Which Chanel Leather Is Most Durable?
Hello friends! Today I want to chat about Chanel bags and in particular, which Chanel leather is the most durable. As you might already know I have quite a lot of Chanel bags in my collection and after many years of using them, I’m excited to share my thoughts with you all! The main leathers Chanel use are lambskin, caviar and patent leather, they also make a small selection of bags in more exotic leathers like snakeskin, as well as cloth, jersey, wool, tweed and velvet.Today I’m going to chat about which Chanel leathers are most durable as well as whichleathers look thebest andwhat I consider when I buy my ChanelBags!
Which Chanel Leather Is Better?
This is really personal preference, I have more Chanel lambskin leather bags than I do Chanel Caviar leather bags, however, in recent years, I have tried to shift my bag buying towards the caviar leathers, mainly because they are so much more durable and I worry less about using them. As much as I love my Chanel boy bag, I don’t feel comfortable using it day-in-day-out because it is more fragile and it can scratch, where as my Chanel WOC (Chanel Wallet on Chain) is in caviar leather and I feel really comfortable using it anywhere and everywhere – I’ve even taken it to the beach!!! However, the Chanel Lambskin bags are arguably more beautiful, they also feel a lot more ‘luxury’ and are far softer to touch. As much as I adore the Chanel lambskin leather bags, I do find myself being far more careful with them and using them less, which is why I’m personally making the shift towards more Chanel Caviar leather bags. The Chanel patent leather bags are also really durable, however, I personally just don’t like the patent leather and I think when they do start to age, they age badly. Whilst creases can look nice in a lambskin or caviar leather bag, a creased patent leather bag can just end up looking old and battered, rather than old and beautiful. But again, that’s just my opinion!
What’s The Difference In Look Between Chanel Caviar and Lambskin Leather?
The Chanel Lambskin leather is buttery soft to touch, it feels beautiful, it also has a very smooth surface with a generally matte appearance. Where as the Chanel Caviar leather has a bit more of a sheen, it also has a grain or pebble finish to it. When you touch Chanel caviar leather bags, they feel harder and almost like they have a coating of a very fine varnish or protective layer, where as the lambskin feels a lot more untreated, soft and more like a leather hide finish. Along with the lambskin being softer to touch, it’s also slightly softer in structure, so a Chanel Bag made of caviar leather will feel a lot more rigid in structure than a lambskin bag; For instance a lambskin tote will feel a lot slouchier than a caviar leather tote, but you might not notice a huge amount of difference in the rigidness of a WOC or a classic flap bag because they are structured from the inside, but a less structured bag like a tote, will feel a lot more slouchy in a lambskin than it will in a caviar leather. If that makes sense! But that all being said, the quickest and easiest way to tell lambskin and caviar leather apart is by the smoother and softer finish of the lambskin leather and the more pebble-finish of the caviar leather. It’s also really important to mention here that a lambskin leather is a lot more fragile than caviar leather. It might also be worth reading this post on the Chanel Boy bag vs the Chanel Classic Flap Bagand this post on caviar or lambskin Chanel Bags.
Does Chanel lambskin scratch easily?
As mentions above, the lambskin leather is much more fragile than caviar leather, it’s also. lot more fragile than patent leather, just if we have any patent enthusiasts in the house. If you were to run your nails over a Chanel lambskin leather bag, you might feel a little nervous about leaving surface scratches or doing damage to the bag and the appearance of the leather, where as I would feel confident running my nails over a Chanel Caviar leather bag. The beauty of the Chanel Lambskin bags is that they are super soft and feel beautiful and luxe to touch, but the downsides of the lambskin bags are that they are super soft and luxurious and therefore scratch and damage SO much easier.
How do you care for a lambskin Chanel?
Lambskin Chanel Bags have to be treated with GREAT care. They are beautiful, but they are also super fragile. The first thing I should mention is that you shouldn’t wear them every day, they are not designed for day-in-day-out use and instead they should be used and allowed to rest. You should also store it carefully, with the chain tucked inside the bag (not pressed up against the leather) and inside a dustbag and stored inside the box. Also, if you can pad the inside before you put it away, that is ideal and if it’s been raining, never put it away wet. Speaking of which, please don’t take you Chanel Bag out if it’s raining, they aren’t made for rain and the lighter coloured Chanel Bags might even be left with slight water marks or rain damage if they get wet. So please be careful! Once in a while you can give your Chanel lambskin bag a polish just to feed the leather, I usually use Collonil which is perfect for delicate leathers and will both gently clean and nourish the leather. Also, if you have a Chanel Lambskin bag which is a light or bright colour, please be careful with Chanel colour transfer, as I have a green Chanel Lambskin bag which I adore, but it has got quite a lot of colour transfer on the back of it. You can read a post about it here and see alllll the photos.
