly rent (even with 2009 Chanel pricing, can you imagine now!?!), but I kept it all in and said "Thank you" as I glided out of the store and strolled down Rodeo, drunk with what was my first taste of scoring a Chanel bag!

Well, given that price tag, you'd think I would have babied it, right? But, NO I didn't! I threw my car keys in and out of all my bags back then with no issues, so I stupidly did the same with this brand new Chanel. So, by the first week, the inside got very, very scratched. Don't worry - I now keep my keys in a little card case...live and learn, right?


I sent this bag off to Gerry along with the So Black Chevron hoping he could fix the inside. The outside of the bag was still in pretty good shape considering I wore this bag almost exclusively for 2 years, but the hardware had areas were it had worn off a bit and the corners could use a little buff and shine, so he gave her a replating and spa treatment as well.

Here are the before pictures of the Black Caviar Chanel Jumbo...
 

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The final bag is my brand new light pink Lambskin classic flap with light gold hardware from 2017 cruise. Okay, now I know what some of you may be thinking.... "Girl, who are you kidding?!? You can't take care of a light lambskin bag, you can't even be trusted with a black one! Look at your before pics of your so black!!" And to that I say, I know, I know and trust me, I've thought the same thing. But I *think* I've learned my lesson and I promise to take care of this bag much, much, MUCH more carefully.

And in furtherance of that...Gerry at Leather Surgeons recommended that I send this bag along with the others so he could "seal" it. He said, this sealant would protect the bag from water stains and make it a little harder for dye transfer to happen. He also said, if dye transfer did happen, the sealant would make it slightly easier to get out. But he warned me that this is no miracle....he said "You still have to be very careful with a bag like this."

I was all for protecting the bag, but my main concern was that the look and feel of the lambskin would be different, but he assured me there would be no change. He also said, this sealant would still allow the leather to breathe.

Here are the before pics of this Chanel Light Pink Classic.

And now the countdown begins....come on UPS...get here already!!! Cross your fingers for me that I'll be happy with what is inside!
 

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Ok, now for the second bag. Very near and dear to my heart. This was my first ever Chanel purchase of any kind! I bought this bag with my very first bonus back in 2009. I knew absolutely nothing about Chanel at that time, other than knowing I wanted the iconic black quilted bag with the "CC's" that made my heart sing every time I saw it.

So, I walked my little naive self into Chanel on Rodeo Drive (of all places - how cliche!) with the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. The SA asked me what I wanted, and I nervously said "the classic Chanel bag" - ha! I didn't even know the sizing. Anyway, the SA was very very sweet and pulled out this Classic Black Jumbo Caviar with GHW, telling me that I was very lucky she had it in stock and it was only there because someone had reserved it and didn't show up. Apparently, that's all I needed to hear! I pulled out my credit card and said "I'll take her!"

Then, I almost had a full on PANIC ATTACK after signing the receipt!!!! It was more than my monthly rent (even with 2009 Chanel pricing, can you imagine now!?!), but I kept it all in and said "Thank you" as I glided out of the store and strolled down Rodeo, drunk with what was my first taste of scoring a Chanel bag!

Well, given that price tag, you'd think I would have babied it, right? But, NO I didn't! I threw my car keys in and out of all my bags back then with no issues, so I stupidly did the same with this brand new Chanel. So, by the first week, the inside got very, very scratched. Don't worry - I now keep my keys in a little card case...live and learn, right?


I sent this bag off to Gerry along with the So Black Chevron hoping he could fix the inside. The outside of the bag was still in pretty good shape considering I wore this bag almost exclusively for 2 years, but the hardware had areas were it had worn off a bit and the corners could use a little buff and shine, so he gave her a replating and spa treatment as well.

Here are the before pictures of the Black Caviar Chanel Jumbo...
I can't wait to see your pics!! But I didn't think the double flap was released until 2011??
 
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Ok, ladies, let's start out with the good news.

They worked serious magic on the Chanel So Black Chevron. The leather feels smooth and supple again and you can really see the difference. No more obvious scuffs or faded leather patches. And the hardware is now uniformly black on the CC turnlock. It doesn't look brand new - though with the wear it had, looking brand new was not a realistic expectation.

I would give it a 9/10 result. See after pics:
 

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Ok, ladies, let's start out with the good news.

They worked serious magic on the Chanel So Black Chevron. The leather feels smooth and supple again and you can really see the difference. No more obvious scuffs or faded leather patches. And the hardware is now uniformly black on the CC turnlock. It doesn't look brand new - though with the wear it had, looking brand new was not a realistic expectation.

I would give it a 9/10 result. See after pics:
Wow! GREAT job! It looks brand new in the pictures:smile:
 
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Okay...on to the Black Caviar Jumbo, which is more good news overall.

I think they did an amazing job with this bag, but a particularly FANTASTIC job on the inside. If you see the before pictures of the inside, compared to this one, I think you'll agree that the result really exceeds expectations. I would give this a 9/10 only because they replated the hardware on the chain and the little knob on the CC turnlock, which really brought the hardware back to its original gorgeous golden color, BUT it seems like they didn't replate the actual CCs. You can see in the last pic that the CC's still look scuffed from the last 6 years of wear and I would have liked it if they had replated that too (so that all the hardware looked brand new). I'll ask them why they didn't tomorrow (though we have bigger fish to fry, see next post about the pink lambskin).

Black Caviar Jumbo After Pics:
 

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