Your guide to authenticating Louis Vuitton bags by 9ine Life

A Louis Vuitton bag represents timeless elegance and luxury. Anyone who treats themselves to this luxury wants to be sure that they are buying an original product. Here is your guide on how you can check for yourself whether your Louis Vuitton bag is an original.

There are some key elements you can check to ensure the authenticity of your bag:

At 9ine Life we ​​sell a range of designer brands, with Louis Vuitton being one of the more popular brands. Since all of our items are 100% authentic, we want to show you how to tell a fake Louis Vuitton bag from a real one. In this guide, we'll explain how to tell if a Louis Vuitton bag is authentic.

You can find our second-hand Louis Vuitton bags here

1. The Monogram

Monogram and pattern continuity serve as unique and detailed identifying features, almost like the fingerprint of a Louis Vuitton bag.
On a genuine Louis Vuitton Paris bag, the monogram should also extend symmetrically over the entire surface. The pattern must look straight, not slanted or irregular. If there are deviations here, this is a sign of a fake.
Tip: Compare pictures of a 100% genuine bag with the one you are checking, for example in an authenticated shop.

Original LV Monogram

 

2. The seams

The appearance of the seams is also an indicator that the bag is an original. They are hand-sewn. That is why the seams are slightly angled, unlike machine-sewn seams. Uneven or completely straight seams indicate a fake. Caution: There are, however, certain models that have been machine-sewn.
Louis Vuitton uses white linen threads that are dyed with beeswax. This creates the typical mustard yellow color of the threads. In counterfeit products, the threads are often synthetic and usually have a lighter color or are even orange.

Examples of original seams.

3. The material

Pay attention to whether the bag is made of high-quality materials. In most cases, replicas are made of inferior materials. Leather is one of the high-quality materials used to make Louis Vuitton bags. This can be recognized by the typical smell or the ability to absorb water, as artificial leather cannot do this.
A well-known material of the brand is Vernis leather. This should not be too shiny in the sun and it will yellow over time. This is how you recognize an original vintage bag.

The brown leather of the classic models also discolors over time and takes on a typical yellow/brown color. Pay attention to this with used models.

4. The hardware (metal details)

The metal parts of Louis Vuitton bags are made of high-quality metals. Most of the time, refined brass is used, which is coated with base metals. The engravings are made with great attention to detail and are very distinctive. In imitations, the metal parts look cheap and inaccurate. Over time, the material in original bags oxidizes, which is why it is completely normal to see green discoloration in vintage bags. If the metal details are often not worn, this indicates a fake in vintage models.

Here you can see the elaborate engravings of the hardware

This is what oxidized metal parts look like on older vintage bags.

5. The stamped code

The code that can be found in every Louis Vuitton bag is a date code that reveals the production date and place of the bag. The code is not unique like a serial number. However, it always has a specific format:
It consists of two letters followed by a four-digit number. The letters represent the factory location where the bag was made and the numbers indicate the week and year of production. This allows you to check whether the condition of the bag matches the date indicated in the code. If the code is missing or incorrect, the bag is a fake.

The two letters stand for the country in which the bag was made (here: TH = France).

Before 1982-1982: LL

LL (Country) YY (Year) M(Month)
YY (Year) MM (Month)
LL (Country) YY (Year) MM (Month)
YY (Year) MM (Month) LL (Country)

 

1990-2006:

LL MJ MJ

 

2007-2021:

LL W(week)J WJ

 

Since March 2021, Louis Vuitton no longer uses codes, but chips. If the bag to be checked was created after this period and does not have a chip, it is a fake.

6. The punchings

On most LV bags, the brand name is stamped into a piece of leather. The authenticity can be recognized by the typical lettering which looks like this:

7. Certificates of Authenticity (Cards):

A very reliable sign of the authenticity of an LV bag is a certificate of authenticity. You receive this in a small card-shaped envelope.

In addition to the certificate, you will also receive care instructions for the material of your bag. This also indicates the authenticity of the bag.

8. Other accessories

When you buy a new original Louis Vuitton bag you also get accessories.
This includes:

A dust bag

A packaging box

Invoices and other papers.

 

So if you buy a Louis Vuitton bag that you want to authenticate, pay attention to the points mentioned above next time. However, if you shop at 9ine Life, the authenticity of the product is guaranteed.

You can find our second-hand Louis Vuitton bags here