Leather
What it is cut fromCoated canvas · Grained calf · Lambskin · Exotic
House · IVThe Lovenhall Registry№ IV
Evening bag · enamelled mesh, American
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Open access · CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lovenhall Bag
House of the Leather
Free on iPhone, iPad & Android · the tools below are free in the browser
№ IV · iPhone, iPad & AndroidNº I · The Instrument
Bag Identifier
Recognises handbags and purses and estimates their value from a photograph — a sanity check before buying, selling, or paying for an authentication.
Recognition of handbags and purses
A range to start from
Orientation before a deeper authentication
Free on iPhone, iPad & Android. Any figure it gives is an estimate, not an appraisal.
What it reads, and what it cannotNº II · In the Hand
Three moves, and you have a figure
You photograph it. The instrument reads it. You know where you stand.
I
You photograph it
One photograph. Nothing to fill in, nothing to send away.
II
It reads what it sees
The reading happens there and then, on the phone.
III
You have a figure to work from
A range, in seconds — enough to know where you stand.
Nº III · Anatomy of a Bag
Six places a bag is read
The same six an authenticator checks, and in the same order.
Stitching
Count and angleEven count · Matched sides · Waxed thread · Tight corners
Hardware
Weight and platingEngraving depth · Zip pull · Feet · Clasp action
Lining
Where corners are cutMaterial · Colour · Pockets · Finish
Heat stamp
The house's own handLetter shape · Spacing · Depth · Placement
Date code
When and whereFormat · Era · Microchip · Serial plate
Nº IV · The Free Tools
Free tools of the room
A range to orient you, in seconds.
Date Code ReaderDecode a handbag date codeSoon
Nº V · Field Notes
On the reading of handbags
- The house sets the floor and the model sets the ceiling: a recognised classic holds, a seasonal print does not.
- Condition is priced on corners, handles, hardware plating and the interior — in that order.
- Box, dust bag and a dated receipt are worth real money on anything a buyer might worry about authenticating.
Nº VI · The Register of Makers
Authenticate a designer handbag
The maisons the room reads, and the checks that settle each of them — free, in the open, with no bag sent anywhere.
All 11 maisons we read
Nº VII · What It Fetches
Designer Bag Resale Value by Brand
What the bags people actually own fetch on the secondary market, against what the boutique charges today — dated, sourced and read maison by maison.
Every maison, side by side
The Journal
From the Journal
Longer, plain-English guides on the questions we are asked most — free to read.
Lovenhall BagWrite about a bag
A bag the instrument could not place, a date code that makes no sense, or a question the field notes do not answer — the house is glad to hear it.