DISCLAIMER: This is a personal review and an unofficial authentication post for this specific bag, Chanel Le Boy new Medium, Black, Caviar leather with old gold/brushed gold hardware w am not affiliated with Chanel and this article does not serve as an official connoisseurship guide in any way. It is your responsibility to ensure that the same bag that you will purchase is authentic and to stay updated on the latest iterations and changes that the brand may decide to apply on this specific bag today or in the future in order to fight counterfeiting Purchase from third party dealers at your own risk and I highly encourage you to purchase directly from the store to guarantee authenticity.
Last year, I was finally able to buy this dream bag of mine for my 32nd birthday and I'm very happy because I got the exact leather and hardware combination and size that I wanted. I've thought long and hard about proceeding with the purchase because its price has gone way up since 2015, but heck, it's one of my dream bags; this bag is part of what I call my bag crown jewel collection, which consists of the Le Boy, Classic Flap, Kelly, and Birkin. One down, three to go!
I've been using this bag for 8 months and it's about time that I give my review plus I'll share with you some tips on how to spot a fake Chanel Le Boy Bag!
CHANEL LE BOY: A HISTORY
Chanel Le Boy launch ad campaign featuring Anna Dellal, 2012, shot by Karl Lagerfeld.
Chanel Le Boy was designed by Karl Lagerfeld in 2011. Karl was one of the rising designers that time and was at the helm of Chanel serving as its creative director since 1983.
Karl is a huge fan of military bags and he came up with a bag concept inspired by these bags: functional, boxy, and hardwearing yet at the same time, he wanted it to be funky and edgy so he added chains and studs. To maintain its French feminine vibe, it came in quilted patterns and supple leather to reflect Chanel's timeless craftsmanship and style. The result is a bag called Le Boy, which went on to be one of Karl's defining creations and one of the most sought- after bags of Chanel.
Chanel Le Boy is named after Boy Capel, Coco Chanel's greatest love. Chanel Le Boy is considered as a House Classic along with the Classic Flap and Reissue, meaning its price will always increase due to demand and status that's why most bag collectors consider it as an investment piece, style- wise and money- wise. Today, a Chanel Le Boy Bag starts at $5400.
Here are the dimensions of Chanel Le Boy New Medium: 28 X 18 X 9 cm. Currently it comes in the sizes Wallet on Chain, Small, Old Medium, New Medium, and Large.
PACKAGING
Chanel bags come in black boxes with a soft matte feel; the texture kind of remind me of the packaging of Nars blushes.
Each Chanel purchase comes with the iconic Camellia flower that has the same texture of the box, but only softer. Each box also comes with a slim ribbon, textured ribbon with the name of the brand printed all over.
Modern Chanel bag boxes are never shiny and the cover is connected to the box. The latest version of the ribbon is in this size and style and is never shiny too.
The bag is wrapped in a lot of tissue paper. The part where the edges of the paper meet are always sealed with a transparent Chanel sticker; I found two on mine, but take note that this isn't exactly a sign to watch out for to determine if your Chanel is authentic because different stores may have different ways of wrapping the items.
Chanel's tissue paper is unique: it has watermark- like prints of the word CHANEL all over and it looks more embossed than it is printed, and the color is white and transparency is very sheer. Beware of tissue papers with printed- on letters and worse, if the font color is not white.
Here's is the official receipt. My bag was sourced by @la_brea2013 on Instagram from Milan, Italy. So nice of them to give the receipt. The receipt came in a receipt envelope with the brand name and Camellia flower embossed on it.
Just like the tissue paper, the receipt is a not a good benchmark for determining authenticity since different stores issue different types of receipt and also, even receipts can be faked!
Each Chanel Le Boy bag comes with a dust bag, care booklet (and it's literally like a small book and a buffing cloth placed inside a horizontal folder with front flaps wrapped in plastic.
The buffing cloth has a suede- like texture, but it isn't suede; it's like some sort of moisture- wicking, microfiber type of cloth. The folder and booklet are made from a vellum- like material, but much sturdier.
The dust bag is black and the opening is on the side, which I find pretty odd and inconvenient to use. The dust bag has a thick linen- like material and texture and has a thick- cut black ribbon seal.
