Handbag Identifier App
Recognition of handbags and purses, with a resale range to start from.
Lovenhall Bag IdentifierPhotograph a handbag, and know roughly where you stand.
Recognises handbags and purses and estimates their value from a photograph — a sanity check before buying, selling, or paying for an authentication.
Handbags & purses
Three moves, and you have a figure
You photograph it. The instrument reads it. You know where you stand.
You photograph it
One photograph. Nothing to fill in, nothing to send away.
It reads what it sees
The reading happens there and then, on the phone.
You have a figure to work from
A range, in seconds — enough to know where you stand.
What a photograph can and cannot settle
Photograph a bag and the Bag Identifier names the house and the model it appears to be, and estimates what it fetches on the resale market. It is a sanity check for the three occasions that matter: before you buy, before you sell, and before you pay somebody for an authentication.
That last one is the point. A paid authentication is worth having on a four-figure bag and absurd on a bag that turns out to be worth ninety pounds. This tells you which situation you are in, free.
| The question | How far a photograph gets | What settles it |
|---|---|---|
| Which house and model? | Strong. The silhouette is the most distinctive thing about a bag. | The shape, read against the house's catalogue. |
| Which size? | Usually. Proportions give it away, and the number in a model name is a measurement. | A tape measure across the base. |
| What is it worth on resale? | A range, from house, model, material and apparent condition. | Condition in hand, plus box, receipt and dust bag. |
| Genuine or counterfeit? | No. Logos and stamps are the first thing copied. | Construction: hardware weight, stitch count, pattern alignment. |
Note the last row. Everything a counterfeiter is good at is the part that photographs well.
The silhouette is the model name
Speedy, Alma, Kelly, Birkin, Boy, Marmont: these are shapes long before they are words. The instrument identifies a bag the way the trade does — house first, then silhouette, then size, then era — because each step narrows the next and because a monogram tells you far less than people assume.
The number in a model name is almost always the base width in centimetres, so a Birkin 30 and a Birkin 40 are the same bag in two sizes at two very different prices. Letters like PM, MM and GM are a size class relative to that particular model rather than an absolute.
Why authentication is a different job
Counterfeiters have been copying logos, heat stamps and date codes for forty years, and they are extremely good at it. What they are bad at is what costs money: solid plated hardware, a consistent stitch count on matching panels, a pattern that lines up across a seam because the maker wasted leather to make it line up, and lining material that feels right.
Almost none of that survives a photograph. Hardware weight is the fastest single check there is and a camera cannot feel it; leather smell is genuinely diagnostic and a camera cannot smell.
- Pick it up first. Hollow-cast hardware feels wrong even to an untrained hand.
- Then stitching: count the stitches on two panels that should match.
- Then the pattern across the seams, which a copy saves leather by ignoring.
- Only then the stamps, codes and logos — the easiest things to fake.
How to photograph a bag
Shoot it the way a consignment specialist would ask you to, and you will get a better reading and a better offer.
- The front, square on, whole bag in frame, in indirect daylight.
- The interior heat stamp, close and in focus — this is often the hardest shot to get right.
- Hardware close up: zip pulls, feet, clasp, and any engraving.
- The base and corners, which is where wear shows first and honestly.
- The date code or serial, wherever the house puts it.
Where the instrument ends
It ends at the word authentic. The house recognises and estimates; it does not authenticate, does not examine anything in person and issues no certificates, and every figure is indicative. If the reading suggests real money, a specialist authentication service or the resale platform's own vetting is the next step, and the free resale fee calculator on this site will tell you what each channel keeps before you commit to one.
Frequently asked
Is there an app to identify a designer bag?
Yes — the Lovenhall Bag Identifier recognises handbags and purses from a photograph, names the house and likely model, and estimates a resale range. It identifies; it does not authenticate.
Can an app tell if a designer bag is real?
No. Logos, heat stamps and date codes are exactly what counterfeiters have got good at, and they photograph well. The checks that work are physical — hardware weight, stitch count on matching panels, and pattern alignment across seams.
How do I find out what my handbag is worth?
Identify the house, model and size first, since the same silhouette in two sizes carries two very different prices. Then use the free Designer Bag Value Calculator here for an indicative resale range, and check what your chosen channel takes: consignment 20–40%, peer-to-peer 12–25%.
What does the number in a bag's name mean?
Almost always the base width in centimetres — a Birkin 30 is 30cm across the bottom. Letter sizes such as PM, MM and GM are a size class relative to that specific model, not an absolute measurement.
Is the Bag Identifier free?
It is free to try on iPhone and iPad, and every figure it gives is an estimate rather than an appraisal or an authentication.
The free tools and notes that go with it
A Lovenhall instrument reads a photograph and returns an estimate. Nobody at the Registry examines the piece, and no professional opinion is given. It is not a certificate of authenticity, an appraisal, a gemmological report, or a guarantee of value; any figure is indicative only, and independent verification is always advised before a purchase or sale.
№ IV · BagRead the piece itself
A page takes you as far as words can. Photograph the piece with the instrument and start from a figure — an estimate, which is where you begin and never where you finish.