HOW TO RECOGNIZE A LOUIS VUITTON COUNTERFEIT?

The  infringement  is a violation of intellectual property rights in that reproduce or imitate something without having the right or stating or implying assume that the copy is authentic. The notion of counterfeiting often has a pejorative connotation, implying something of poor quality.

Recognize a Louis Vuitton counterfeit bag, suitcase, leather goods, trunk, satchel, luggage… This luggage is so copied that we always have apprehension when we see a second-hand sale offer. Buying directly from  Louis Vuitton  is of course always possible, this guarantees the authenticity of the product. But for collectors of old pieces with patina over the years, it becomes more complicated.

The purpose of this article is to give some advice so as not to make a mistake by buying the authentic thing cheaper… Of course, you must avoid items that are too new, packaged in plastic, not expensive, or even on sale, because  Louis Vuitton does never sales . Counterfeiting is such that paid authentication sites have sprung up to help you buy the right product, beware of  certificates of authenticity as they have no value.

Since fake bags are complicated to sell, a new generation of counterfeiters is now producing small accessories. Some are more or less faithful "copies", others are totally imagined models, such as this bulldog keychain offered at 10 € on Chinese sites.

Even  Louis Vuitton VIP gifts  are copied many years after their creation. Example this Stokowski secretary trunk  snow globe   offered in 2011 to Louis Vuitton customers. The copies appear on the market 8 years later!

On these copies, the errors are: 

• New "yellow" packaging 
• Thicker base. 
• Glass dome taller and different in shape. 
• Snow in it and water unlike the original which is waterless.

Read also:

How to Clean Dust in Your Louis Vuitton Vip Globe

We must therefore determine the model that we have in our hands.

the  steamer bag does not exist as a fake, its production is too complex ( saddle stitch stitching ) and its audience is small, because it is not a handbag or a bag that can be worn. easily on the street. Conclusion it is currently the only non-counterfeit Louis Vuitton bag. The new edition inspired by the historic  Steamer bag PM and Steamer backpack are counterfeit.

On each bag, trunk or small leather goods a Louis LOUIS VUITTON PARIS marking appears. It can be directly hot stamped on the leather lining, or attached to a label.  Rigid luggage such as trunks and suitcases, the tag is often paper or leather. In the cases and in the soft luggage the label is in leather. The quality and typography of the font is a good way to identify the authenticity of a bag. The "L " is very short and the two " T's " of "VUITTON" should almost touch each other. The LOUIS VUITTON PARIS marking  is always in upper case, only "made in France" is written in lower case.

• Between 1980 and 1990: code of three digits and two standard letters

OOO or OOO XX 

The 2 letters indicate the factory and therefore the country of manufacture.

The 1st and 2nd digits give the year of manufacture

The 3rd digit gives the month of manufacture

• Between  1990 and 2020 it was put in place.

The serial number stamped / engraved on the leather or on the interior guarantees a certain authenticity. It allows to indicate the factory , the  week  and the year  of manufacture, it is generally composed of two letters and 4 numbers.  

XX  O O O O

The  2 letters  indicate the factory and therefore the country of manufacture.
The 2nd and 4th digits  give the year of manufacture 
The  1st and 3rd digits  give the week of manufacture

Example:

TH 3162 = France 36th week of the year 2012

AR 4048 = France 44th week of 2008

FL 0031 = USA 3rd week of the year 2001

Spécial stamping "P" :

The letter P is a special marking used to indicate that this bag has been offered to a member of the "PRESS", media...

At the start of 2021 , Louis Vuitton removed the serial numbers from some of its items in order to integrate an RDFI (radio frequency identification) microchip  . This is sewn inside the bag during its manufacture, undetectable to the touch, because it is as thin as a sheet of paper. It provides information on the traceability of the product:

• The material (provenance). 
• Product reference. 
• Place of manufacture. 
• Date of manufacture.

