Vachette Question

[styledinsepia]

Hello all!

I wonder if you would be able to settle a dispute between myself and a work colleague. It's not so much as a dispute actually, more something that has been bugging me that I'd like to know more about.

I am a damier ebene girl through and through, but I've been toying with the idea of a monogram piece. I know that my colleague has a monogram speedy 40, so I asked her if/how she treated her vachette leather and if she could bring it in so I could check out the patina. She got hers 7 years ago as a gift for a special birthday.

Here's where it get's a little weird. She said that the leather on her bag was never light, it was always a tan brown. She said that in the last 7 years Louis Vuitton have changed the leather that they use, and it wasn't always light vachette.

Now that rings alarm bells to me that her bag might be a fake?? (Ofcourse I would never tell her that - it's not my place to comment) I have never heard of this, and I can't find anything on google.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Purse FanGirl]

There was a time "way back when" in the 80s when LV made the Monogram Speedy with a darker leather and not vachetta. It was made by the French Company.

If her bag is vintage 80s, it may be legit.

 

[fabuleux]

Hello all!

I wonder if you would be able to settle a dispute between myself and a work colleague. It's not so much as a dispute actually, more something that has been bugging me that I'd like to know more about.

I am a damier ebene girl through and through, but I've been toying with the idea of a monogram piece. I know that my colleague has a monogram speedy 40, so I asked her if/how she treated her vachette leather and if she could bring it in so I could check out the patina. She got hers 7 years ago as a gift for a special birthday.

Here's where it get's a little weird. She said that the leather on her bag was never light, it was always a tan brown. She said that in the last 7 years Louis Vuitton have changed the leather that they use, and it wasn't always light vachette.

Now that rings alarm bells to me that her bag might be a fake?? (Ofcourse I would never tell her that - it's not my place to comment) I have never heard of this, and I can't find anything on google.

Thanks in advance!!

The untreated cuir de vache, or vachette naturelle, is what Louis Vuitton uses on the "normal" Speedy and has been using for decades. If your friend bought a brand new bag 7 years ago and the leather was dark brown, it's fake.

 

[Aliluvlv]

I have an old papillon in monogram from my sister that doesn't have vachetta or natural leather trim, it has the darker cross grain leather lining (like the inside of a mono cles) both inside the bag and for the straps.

 

[Miss Krys]

I'm not going to get bogged down in the nitty-gritty aspects, but all bags and items crafted with vachetta leather will start out pale, almost whitish-pink, and progress to darker shades of tan as the leather oxidizes/patinas. This is because vachetta is untreated, so no dyes or other forms of protection against the elements, although sometimes in stores a display bag is exposed to a little sunlight from the windows and can be a tad darker than if it was kept in a drawer. While this is a possibility the most likely explanation for your colleague's bag is that she hasn't explained herself correctly or that her bag isn't authentic.

 

[sfgiantsgirl]

I purchased a new bag at LV and it was the last one in the store. It had been under the store lights so the handles had already started to turn a honey color. Maybe that was what happened?

 

[chinchin7]

Hello all!

I wonder if you would be able to settle a dispute between myself and a work colleague. It's not so much as a dispute actually, more something that has been bugging me that I'd like to know more about.

I am a damier ebene girl through and through, but I've been toying with the idea of a monogram piece. I know that my colleague has a monogram speedy 40, so I asked her if/how she treated her vachette leather and if she could bring it in so I could check out the patina. She got hers 7 years ago as a gift for a special birthday.

Here's where it get's a little weird. She said that the leather on her bag was never light, it was always a tan brown. She said that in the last 7 years Louis Vuitton have changed the leather that they use, and it wasn't always light vachette.

Now that rings alarm bells to me that her bag might be a fake?? (Ofcourse I would never tell her that - it's not my place to comment) I have never heard of this, and I can't find anything on google.

Thanks in advance!!

sorry if I missed this, but are you assuming, or do you know for a fact the bag was given to her brand new 7 years ago (maybe she received a vintage or used piece)? the above poster correctly pointed out that French Co pieces did not use vachetta. But these were from the 80s. Lv may have changed where their leather comes from etc in the last decade, but it is still "untreated" and will start out pale in color; unless it has been sitting out for a long period in the store.

 

[Purse FanGirl]

...the above poster correctly pointed out that French Co pieces did not use vachetta. But these were from the 80s. Lv may have changed where their leather comes from etc in the last decade, but it is still "untreated" and will start out pale in color; unless it has been sitting out for a long period in the store...

Thanks, Chin Chin. My lovely and gracefully aging French Company bag pictured above started out with a beautiful medium honey brown color to trim and handles from day one, new in store. It has darkened only a shade or two at most as it has aged. But it never had any vachetta. Ever.

I wish they still made them this way. I've loved not having to worry about my monogram speedy all these years.

 

[chinchin7]

Thanks, Chin Chin. My lovely and gracefully aging French Company bag pictured above started out with a beautiful medium honey brown color to trim and handles from day one, new in store. It has darkened only a shade or two at most as it has aged. But it never had any vachetta. Ever.

I wish they still made them this way. I've loved not having to worry about my monogram speedy all these years.

yup, they are truly unique and harder to find now. This French Co piece belongs to my mother (am stealing it from her) .