Why don’t we go a little bit deeper into the vintage phenomenon that seems to be all the rage right now.
Let’s start with leather, then go into hardware and care accessories.
Leather goods love it when you are handling it, with clean hands. The natural oils from your hands are a perfect accompaniment to both lambskin and calfskin (including caviar) leather.
What leather does not like is to be handled with dirty hands, as in cosmetics, like foundation, sanitiser, hand creams.
This needs to be cleaned off periodically. How good do you take care of your bags? Do you know how to, or best practices?
All leather pieces needs a certain level of after care, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little.
This is why caviar is so endlessly popular now vs for instance lambskin. In the nineties lambskin was the more premium leather and it would come with a higher price point. I remember the Wallet on Chain for instance being priced at around £880 for caviar and the same version WOC in lambskin would be £980. This is so not the case now, especially on the secondary market the gap further widens.
This is because the raw material for lambskin used to come at a premium, as it has to be blemish free for Chanel pieces. Caviar is heatstamped leather, so it is ultimately forgiving on the original raw appearance as it just melds with the heatstamping process.
The ultimate question as always is: Do you prefer lambskin or caviar?
It is refreshing to see that Chanel are launching their new 5 year warranty to show they really stand behind their products . Which is good sort of, because the last time I bought a WOC in store, it was a whopping £2150.
I get lots of requests for restoration videos and if I thought deep in my heart, that it will do more good than harm, I would do them. But I cannot.
In reality every bag needs a bespoke approach.
Out of 10 vintage bags I restore, usually at least 1 is not salvageable and will end up in the bin, or at the very least used for hardware parts.
On some bags I can spend 2 days only, and on others 3 weeks plus. It all depends on what is sat on or is embedded in the leather. With bags that are 30 to 35 years old, that can be rather a lot!
Regarding prices for vintage, they seem to be going up pretty fast at the moment. The strange phenomenon I am seeing now especially is that vintage everything is popular, but especially vintage WOC’s and vintage full flaps seem to have price equalised, as they are all hard to come by. Try not to pay top dollar for badly maintained pieces though. They cannot be rescued no matter what. Buy wisely!
Extending its useful life;
Not all vintage is made equal and it does not age equally either. Same as now, the classic line back then were given the best leathers and the best craftsmen to put them together.
I try to not alter my items, as original condition is best. The only reason I would do so, is to make the piece more useful in its everyday use.
So as these items work for us, and not the other way around! I believe that strap lengthening for instance is perfectly ok to do. As long as the quality level is maintained and the repair is practically invisible, why not?
If a turnlock is practically falling off, why not exchange the mechanism for a better functioning one? Remember my post about hidden stamping on the gold hardware ?
With the ethos of the luxury house in mind, again these items serve us, and are designed with us in mind..... did you know that vintage dustbags were designed to double up as polishing or buffing cloths? You can see this from the picture where the dustbag is literally both a sleeve for the bag, but also your hand.
It is probably good that they separated the function of dustbag and polishing cloth in the late nineties! Keeps your wardrobe looking a bit nicer...
Do you have prized vintage dustbags and older authenticity cards? Does it bother you when vintage pieces come without its hologram because it has worn off?
Until next time, my beautiful friends!
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