The more well-known a brand is, the more people will imitate it. LV bags are the one with the most counterfeits, and have been plagiarized and imitated since the inception of the brand, never stopping. Today, the Second hand Luxury Goods Working Committee of the China Secondhand Industry Association will teach you the strongest method to distinguish between genuine and fake LV bags.
When LV entered the hearts of Chinese people with its most classic four leaf flower, also known as the old flower pattern, imitations appeared. At the beginning, it was a flood of four leaf flowers, but usually it was printed like an elephant. Craftsmanship, leather, and other factors cannot withstand scrutiny, and even the original design of LV has been changed. Regardless of the level of imitation, clever merchants improve it by introducing new fabrics and even buying real LV bags from counters. They then open them and use calipers to measure the size to make imitations. We have successively launched A-level and super A-level imitations that are becoming more and more similar, and it is even said that there are European high-end imitations that are difficult to distinguish between real and fake at first glance in the store.
Some counterfeit merchants who sell products above A even delve into the nature of LV vintage and have introduced several methods to distinguish genuine and fake LV bags, all of which are: 1. The bags are completely symmetrical to the flowers; 2. The embossing on the cortex of presbyopia is not smooth, but rather has a textured and granular texture; 3. Color changing with leather dripping, with neat stitches, the color will darken over time; 4. The metal parts are made of blue gold copper, not pure gold yellow; 5. There is a serial number inside the bag; 6. The bag comes with a dustproof bag, instruction card, paper box, and so on. In short, there are real bags, super A imitation bags are all available, and there is even an invoice. The invoice here is not the official reimbursement mall invoice in China, but a yellow cardboard style special for LV counters! (And most fake invoices will use Hong Kong ones) So if you want to use the above so-called common sense to distinguish authenticity, at best, you can only buy a super A counterfeit package.
1. The texture of the real bag is quite deep, and if the gaps between the small blister particles are more distinct, it is like the width of the grooves between the particles is very even. The whole feels moderately soft and hard, relatively flexible. The pattern on the imitation bag (compared to the high imitation below, ordinary A goods with no or light patterns will not be mentioned) looks similar at first glance, but it will oil out after use and usually feels harder to the touch. Although there are also irregular patterns, the main one is that the gaps between the grain patterns are small, and it feels like the bubbles and particles are densely packed together, not three-dimensional enough. In short, when compared, it can still be seen from the details. As shown in the following figure:
The first point above is to look at the leather pattern. If you can actually grasp it, you can basically determine the authenticity of LV bags. No matter how flashy the counterfeiter may be, the pattern of LV vintage leather is a difficult problem that counterfeiters cannot overcome. Even if some bags may have obvious grooves, the particles on them often look too smooth and lack texture.
2. From the color and composition of the four leaf flowers on the old flower skin. A typical Monogram pattern may appear solid yellow green with each stroke from a distance, but upon closer inspection, one will notice that the print on it is composed of diagonal lines composed of small dots. Upon closer inspection, one will notice that the color printed on it is actually composed of parallel diagonal lines. The color of the flowers is yellow green. The overall color is very distinct.
Imitation products exceeding A are mostly composed of diagonal stripes, but the colors are often incorrect. Most of them are brownish. Even if the colors are close, due to the overall texture, when viewed from a distance, it always feels blurry. But it should be noted that this second point can be used as one of the basis, but it cannot be completely based on this point, because now the imitation is quite real, and the flowers on it are also very close to the real color.
If purchased online, sometimes photos may have color deviation. For example, some people may use their phones or take photos under the lights at night, which may cause color deviation. Moreover, some Korean or European imitation colors can be made very similar, so this can only be used as a reference. That is to say, if you see the color in the picture on the right under very bright light, you can conclude that it is an imitation and try to avoid it as much as possible. But if the color is close to real, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s real. Remember!
3. From the identification of hardware components, it is common for genuine hardware in LV counters, such as zipper heads, to not be very bright golden yellow, but rather bronze in color. It does not feel particularly bright, and some may be slightly dark, resembling a frosted texture, but not to the extent of frosting. Overall, it has a very textured feeling. Of course, it cannot be generalized. Nowadays, many new hardware products also come in very bright colors. Here we will only talk about the most ordinary vintage regular bags. Taking the Super A zipper head as an example, illustrate the difference between the two. Don’t be surprised, it’s particularly shiny. The imitation in the left picture is very bright, although the color is already quite good, very close to the genuine blue, gold, and copper color advertised by Super A sellers, but it’s still too bright. And the slightly blurry image on the right is true. It is possible that due to the lighting in the photo, the actual object does not have such a heavy frosted feeling, and there is still a certain level of brightness, but it is not as bright as the one in the left picture. The biggest difference lies in the LV lettering above. The genuine product is more three-dimensional and neat, with clear edges and corners, while the imitation product, apart from being more shiny, has a rough and unclear LV relief.