If your new Chanel Le Boy doesn't have these inclusions, then beware. If the feel of the materials used for the dust bag, papers, and buffing cloth feel flimsy, paper thin, and break easily, and generally, don't feel like it's of high quality, then beware.
And finally for the packaging, each Le Boy bag comes with a foam skirt wrapped around the base with the ends tucked inside the bag and the second exterior of the bag is covered with a felt- like cloth with a hole by the lock pin.
Your new Chanel Le Boy bags should have these in the package! If they don't and seller claims it's brand new, beware!
EXTERIOR
Chanel bags are originally made from Lambskin; Chanel knows their Lambskin well and it is often said that they make the most beautiful handcrafted Lambskin bags ever, but the demand for hardwearing, more adaptable leather has increased as the brand started gaining popularity overseas; and then Caviar was introduced and it immediately became a crowd favorite because of its sturdy, water and scratch- resistant nature, and ability to withstand various weather conditions. Lambskin is a more delicate leather plus doesn't fare well in very hot climates and Chanel, according to what I've read, does not treat it so much so it won't lose its luster, suppleness, and overall beauty, things that make Chanel's Lambskin hand bags iconic and a thing of true luxury. Lambskin used to be more expensive than Caviar, but nowadays, these two most popular leather types command the same price from buyers.
Caviar is textured leather with its own protective coating, which makes it resistant to pretty much any scratches and water stains. I have always set my eyes on Lambskin because dang, Chanel really knows how to make gorgeous Lambskin bags; I've seen this bag in a Lambskin version and it was so darn pretty that I almost went for it, but decided to get Caviar instead because I prefer the bag to be sturdier and much more apt for our local climate; for a very expensive bag, I have to make sure that the material can withstand the local climate and daily usage.
The most popular Chanel Le Boy leather bags come in the following patterns: Chevron (stacked V- shaped lines) and Quilted (this one). I went for the quilted version because it adds that feminine touch to its overall style.
Chanel's Caviar leather is said to be more stiff and plasticky than Lambskin, but I find it to be generally soft, luxurious, shiny, and somewhat pliable overall, but I guess if you've come from owning Chanel's Lambskin bags, then you would probably know the stark difference in quality between both leathers. Both leathers are also pretty lightweight; Lambskin is much lighter definitely, but the difference in weight is just a decimal so it's no biggie, really.
They say that one way to spot a fake Chanel Le Boy bag is to look closely at its leather. With a trained eye, it's easy to spot the difference in quality, but for beginners, some bagaholics would advise to look closely at the quality of the leather grain: the grain should be small, compact (no spaces in between!), and should not emit a reflective finish--because this would mean that the texture/grain was put ON the leather, not 'embossed' in it; apparently this is not the way Chanel texturizes their Caviar bags. Others would also advice to watch out for the way light reflects on the surface of the leather: if only one side of the bag glows, specifically the part that's in the direction of the light source, that's a sign that the bag is most likely authentic; but if the light comes from a certain direction and the bag is glistening all over, it's a sign that the bag may be fake. Between the two, I'd recommend that you refer to the first advice as benchmark because light can behave differently on certain surfaces and angles can come into play so I would say that the latter isn't really a reliable sign to watch out for.
If you find that you Le Boy bag's base is parallel with the exterior flaps and worse, there's no line at the center of the base, BEWARE!
The leather strap of the bag is a good way to check if the bag is authentic since this bears a lot of details that counterfeiters tend to miss or not copy perfectly. The opening of the notches should should look like a dressmaker pin sitting on top of a pin head; this is why the strap is hard to detach from the pin heads because the notch opening is very narrow. The pin should have a deep CC engraving and the carved portion should be the same color as the entire hardware of the bag, but should be slightly shinier. Stitching on the sides of the strap flap should be thick and have barely any visible thread holes because this means that the stitching is flawless and have been reinforced. Also, the strap loop doesn't move!
Another detail to watch out for to know if a Chanel Le Boy bag is authentic: check out the sides of the strap. It's made from two joined leathers with invisible hems and are quite slim. On fake versions, the sides have protruding hems that give it a messy look and width is thicker.
HARDWARE
The strap is looped on a thick ring attached to a metal base with the CHANEL logo engraved on it. The letters should be big and almost commands the entire space of the rectangular surface and just like the CC engravings on the pin heads, it should be deep and have a slightly shiny finish; most of all, alignment should be straight. On fake ones, the feature that they always get wrong is the font and the depth of the engraving.
