January 21, 2010
Gucci Will Appraise Your Vintage Gucci
I get emails frequently asking me to help shoppers determine their vintage Chanel and Gucci bags, or purses they are about buy on Ebay, are real or fake. Even with vintage styles, there are quite a few knock offs, especially bags from the 1980s when label snobbery was perfectly acceptable.
So when I read that Gucci would be offering a unique, and extremely generous appraisal service for the brand's vintage goods, I knew I had to share it with you.
"Gucci Collector: Presented by Christie's" is a free service will be offered through Gucci.com. You upload photos of your vintage items and, within a month, you'll find out an auction estimate. Director of Fashion and Textiles, Patricia Frost, will even let you know if your item is appropriate for an upcoming Christie's vintage sale.
Apparently Gucci is preparing to open a museum in Florence, Gucci's birthplace back when they made saddles, in time for its 90th anniversary in 2011. I could kick myself for not buying a vintage Gucci bag when I was in Florence for my honeymoon.
This is the first time I have ever seen a luxury brand offer such a service. I am so happy that Gucci is willing to build this kind of relationship with it's consumers, even if they are vintage consumers. With such a service, I wouldn't be surprised if vintage shoppers started buying new Gucci products. This is such a win win for both parties.
I guarantee Chanel would never provide such a service. They are so tight with their archival information. When it comes to vintage, the best example of service I have heard from Chanel owners is that they will say confirm whether or not vintage Chanel is real.
I'm going to dig out my vintage Gucci and go get it appraised now!
source: Elle.com
Posted by Sandra at January 21, 2010 9:42 AM
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Comments (4)
This is really good to know. Thanks for posting about it. Very handy for my customers to know about this too.
Posted on January 22, 2010 05:02
That is very interesting news, I will definitely submit a few items to them. Thank you for letting us know about this.
Posted on January 22, 2010 07:43
That is a great service! I think it's always smart to connect with your customers in a personal way. I can see Chanel not doing this, they like to be admired at a distance!
I do wonder how many people will get a shock. Gucci went through a phase of extremely cheap production in the early 80s (I think that was the era, though I'd have to check my copy of Deluxe to be sure!) when the bags were pretty much worthless. Though they do have one of the best in-house production processes today. Which only Hermes and possibly Chanel can also claim.
Another reason to buy handmade!
Posted on January 25, 2010 09:17
Hi Denise!
I think it's a great service as well. And yes, many will get a rude awakening about their 1980s Gucci. However, there was a period when 1980s satchels were selling like mad on Ebay. Gucci's trash may be another fashionista's treasure. The bags in the 1980s were made in mass qualities, and this is when product quality took a dip as well.
Posted on January 25, 2010 09:50