Start with what is stamped or stuck inside the bag. A serial, a date code or a stamp narrows the house and the years before any photograph does. If the marks are gone, the iPhone app compares photographs of the bag, with catalogue records behind its Coach and Louis Vuitton results.
Vintage Bag Index is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Coach, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Fendi or Gucci.
Each house marks its bags differently, and each mark says something different. These decoders are free and need no account.
Compares the serial on the Creed patch with documented formats and reads the tokens a format encodes. In this site's style lookup, a style suffix can then be compared with 1,237 catalogue styles from 1981 to 2010; after 1999, only the catalogues reviewed so far.
Coach Creed decoderMatches a date code to its documented format window. The factory letters are shown as stamped and are not decoded.
Louis Vuitton date code decoderPlaces a serial number in its sticker series and shows the years each published guide gives that series.
Chanel serial number decoderReads the year collector charts give a date stamp, from the shape around the letter and the letter itself.
Hermès date stamp decoderSplits the number on the leather tag into its two rows and says what published guides call each one. It gives no year. In the app, a photo result names only a family, with no year from a Gucci mark.
Gucci serial number decoderSplits the number on the leather tag into its groups, counts its characters and says what published guides call one of them. It gives no year. In the app, a photo result names only a family.
Fendi serial number decoderWhen there is no mark to read, Vintage Handbag Identifier compares up to four photographs of the bag and returns a shortlist. Its catalogue records cover only two houses: Coach, where a result can name an exact model from 1981 to 1999, and Louis Vuitton, where it names a family or an era.
The App Store listing for version 1.0.7 names Coach and Louis Vuitton. The other four rows follow the app's own “What can we identify?” sheet. A result may remain unidentified.
The journal compares apps for identifying a vintage handbag.
| House | A photo result names | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Coach | An exact model reference | 629 documented styles from 1981 to 1999. |
| Louis Vuitton | A family or an era | 473 documented references. A family is a line such as Speedy or Keepall. |
| Hermès | A family or an era | Not an exact model. |
| Chanel | A family or an era | Not an exact model. |
| Fendi | A family | Not an exact model or an era. |
| Gucci | A family | No year from a Gucci mark. |
The patch, sticker, tab or stamp, square on and in focus.
The whole front of the bag, so its shape and proportions show.
The side panels show how the bag is built.
The clasp, zip or turnlock, and the hardware around it.
For Coach, the app checks the photographs against documented dimensions, production years and construction. For Louis Vuitton, it matches them to a documented family or an era. No photograph leaves the device until you confirm the transfer.
A mark and a photograph narrow a bag down. They do not settle it.
Free download. Collector subscription required.
Not authentication and not proof that a bag is genuine.
Not an appraisal or an estimate of resale value.
A code that fits its format is one consistency check. Counterfeits can carry a code in the correct format.
A missing mark does not date a bag on its own. Stickers come away and stamped codes fade.
Within limits. Vintage Handbag Identifier compares up to four photographs with its catalogue records for Coach and Louis Vuitton. For Coach it can suggest an exact model reference from 1981 to 1999, and for Louis Vuitton a family or an era. For Hermès and Chanel it suggests a family or an era, and for Fendi and Gucci a family, with no catalogue records behind those results. A result may remain unidentified.
The decoders on this website are free and need no account. The iPhone app is a free download, and you can try an offline stamp example before subscribing. A Collector subscription is required to enter the main app. The weekly plan adds 2 whole-bag identifications a week, and the annual plan adds 50 at the start of each paid year.
No. A photo result compares visible details, and only Coach and Louis Vuitton results have catalogue records behind them. It is not authentication, not an appraisal and not proof of age.
Many older bags have none. The guides cited on the decoder pages date the first Louis Vuitton date codes to 1982, the first Chanel serials to 1984 and the first Hermès date letters to 1945. Shape, hardware and construction still narrow a bag down, which is what the photo comparison is for.