4. From the perspective of leather matching. Some people say that they need to check the anti-counterfeiting line and conduct a drip depth test. This has actually been achieved by superiors beyond A. So we still need to look at the details. First of all, let’s talk about the white original leather thin rolled edges (such as pillow bags, shell bags, etc.) around the bag that are connected to the old flowers. Authentic LV bags are usually very thin, straight, round, and three-dimensional, and they are very even and neat when cut in one piece. There are no visible seams, twists, deformations, or slight twisting problems. Even good imitations may appear slightly thicker upon closer inspection, but if this is not compared, self perception may not be able to sense the reason.
Next is the leather shoulder strap. Even if it is a slanted backpack, the LV shoulder strap is completely seamless, which requires high leather requirements and causes great wear and tear on the leather. It is generally difficult to achieve imitations (but it does not mean that it cannot be achieved), and there is also the handle of a handbag. The handle of the genuine product is round and smooth, without any wrinkles. However, slightly inferior imitations often have wrinkles at the turning points. But generally, it is possible to achieve no wrinkles above A level. Some people say it can be seen from the color. This is the most misleading. Because LV specializes in selling the same type of bag at different times, it is impossible to achieve the same color for the matching leather. Over time, the degree of oxidation varies and the color also varies. You should know that this type of cortex, even if not used for a long time, will change color.
The leather matching list is not particularly easy to see from photos, especially when used with honey colored ones. But if it’s a new bag, especially the handle of a hand-held bag, it can be judged from the feel. The genuine new bag with leather feels a bit like raw silk to the touch, but it feels a bit astringent, with obvious pores and no luster. Used out, with closed leather pores and proper maintenance, it will shine and become flexible. The matching leather of fake bags, even if it can achieve no wrinkles, is relatively shiny when new, with a tough but not soft feeling. After using it, it’s not very noticeable whether a good imitation bag is holding hands with a real bag, to be honest
5. From the details of leather stitching and sealing paint. The sewing thread of LV is not only neat and symmetrical, but also made of oil waxed hemp cotton thread, which can be used as a distinguishing detail. For LV products, thick and tough stitching will be evenly spaced at the seams, and it is said that there are strict regulations on how many stitches per inch. And the handmade stitching on the inner frame is also meticulous. When opening the inner layer of the LV handbag, the buckle of the handle is also properly positioned and the adhesive position is also correct. Even though imitations can be made on the outside, it is difficult to be so meticulous about the lines inside. Previously, it was said that it can be distinguished from the angle of the needle. Fake bags usually have a straight line down, while on real bags, each needle has an angle, like a connected willow leaf, with an angle. But now even those who are above A level can achieve this. So this is not enough to rely on, it can only be used as a standard to test the precision of real package imitation. Let’s compare two old genuine and fake bags with leather. It’s actually hard to tell from the photos. But it feels slightly different to the touch, the imitation leather is harder and brighter, and really slightly softer. In addition, there are differences in the wiring used to observe the authenticity of new packages, but this is only limited to the difference between new products and is only for reference. The genuine product is yellow. And for some reason, the imitations always use the wrong color, a very timid goose yellow or a very bright yellow. But it is usually only more obvious when it is new, and if it is fake and used up, it will be difficult to distinguish from the color of the line.
In addition, from the perspective of the sealing paint on the edge of the leather, but this also depends on when it is relatively new. The difference between the authenticity of the new product is quite obvious, and the edge sealing paint of the real package is brown red. It seems that some tannin or limited edition paint colors may be slightly lighter now, but not much lighter. Imitation is always too light and orange colored. Except for the color, the sealing paint has a uniform depth and will not spill over. Pay special attention to the joint between the leather handle and the metal buckle, the edge sealing and turning are still very uniform, and there is no roughness due to changes in thickness and shape. Imitation usually reveals clues in this detail.
And the imitation edge banding will use a very red color, or the color is too light, even if it is brown, for some reason it is still very timid brown, in short, the color is very wrong! In addition, some areas are not painted neatly enough, and it is uncertain which area will have a little extra paint. But if the color is worn out, it cannot be seen anymore. It can be seen that the aging of the bag can actually cover up many details. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to some online second-hand bags that sell fake as real.