No information is added to the chip after manufacture, so it does not hold the identity of present or past buyers, nor the date of purchase ... Its functions are: 

• Traceability  
• Fight against counterfeiting
• Commercial follow-up of its current owner  

The integrated chip was developed by Aura Blockchain Consortium . This non-profit consortium brings together the groups:

•  LVMH :  Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Tiffany & Co, Séphora, Givenchy, Moêt Henney ...
• Richemont :  Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc, Joeger-Lecoultre, Panerai ...
• Prada

Now, this chip generates a unique identifier for each item and places them on a blockchain (like Bitcoin). They cannot be copied or modified without breaking the whole chain. Thus, no one from the outside can add new elements to the database, a veritable tamper-proof digital passport .

While this digital certificate does not prevent counterfeiting, it will prevent a customer from buying a counterfeit product without knowing it. The stake for brands goes beyond the fight against counterfeiting since this certificate also makes it possible to monitorcustomers more effectively commercially, even if the product has been offered or resold.  

Currently, there is no official application yet to read the information of this chip, nor to interact directly between the current owner and the brand. However, some apps can read bullet points and display item information:

• Serial number: sequence of numbers and indecipherable letters 
• Chip standard: ISO 15693 

It is therefore not the same information that appears when items are scanned using the phones of employees in Louis Vuitton stores. 

Two of these free apps are: 

• NFC Tools 
• NFC TagInfo 

Neither, however, guarantees the authenticity of the chip. But everything suggests that Louis Vuitton is offering in the coming months or years an official application that will revolutionize the second-hand market and fight against counterfeiting.

If the trunks and rigid suitcases were copied in an anecdotal way by isolated illegal cells, it is now over! Counterfeiting has become a major activity of the mafias , comparable to trafficking in drugs, weapons or human beings. These activities finance organized crime and terrorism. Just like luxury leather goods ( Hermès ,Louis Vuitton, Goyard, YSL, Chanel ...), and Swiss watchmaking (Rolex, Patek ...) criminal networks have now attacked the market for monogrammed trunks and suitcases.  

If between 1990 and 2010 the fakes cost only a few tens of euros, of very poor quality, sold on the sly, spotted several meters away, it was very easy even for a novice to detect the true from the false. At Malle2luxe our expertiseis for you the guarantee of the authenticity of the products sold on our online store.

 The Vanity Case, a bottle box, is one of the most widely copied Louis Vuitton rigid items .

Example of an authentic Louis Vuitton Vanity. The design has not changed since its inception. Always a central lock and two clasps on the sides. The lozine is nailed down ...  

Another example of these  fake Louis Vuitton vanities  for sale on the internet. Everything is false. Non-centered pattern, cut logo, unmarked studs ...

To create the illusion that the trunks are old. More and more these counterfeits produced in small quantities, often in garages by fans of the monogram brand. Even if of very mediocre qualities, these trunks  can deceive many buyers . Anonymous trunk upholstered in Louis Vuitton canvas

Sometimes the Louis Vuitton canvas that was added is genuine, other times it is fake. In both cases, these trunks are counterfeit and have no collector or decorative value.

Much more dangerous , on a real old trunk , the canvas was replaced by a false Louis Vuitton canvas . Difficult to detect this kind of scam for an untrained eye. Another scourge, the repainted canvases.

Expert tip :  Check the regularity of the grains forming the checkerboard or the LV logos, flowers, and rhombus. And The color, example on this photo the checkerboard was never red.

A new generation of merchants prints canvas

Even worse than the repainted canvas, Louis Vuitton faux checkered canvas and faux Goyardine canvas printed on plastic tarpaulin. We have also seen fake canvas printed directly on paper which is then varnished ... a plague.

We must not confuse restoration and destruction of heritage.

Real piece assembly

More Vicious and more complicated to recognize, assembly of real parts (lock, handles, clasps), with fake new canvas. No collection value.

There is no Louis Vuitton trunk with a  leather border and a steel corner. 

These photos were found at an American merchant who resells on Ebay, we saw several French merchants offering false trunks by assembly. So beware!

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