There are many videos, articles and resources that can be found on the web to help shed some light on how to identify the genuine article.
I have put these photos here on a little known or published method that rings true most of the time. One the right of both sets of pics are high end replicas of the equivalent leather that hermes uses. There are very distinct differences. I have highlighted a clue in the lower picture.
Workmanship and finishing aside, the main element of the bag is the leather. Hermes sources their calf leathers from tanners in Europe whereas most replicas do not. This inadvertently affects the general shape , stiffness, weight and fine details that lend Hermes its finesse.
There are replicas that procure their leathers from similar tanneries giving their items a closer resemblance to the real thing and I have personally seen such replicas. They still have their tells and generally these replicas costs upwards of a thousand dollars per bag. It's a hefty sum that unscrupulous sellers willingly fork out to dupe buyers to shelve out easily $20,000 for a brand new Birkin.
Boxes, dust bags and receipts are now so well made and copied that I generally do not pay much heed to them.
When looking at a bag, I pay attention to the leather and workmanship. I understand that each piece has taken a craftsman painstaking hours to complete. Every piece will have a very human element to it and sadly the newer pieces have less soul then the vintages.
I look to where it's hardest and most time consuming for an ex-craftsmen to manipulate,mound and finish.
Rarely will something escape my notice. However, I am only human as are the craftsman that accept bags to spa and sometimes an exception happens where a piece escapes our notice or we might jump to too early a judgement. There have even been cases where craftsmen differ in opinion as to authenticity.
Authenticating a bag is like authenticating art. Sometimes everything is right about a piece and that's what's wrong with it.
I do not have any ill will to people who purchase and sell replicas or fun bags as long as they state that that is what it is. It saddens me each time I have doubts on a bag and have to tell that to a client with confirmation from Bababebi that my suspicions are true.
I do not wish to elaborate on the tells of the leathers as I do not want to contribute to better replicas that are sold with the purpose of cheating others.