6. Look at the serial number. LV handbags will have manufacturing numbers indicating the manufacturing factory and year in some inconspicuous locations, usually consisting of two English characters and four digits. Every LV handbag will have it. And the production year is different. The package price and serial number are also different. And counterfeit serial numbers may exist, but often the same serial number is used for products produced by one counterfeit factory. It must be noted that some genuine handbags produced before 1987 do not have such numbers. The position of the serial number imprint on LV bags varies depending on the series. For example, the inner side of the shoulder strap (such as a barbecue bag), the inner side of the metal buckle leather root (big twin star), the leather on the buckle on the inner side of the bag (small twin star), the small leather on the side seam of the inner bag (small twin star), a small bag with LV full written on it sewn on top, then open the inner side and imprint it on the inner side seam (tannin), the leather on the bottom of the bag that is flipped open near the sewing position (speed), and so on. Anyway, if you search carefully, you can always find it.
Many people believe that a serial number starting with SP is from France, which is more authentic. Not all LV products actually come from France. Spain, Italy, the United States, and Germany also produce LV. Therefore, even if the product is not from France, it may not necessarily be a counterfeit! And LV’s quality control believes that regardless of where it comes from, the quality will be the same. In addition, not all serial numbers of products produced in France start with SP. The general serial number consists of two English letters and four digits, representing the place of origin and the date of production, respectively. The first, three digits represent the month, and the second, four digits represent the year of production. Update: It has been found that the sequence of the four digit serial numbers for many newly released bags has changed. For bags purchased after the end of 2006, the second and fourth digit numbers indicate the same year of production; But first, the three digits indicate the week of production of that year.
For example, the 1097 mentioned by MM later does not refer to the 19th month of 2007, but rather to the 19th week of production
Here is a list for reference. To identify by serial number, you need to have outstanding memory:
From France: A0, A1, AA, AN, AR, AO, AS, AI, AC, BA, BU, CA, CI, CT, ET, FA, FH, FL, FR, LM, LO, MB, MI, MO, MX, NO, ND, OS, RA, SD, SL, SN, SP, SR, TH, VI, VR, VX
Spain: CA, LM, LO, MO (M-color)
Italy: SA
USA: FH, FF, OS, SD
Germany: PO, PB
And some people may mislead that their bags have a serial number, so it’s true. In fact, Super A’s superior imitation package, besides having the same appearance, the serial number will also appear in the same position of the same package. For example, this imitation denim backpack also has a branded serial number. Therefore, the serial number cannot be used as a standard for verifying authenticity, and it can only be said that this counterfeiter is relatively dedicated. But it was found that imitators prefer this number: SP0012. This picture is difficult to take because you need to open the small bag inside the bag and pull it out again to see it. Fortunately, the bag is made of soft fabric.
Taking the classic entry-level model Boston (also known as the pillow) 30 pack as an example, let me explain it in detail. The real bag is folded flat when bought. Everyone can pay special attention to the clear and distinct color layers of the vintage canvas, and the feel is moderate to the touch. After being unfolded, it looks like a common pillow. This bag has a large interior space, is easy to handle, has a simple appearance, is very practical and versatile, and can be considered as the entry-level LV. A bag is just a layer of leather, with little support, so when left empty, the real bag is actually soft and prone. If held in hand, if there are few contents, it often becomes elongated and flat in shape. On the contrary, it is an imitation, and some leather is harder but can stand up, which is quite tangible. Therefore, some merchants who sell high imitation products specifically indicate that their bags also have a soft and lazy tone that resembles genuine products.
The metal zipper head is a turquoise gold color, not completely frosted, with a slight gloss, but also a very textured and slightly matte finish. Generally, LV hardware is mostly made of copper, and the lettering on it is very three-dimensional. You can refer to the front zipper head. Even for small rivets, each engraving on them is of uniform thickness, with three-dimensional edges and a uniform depth. Even if the golden coating on top rusts off, wiping it with a specialized maintenance paste will produce a bright copper color, while most imitations are reluctant to use copper material, which will rust when old and cannot be wiped out. Moreover, the engraving is usually uneven in thickness or depth. However, it is said that European imitations will use copper and hardware will also be improved. But compared to the details, there are still differences between high and low.
In fact, upon careful observation, it can be found that the main difference between the authenticity of LV bags is the texture of the aging skin pattern. If it’s from other series, the main focus is on hardware, interior and other details! Some commonly seen online items such as symmetry, discoloration, serial number dust bags, and even invoices. Actually, it’s just a standard for testing the quality of imitations. The imitation bag is similar again. Even if the real bag is taken apart and measured with a caliper, some details cannot be identical and can not withstand scrutiny. In addition, I also found a small detail for everyone’s reference. Each LV bag will have a matching leather with the following words printed on it. Upon careful observation, the letter “L” is squeezed very narrow, while the letter “O” is often close to a circle, while the imitation will have more even and neat characters. Most “L” will be slightly wider, while “O” is elliptical, and “L” and “O” will be pulled slightly wider.