Chanel Le Boy's closure pops open when you pinch the two buttons at the center. The pin that keeps the closure in place also has a deep CC engraving with a shiny finish at the carved portions. The C logo on the right overlaps the left C at the top and the left C logo overlaps the right at the bottom. The CC logo also has a welded look on the crevices where the Cs overlap. If the bag you're eyeing doesn't have these details, then look away and find something else.
Old Gold is a slightly tarnished gold finish; it has greenish/grayish markings and sheer silver patching to give that aged look to the hardware. I prefer this because aside from it doesn't seem to be tarnish- prone unlike the gold hardware, it can easily conceal any scuffs, marks, and scratches that I might inflict during usage.
The metal strap has slightly thick links and notice that the lines at the center of each link are all positioned downwards. If your bag has a flimsy chain and the links are pointing sideways, upwards, or in different directions, beware!
INTERIOR
Chanel Le Boy has a pretty rigid space because of its boxy structure and width. The leather is quite expandable and you can easily fit in a wallet, keys, phone, card holder, travel- sized perfumes, Airpods, power banks, small makeup kit, plus a notebook or book and you would still have room for some more. But I advise against overstuffing because it can cause the bag to lose its shape.
A Chanel Le Boy New Medium has two internal pockets: one open pocket and one zippered pocket. If the bag you're eyeing has three or more internal pockets, then it's fake.
On the underside of the closure is a metal plate reinforced by four grommets and screws.
Chanel uses a specific screw called the star- shaped screw. If the Le Boy bag is authentic, it should bear these screws.
Chanel's tag is made of leather and bears the word CHANEL and Made in _______ phrase. The size and spacing of the words and quality of the leather tag may vary between Made in Italy and Made in France bags, but it's very minute, it's barely noticeable.
Regardless if the bag is Made in Italy or France, the R logo should be placed near the upper right set of stitching. The CHANEL font should be identical to the one used in the CHANEL engravings on the hardware, and MADE IN FRANCE should be typed in upper case letters.
Series 27XXXXXX, 28XXXXXX, and 29XXXXXX were produced in 2019
One of the classic signs to check if you want to know if your Chanel Le Boy (or even with other Chanel bag styles) is authentic is the serial code. The serial code acts like the ID of the bag and tells you its year of production. The first two numbers of the serial code corresponds to the year in which the bag is/its mother collection (aka bag collection) is produced and the rest are numbers to categorize the bag.
Chanel has started using serial numbers around the 80s that's why it's easier to authenticate them versus the more vintage Chanel bags.
The thing is, Chanel does not put any indication which year a batch of bags is produced like 1986-XXXX/86-XXXX. Instead, they based it on the numerical order of the batch codes. Check out this guide by mislux.com.
That said, it's very hard to know which year a bag is released because it's impossible to memorize all the serial codes and their corresponding years of production, but this complex way of categorizing bags is also beneficial to buyers as some counterfeiters tend to confuse these details, ergo making it easier to spot a fake Chanel bag.
As for the leather tag, it's made from the same leather used to create the bag and the serial code sticker is placed on it and covered with a transparent hologram sticker with 2 overlapping X cuts in the center. The X cuts will prevent the serial code sticker from being removed without damaging it. I won't reveal which side and part of the bag the leather tag is sewn to prevent counterfeiters from copying these sophisticated details. On top of the serial code sticker, there are tiny yet noticeable specks of holographic gold glitter that cover the transparent hologram sticker.
The look of the transparent hologram sticker changes from time to time though.
If the serial code says 20XXXXXX, but seller says that the year of production is year 2000, beware! Also, From 1980s-2005, the serial code only has 7 numbers. 2005 and up, the serial code was increased to 8 numbers. Finally, the font used for the serial codes is also a good way to tell the authenticity of bag: for series 29, the 1s should have small serifs (feet) and the zeros should have strikethroughs. Take note of these!
Each Chanel bag comes with an authenticity card; it's a slim, slightly flexible plastic material with the serial code printed on the back; the serial code has a bit of texture so it's like it's engraved on the card.
