So far I have been unable to find other examples of the 7000 style Gramercy Clutch (see above) but I called
Coach Customer Service and I was told that they have the bag in their computer records and that the retail price is listed as $268 and that the original release date is the non-existent date of February 31, 2005! But according to the serial number the bag was made in Italy in 1998.
I've come up with a theory that may explain some of the odd things about this bag. Of course there's no way of knowing for sure but it fits with the things that we do know.
My theory is that when the Gramercy line was first being developed in Italy in late 1998, this was the first style bag that was created and they had even started to produce them, giving them the style number 7000.
I don't know how many were made but there was a sudden change of plans and the bags were pulled out of production. The 7007 Gramercy Clutch was released a year later and it has several design differences; see the coach sale description posted below for the 7007 style.
They clearly wanted to make a smaller clutch that could easily be held "in the palm of your hand". That explains why the later version is smaller, has a shorter strap, and it has a creased bottom without metal feet. Easier to carry as a clutch I guess. Personally I like the larger bag with the flat bottom with metal feet. It holds more and the feet protect the bottom of the bag and the corners when you set it down; especially with such a light-colored bad.
I also don't know why they decided to remove the leather slip pocket with the creed patch stamp from the 7007 version but that's another feature in the 7000 bag that I like a lot. But both bags were made in the wheat color have the textured Gramercy finish. They both have a light, suede-cloth interior, and they have interior zipper pockets and outside slip pockets; and they both have the distinctive brass hangtag and rectangular turnlock of the Gramercy line.
Here's where things get murky but here is the scenario that I'm suggesting. The heyday of the Italian Coach plant was in the late 1990s and in early 2000s and they were starting to make fewer bags in Italy by 2005. Since they were starting to reduce operations in Italy, it is quite possible that someone gathered up a mixed shipment of the Coach bags they had in storage (including the abandoned 7000 Gramercy clutch) and shipped all miscellaneous bags to Coach USA.
This shipment of Italian Coach bags were all stamped with the Bullseye mark to be sent to the outlets as FP delete bags, but the 7000 style was problematic. The bag had never been released and had to be entered into the Coach computer. The computer fields included a retail price - even though this bag had never been sold at retail, so the price of $268 was entered. The 7007 clutch originally sold for $248 so $268 seems like a reasonable price in 2005.
The Coach computer also wanted a release date but this bag didn't have one, so they entered the made-up date of 2/31/05 just to complete the record.
I don't know how many of them went to the outlets in 2005 - probably not many because I haven't found any other examples so far, but my bag may have been purchased by a woman that never carried the bag as far as I can tell. If she did carry it then it was probably only on a special occasion and put away in her closet. Or maybe it was a gift and the woman that received it didn't care for it - but it clearly has been stored well but ignored for 22 years.
For some reason this closet was recently purged and the bag ended up posted online for sale by a vendor that
@BeenBurned has seen selling both genuine and fake Coach bags in the past; so I was lucky to get this rare, genuine bag for only $50!
That's my theory but I would love to hear other ideas!
Coach 7007 Gramercy Clutch made in 1999-2000:
View attachment 4724027
Coach 7000 Gramercy Clutch made in 1998:
View attachment 4724036
View attachment 5078850
To anyone reading my posts between edits, I am also a sh$% typer.
