HOW TO SPOT A FAKE CHANEL

31_rue_cambon  recommends   *chanel*dreams,  kamaoles,  a trusted power seller   and frenchmaison  as CHANEL resellers, always authentic and fabulous, NO FAKES from these sellers, bid and buy with confidence   If   you need authentication services,     I am always happy to look at any auction for authenticity,  please email me and I will take a look, if photos are necessary for more information, I will send mypersonal email to you and can let you know what i think, at no charge to you. 

BONJOUR CHANEL FANS!   Chanel the international luxury goods company, founded in France by Gabrielle "Coco' Chanel in 1911 continues today as one of the world's preeminent fashion houses.  "Coco" Chanel was the couturiere extraodinaire for the modern woman of the 20th century. The 1st quilted Chanel bag designed by Gabrielle herself, was created by hand in 1955 of quilted leather or jersey.  She designed and wore all of her own jewelry which was made mostly of "faux" stones.  She adored jewlelry and wore scads of it all  at once , adorning her neck and wrists. She was partial to several strands of faux pearls and was almost never seen  without a cuff bracelet on each wrist.   She commisioned the Gripoix family run business of jewelry designers to produce her designs and to this day they are still commisioned by the House of Chanel.  Presnet day designer Karl Lagerfeld  has kept Chanel at the top of the international fashion houses.  Chanel is still located today at  27, 29 and 31 Rue Cambon in Paris where the ready to wear boutiques are located with Haute Couture on the 1st floor of 31 rue Cmabon.  Gabrielle Chanel's apartment which is located above 31 rue Cambon  is carefully preserved as a shrine to her. 

Chanel  herself always said," THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE  AND THE 2ND BEST ARE EXPENSIVE ! " 

Chanel Maison De Couture strictly controls all design, manufacturing, distribution and advertising to ensure the highest level of quality of its products. The House of Chanel is owned by the Wertheimer family and is the only couture house to remain in private  hands.    The Chanel line includes clothing, fragrance, cosmetics, leather goods, watches, accessories, costume jewelry and fine jewelry. May I say, they are all FABULOUS !

These products are sold through a network of CHANEL Boutiques and very select high end retailers.  They do not  allow their items to be sold on websites, discount stores, wholesalers and  you cannot purchase Chanel items on the Chanel.com website.   Do you really think any high end designer makes quality merchandise for sale in their boutiques at top $$$$ and  also sells to websites at a fraction of the prices,  NO WAY, they don't need too and  would ever do so.  Any website that claims  they buy overstock, discontinued or 2nd/damaged, is misleading the buyers, !

CHANEL stricly prohibits anyone infringing on the integrity of their famous trademark and FULLY prosecutes anyone who does so!  They have a legal department dedicated to removing counterfeit items listed on and other websites to protect innocent buyers who think they are getting that deal of a lifetime.  If the bag is selling for cheap, or way below retail, it is most likely a fake, even a used CHANEL will hold its value and will sell for close to retail as when new.

CHANEL uses high quality calfskin on their bags NOT LAMBSKIN. They do use many other leathers and fabrics but the Cambon line is entirely made of calfskin.    Cambon bags are made in Italy, not France although CHANEL DOES  manufacture items in France. The new  "COCO CABAS" line was also made in Italy, not France and I have verified this over and over with CHANEL.  They do not sell 2nds to outside sources and any bag that is not PERFECT is shredded and destroyed to prevent anyone including employees of CHANEL to resell them. They also do not allow  websites to offer their bags for sale, such as  sacbelle.com  or  fetucci.com  . I have looked at the bags on these websites and even called their customer support,  they claim they scour the world looking for overstock on these bags and santch them up and offer them for 1/4th the cost, simply not true.  When did you ever hear that Chanel was "Overstocked"  on bags.    There are alot of them out there, claiming they buy in bulk and can sell these bags for way below retail, simply not true. CHANEL controls where their products are sold and sets the retail price.  You can buy in bulk, almost MIRROR image high end designer bags from Asia for very little money and then re-sell them for thousands, I have the catalogues and sellers names who are doing this. pictures can be deceiving or even stolen, you do not always get what you see.   They claim they are real, when they are not.  Ebay works very hard at trying to keep all counterfeits off and removes listings daily, but some will slip thru the system.   Not all sellers are out to make a quick buck, there are many reputable sellers, you just need to do research before making that important purchase.  The Cambon line was also sold out and discontinued in the fall of 2006. 

Right now, the most commonly used counterfeit serial numbers on CHANEL  bags are :7244764,  8947749,  9316391,  9395451, 9395455,  9675223, 9777617,  9889754, 9892039,  10218184, 10380486,  10501946, 10995820,   11062948 and  10803549.  Even counterfeits come with a serial number card and matching # inside the bag.  The card should be black and gold,  not laminated in plastic and the hologram inside the bag will pull apart if removed, thus ruining the tag. Please avoid purchasing a bag with one of these serial #'s.  They are counterfeits.  The tags, and authenticity cards provided with each bag is made to the same specifications today as they were 25 years ago, they are not changed yearly as some sellers will tell you.  They do not make several different styles of authenticity cards.  BLACK with GOLD trim and lettering.

Know the bag you are trying to purchase, is it smooth calfskin or the CHANEL caviar leather (pebble grain in the leather).  Know what lining it should have and so on.  The more you know, the less chance you will have of getting ripped off.

Check the sellers feedback. Sellers should be willing to discuss the authenticity of the bag and its origin of where they obtained the bag.  Be aware of sellers who claim to have bought several from any website selling high end designer items at a much lower cost.  I do not know any fashion house that wholesales or sells 2nds to outside sources. CHANELS only come from their own boutiques and selected high end stores, such as Neiman, Saks, Bergdorfs and so on.   

CHANEL and other high end designers DO NOT authenticate items for buyers in writing, they will offer a verbal to you but beware of those sellers offering refunds if you have a letter from a boutique manager stating the bag is not authentic,  CHANEL NEVER offers written proof.

Chanel shopping bags are black with the word C H A N E L written across the front, nothing more, same for the dust bags  and boxes that come with your bag. Wallets and small leather goods do not come with dust bags, they are wrapped in black felt and placed in a Chanel box.

The inside hologram sticker will match the authenicity card, it will also come apart if you try to remove the serial # sticker.  They started using this type of sticker in the later 1980's, before that the sticker was plain and placed in the bottom of the bag.

The hang tag is made of white paper with the style #, style name, bag color, bar code and the price listed on it.

CHANEL did not make the little metal dog tag or small coin puse attached to many of the fakes.  The COCO CABAS bag DOES come with a matching make-up pouch. It is attached to the leather strap inside the bag.

Please visit the International Anti-Counterfeit Coalition, IPCybercrime, CounterfeitChic & FakesAreNeverInFashion . com to learn more & show your support! 

Happy shopping and Merci Vraiment, I hope this information was helpful to those who love CHANEL as I do

One of the most obvious signs of a counterfeit Chanel handbag or purse is a misspelling. Other common issues with fakes would be a bad stitching, sub-standard materials, packaging and details. Go over the label carefully to spot any discrepancies.

You know you will not get your dream Chanel handbag for that rock bottom price so don’t ever feel tempted to check “in case it might be the real deal”.

. Always look for an authorization tag. New Chanel handbags and purses have an eight digit code that you can register, but older ones have a six or seven digit code. Another give away is the CC icon. The top of the right C should over lap the left and the bot tom of the left C should over lap the right. Also look at the stitching. Look at the tag on your purse. If it is written in English but backwards (that's how the Chinese read) then it is fake. It should also say CHANEL France or Italy.

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