On the right corner is a Chanel logo seal in a holographic gray color; this has the CC logo and a white outline in a white font color.
The Chanel logo on the card is also a good way to tell if the bag is fake. One fake Chanel bags, the round logo is a muted, dark kind of gray and matte. On authentic ones, the logo is a light gray with a holographic- like finish. Take note of this! Also, the serial code on the authenticity card should match the one on the leather tag!
QUICK BAG REVIEW: CHANEL LE BOY NEW MEDIUM, OLD GOLD HARDWARE, CAVIAR LEATHER
This is one of my dream bags so definitely, I would say that I LOVE IT. But I know you're banking on these reviews so let me say that the bag is gorgeous, it's great, but it has some flaws as well.
Let's talk about the positives first. The bag is spacious enough to bring my essentials plus a book, bank book, or maybe a small notebook. But personally, I don't overstuff my luxury bags so I can maintain their shape. Besides, I don't bring a lot with me anymore nowadays!
Chanel Le Boy has a very versatile style: I can dress it up or down, take it to a smart casual dinner or to a random lunch date with friends and it won't look either too formal or either too casual; it's because of the luscious finish of the leather and the gold hardware; I think another reason why this became so versatile is because of my choice of hardware; gold is truly versatile, but if you want it to have a more laid-back feel, go for the Ruthenium hardware.
And contrary to what other people were saying, Chanel bags are not as delicate! This bag has fallen over and bumped on corners for countless of times already and it still looks gorgeous and there are no scratches even after 6 months of usage. It was also a wise decision to go for Caviar, which is dubbed as the sturdiest leather, not to mention more weather and water- resistant. Lambskin is the best leather in terms of look in my opinion, but it's less sturdy than Caviar, but not super delicate.
Is it heavy? Not really; if I'm not mistaken, the bag is about 1.5lbs. on its own. The same size in Lambskin is about 1.3lbs. so the difference in weight isn't that huge
Now for the cons, I just find that the strap is quite slippery; it slides off my shoulder so the way for me to wear this comfortably is by swinging it to the back if worn on my shoulder or wearing it crossbody (btw, this is the best size to get if you want to wear your Le Boy as a crossbody). I like wearing this on my shoulder as much as wearing it crossbody because carrying it as a shoulder bag is the perfect way to use it in smart casual or semi-formal events. But I'm not sure if this is a problem of the chain or the shape of my shoulders because I experience this same problem with my Gucci Dionysus too.
And another con is the price of the bag. With a bag this expensive, it's not something that you can just bring anywhere and not expect it to get any scuffs or markings
IS CHANEL LE BOY NEW MEDIUM OLD GOLD HARDWARE CAVIAR LEATHER FOR ME?
If you like boxy bags, then you will love this. It's one of the most iconic boxy bags in the world of luxury bags and also, one of the best bag investments that you can make from Chanel. If you also want something that's very versatile from Chanel, I highly recommend this bag.
If you are looking at this as your first luxury bag, then you have to always remember to be careful and a bit gracious when using it because it's pure leather and even if it's generally sturdy, leather is still a soft material and is prone to damage. If you tend to be pretty reckless with items, then I suggest buy a more affordable leather bag first from Gucci or Prada to help develop usage habits and to know if leather bags are really for you.
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF CHANEL LE BOY NEW MEDIUM OLD GOLD HARDWARE CAVIAR LEATHER?
1. Keep inside the dust bag when not in use.
2. Put the chains inside the bag when not in use. Avoid putting the chain on top of the bag to prevent the leather from developing marks and dents.
3. Keep away from direct sunlight and don't store in humid places.
4. Air it out once in a while when not in use to avoid molds from living and forming on the leather.
5. Put silica bags inside the bag and in the dust bag.
6. Avoid the bag from getting soaked in the rain.
7. Buff the leather at least once a month to remove dirt from the surface and to restore shine.
Whew! It took me 3 days to write this post because I had to research and validate my information because this is my first Chanel bag! :D Chanel Classic Flap next! :D
How about you? What do you think of Chanel Le Boy New Medium Old Gold Hardware Caviar leather?
CHECK OUT MY OTHER BAG REVIEWS:
1 Comments
Ahhh-mazing review, Ms. Martha. And the bag is just wow. Thank you po for the tips.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think of this post! :)