How long does Chanel lambskin leather last?
This is really a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question. If you were to wear your Chanel Lambskin leather bag every day and wear it in the rain, put it on the floor and generally not look after it, it’s not going to have a long lifespan, or you will have to take it to a bag spa for a good clean and repair. However, if you look after it well, store it correctly, not take it out in the rain and not dump it on the floor in the shopping centre whilst you have your lunch, it will last a lot longer. Chanel Bags are made for life, however, the lambskin bags do need to be treated well to keep looking nice. Don’t get me wrong, they won’t fall apart, but the leather needs to be cared for and you do need to look after your bag to get it’s full life span out if it.
Are Chanel Tweed Bags Hardwearing?
Surprisingly, Chanel Tweed bags are really hardwearing. I recently saw one which was 20 years old and still looked FANTASTIC! If you wear it with a sequinned dress, it will pull and ruin easily, but otherwise, Tweed is surprisingly hardwearing!
How do you clean the inside of a Chanel bag?
As they always say, prevention is better than cure, so first up, if you carry a pen in your bag, for the love of God, please, put a lid on it!!!! secondly, if you are carrying around make up, especially anything prone to leaking, like foundation, please make sure you always put the lid on tight and ideally, put your make up in a little pouch, just to keep it away from the inside of the bag. When I think about the inside of my make up bag, it’s filthy and I don’t want the inside of my handbag to end up looking like that, so tuck it away in a little pouch! Also if you carry snacks in your bag, make sure they are properly wrapped up, don’t eat half your cereal bag and put it back in you bag, eat the whole thing and then pop the wrapper in the bin, not back in your bag. Oh and sweets, as nice as they are, how do sweets find their way out of their wrappers, to be on the safe side, don’t put boiled sweets in your bag. OK! So now we have discussed how we should treat the inside of our bags, now we need to talk about how to clean the inside of a Chanel Bag. Firstly, try and empty your bag on a regular, if not nightly basis. Some people will take their entire contents of their bag out every night and give it a quick shake out. Personally, I try and do this about once and week. I will turn the bag upside down and just give it a few taps to get rid of any dust. If you want to be a little extra, give it a dust with a clean microfibre cloth and if you really need to get into the tight corners, put a fabric dustbag over the end of your hoover, turn it on low and VERY carefully hoover the corners.
Do Classic flap Chanel bags Ever Have Black lining rather than maroon?
Most classic double flap Chanel bags have a maroon lining, but around 2005, Chanel did make some classic flap bags with black other than maroon lining. Other Chanel bags like the boy bag, WOC and many more have black linings, but the classic flap bags usually have maroon linings except for a small amount made around 2005.
Are Chanel Bags A Good Investment?
Personally, I say yes!!! I have Chanel Bags and jewellery I bought years ago and are now worth more than I paid for them back then AND I’ve had years of use and pleasure out of them. The main thing I would say about buying Chanel Bags as an investment is to first of all, buy items you LOVE. If you think it’s amazing and iconic, so will others and people will want to buy those items for years to come. For instance, I LOVED the supermarket collection and I still regret not buying a certain bag from that collection and I would happily pay more for that bag now, years later. So if you had bought that bag and wanted to sell it onto me, it would have been a great investment for you. Similarly, the graffiti backpack still changes hands for way over the retail price. I would personally say if you are buying a Chanel Bag as an investment, try to find something which is a little more unique, something seasonal and if it’s limited edition, even better! The standard black caviar flap bags will always retail their value nicely, but they won’t have the same investment potential as something rare from a really important and special collection. It might also be worth reading this post on how to sell a Chanel Bag.
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And there we have it, Which Chanel Leather Is Most Durable? Which Chanel Bags are a good investment? How to care for your Chanel Bags and sooo much more! I really hope it’s of help and if you have any questions, please do let me know. Also this post does contain affiliate links.
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