AUTHENTICATING A BIRKIN OR KELLY

Since Hermès is the most expensive handbag designer, it's not surprising that there are many fake/replica Hermès bags out there. We have put together a nifty authentication guide to help you weed out the awful replicas, so that you get the real deal. This authentication guide covers all you need to know about the iconic Birkin bags - and these tips can be applied to many other bags including Kellys, Herbags and more.

Hermes Paris Stamp (LOGO)

The logo is a stamp on the bag that reads “Hermes Paris Made in France”. This logo is featured in a delicate and neat font that is not affected by the texture of the leather. On many fake Hermes bags, the logo will look irregular, big, and/or blocky. Ensure the logo on the bag is properly centered without being uneven, lopsided, or crooked in any way.

• Stamping is usually very clean and perfect.
• Bags made with exotic crocodile, alligator and lizard leathers will also have an additional marking, like **, □, ^, -, or =.
• Hermes has lots of symbols. Some bags made for people associated with Hermes have a shooting star symbol, and some special order Hermes bags have a horseshoe stamp next to the Hermes Paris stamp.
• Know where the Hermes Paris stamp should be located on the bag. For instance, for Hermes Birkin and Kelly bags, the Hermes Paris stamp is usually located very close to the top edge of the bag. Many counterfeits place the stamp too low.
• The stamp will be silver, gold or an imprint. If it is a metallic color, it will match the hardware color for that bag.

Blind Stamp / Date Stamp

Every Hermès bag has a unique serial number which always starts with a letter, followed by a unique number, and ending with the artisan’s initials. The first letter signifies the year the bag was produced.

The year the bag was produced is a very important element of the bag. Knowing the year a bag was actually manufactured can affect the resale value of the bag. Many would like to purchase a “new” bag on the resale market with a date stamp of the year they are making the purchase. Collectors usually pay a premium for a bag manufactured in the same year as the purchase on the resale market.

Hermès collectors wait in anticipation each new year to see the letter date stamp. This year it has been revealed quite early. We have not even completed the first month of 2025 and the new letter has been spotted in a bag purchased in the month of January.

Often inventory with the previous year stamp will be sold well into the new year. It is always exciting to see the new bags with a new date stamp. Do not be surprised if you are offered a bag from Paris or your home boutique with the 2024 date stamp of “W” or even a prior year. It happens more frequently than we realize. It still means your bag is new and store fresh if purchased at one of the Hermès boutiques, it may just be waiting for the perfect owner or we presume caught in the production or shipping process.

In the past, Hermès would follow the alphabet in order each year. The letter “K” was last used by Hermès in the year 1955. From 1945 to 1970, Hermès followed the entire alphabet in order. From 1971 to 1996, they again followed the entire alphabet in order but put a circle around each letter. From 1997 to 2014, they followed the alphabet from A to R with a square around each letter.

Beginning in 2015 Hermès started using a letter out of order to prevent fraudulent bag manufacturers from anticipating the new letter stamp.

Authentic Hermès handbags have a date stamp embedded into the leather that signify the year a handbag was manufactured. These are also called Blind Stamps or H Stamps.

Hermès Date Stamps are important to all Hermès buyers because they can be used to authenticate your bag. 

Hermès Blind Stamps are located depending on the handbag style and the year. As of 2016, Birkin and Kelly bags Blind Stamps are located on inside the bag, on the left side close to the back flap. Prior to that, they were found in the back of the closure straps.

STITCHING

Each bag is hand-crafted by professional artisans thoroughly trained in constructing luxury goods; specifically Hermès goods. When examining the stitching on a Hermès bag you are going to look for the signature saddle stitching that is customary to their handbags. You would expect a luxury item such as a Hermès to have completely flawless stitching; this is not the case. If the saddle stitching is completely flawless that could be a sign that it is factory made by a machine as opposed to a human hand. Although each bag is crafted by professional artisans and are perfect in appearance, subtle signs of imperfections in the stitching demonstrate that it is made by the hand and not by a machine. The stitching on the inside of the bag is made with just as much care as the outside of the bag. There should be no loose threads and should still be neatly done by hand.

In addition, you will notice the saddle stitching on the base of the handles is a double-stitch on a real Hermès. 

HARDWARE

Each piece of hardware on a Hermès bag will feature unique details which can help authenticate the bag. Generally speaking, most Hermès bag feature hardware with a palladium or gold plated finish. On rare bags you might find brushed gold, silver, brushed silver, or ruthenium finishes. The hardware should never show too much wear or peeling, but slight tarnishing is possible over time with extended use and wear. On a Birkin or Kelly bag, the hardware on the front straps where the lock would sit are engraved with “Hermès-Paris” in neat, crisp, and evenly spaced font directly under the rectangle opening for the lock. Gold-plated hardware will have a hallmark on the left of the Hermès-Paris stamp. Non-gold hardware plates will not have this hallmark stamp.

ZIPPER

On the zipper of an authentic Hermès bag, the name “Hermès” is engraved on the metal pull with its lower half toward the leather pull. The engraving should be clean and elegant. Another key feature of zippers on the inside of Hermès bags come with a distinct design element. An ‘H’ will be found at the exact end of the zipper. This should be a clean, even, sans serif upper case ‘H’. However, older models of Hermès bags may only have a neat square at the end of the zipper. If your bag has a square at the end of the zipper, that doesn’t necessarily make it a fake, but rather just an older model.

Additionally, the metal on a real Hermès zipper would be more of a matte finish as oppose to a shiny metal. The zipper on a real Hermès would be easy to use and should not require too much pulling to open to close. The zipper itself should remain parallel to the zipper line at all times. If the zipper hangs at a 90 degree angle from the zip line or flops down, that is a sign of a fake.

 AUTHENTICITY CARDS

Hermès does not, will not and never has provided an authenticity card with its bags. Counterfeiters do, however. The same goes for hang tags — they don’t exist in the authentic world. Keep that in mind.