I compared my new to me Hermes Evelyne PM (29cm) sized bag in barenia leather to my Costa Rica Willis bag as it has the best leather of all my vintage Coach bags.
Both bags:
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For those unfamiliar with the Evelyne bag, it is a U-shaped bag, unlined, with a snap closure and, in the case of my 2003 bag but not current ones, a smallish interior slip pocket. I just found out the big H side is considered the back and the side with the snap is the front. If you want to slide your hand in without unsnapping it, it doesn’t matter what side is out, but if you need to open it to find or remove an item, having the snap towards you is awkward.
Front/Back of the Evelyne for the curious:
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I compared the bags for: leather feel, leather thickness and hardware. I don’t own a Coach bag close in style to the Evelyn to do an honest comparison of the functionality of the two. What I should have done, if not feeling lazy, was dig out an NYC bag to compare handmade to handmade since H fans tout their price as the result of handcrafting. But I am still bummed about work and not up to rooting around.
Leather “finickiness”- As you can see On the above pic of the snap side, the barenia leather shows scratches easily. It is more akin to Dooney’s natural colored florentine leather where marks create patina than Coach leather which doesn’t mark up that easily. Judging them for ease of care, the Coach leather wins. The common leather used for Evelynes (clemence) is worse for care. While it doesn’t scratch easily, water can make it blister and the blisters don’t go away. Imagine a casual crossbody bag that is ruined if it gets hit by rain! The barenia is a bit easier to care for. Mine had a water mark on the bottom. Based on comments from a barenia fan and leather care guru in the H forum, I knew water was safe and used a wet white paper towel to dab at the old spot and it went from this:
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To this:
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Leather feel- both feel nice to touch. The barenia feels slightly velvety, but not suede like. It reminds me of Mulberry’s calf leather on their defunct Willow bags. The Glove tanned Costa Rica bag has a smooth surface that doesn’t tug at your fingers. The suede side of the Hermes bag has a finer nap to it than the Coach bag, both are preloved so it is not a matter of use. Winner: the Evelyne. I might go another way if it were another type of H leather, but the barenia just feels better to me. Very soft, very luxe, just gorgeous.
Here are up close pics of the grain:
Barenia
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Coach
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Underside/suede side:
barenia
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coach
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Leather thickness- they both feel the same thickness and both are very squishable. The Willis is a more structured bag so it doesn’t flop like the Evelyne, but both would “crumple” if not for how the Willis was constructed. Winner: tie.
Hardware- Willis has brushed nickel hardware that goes great with its gray color. It is cool and crisp looking. The Evelyne has gold toned hardware that is a bright shiny hue. It looks like warm sun. Judging on appearance only, while I prefer the nickel, the H clips just look better and more finely crafted; however, the Coach clips, which look utilitarian, are far easier to use. The H clips are hard to open and seem like if I am not careful, the might scratch the rings. The H clips allow the strap to turn effortlessly which is great if it twists, but it means it always seems to be twisted every time I pick up the bag. The Willis seems to twist less. Winner: draw. Depends what you want, looks or functionality.
Here are both clips:
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A side note, when examining the H bag, I discovered the back side of the snap had verdigris and left a mark on the back of the pocket. So even a bag that retails for over $3000 new is plagued by the green menace. Not an issue with the nickel, but as I have other Coach bags whose brass turned, I didn’t count this as a fault against the Evelyne since the hardware was different metals and it wasn’t apples to apples. If I were comparing it to Coach brass, it looks better, but will evidently still corrode which a bag this expensive shouldn’t do.
Verdigris pic:
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final verdict:
I do not now, nor have I ever thought Hermes bags were worth the price they charge. At the end of the day, it is a thing to haul your junk around in. They claim the price is the handcrafting and that the bags can be repaired within reason (they basically reconstruct it If possibl) but the spa price is high and I saw a vlog of a woman who spent enough buying a second hand birkin and having it fixed, she could have bought a new one. A spa refresh, IMO, given the price they charge for a bag should be free, with charges only for major repair work.
So while, yes, I feel the Barenia Evelyne is noticeably higher quality than a vintage Coach (Keep in mind most of their bags are other leathers so the verdict might change if using one of them), the Coach isn’t that far off and I think the Coach is the better buy. You can pick up a preloved one in great condition for a reasonable price (for now anyway) vs paying more than a new Coach (or my first car) for a preloved birkin that looks like it went through a war. You can also fix up the Coach yourself and not have to fork over thousands to maybe get it fixed (fyi, Hermes tells you what they will fix when you send it in, you don’t have a say other than go ahead or not).
