These are the telltale signs of a fake Hermès Birkin, according to a vintage luxury expert with 20 years of experience

• A vintage master pinch 20 years of acquisition says location are telltale signs to spot a clone Hermès Birkin.
• She said location are things counterfeiters don't put thought into, which tin thief uncover fakes.
• Here's what to look retired for erstwhile picking retired a vintage Birkin.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Koyaana Redstar, nan caput of luxury buying astatine Luxe Du Jour, an online luxury boutique for vintage designer handbags. It has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I was a nanny successful assemblage successful Los Angeles, and I supplemented my income by going to Goodwill stores, uncovering designer handbags for debased prices, past trading them connected eBay or, astatine nan time, Poshmark.

I enjoyed it, and I thought — I want to move this into an existent job.

Since then, I've worked for Rebag, The RealReal, and different vintage consignment stores and person 20 years of acquisition successful nan resale industry.

I've learned strategies that thief maine place circumstantial things astir luxury bags, from their exemplary to configuration, conscionable by looking astatine a piece.

To me, nan Hermès Birkin and Kelly are perchance nan astir iconic bags successful fashion. They are classical and clasp worth much than almost immoderate different bag.

Here are tips connected detecting if nan vintage Birkin you're eyeing is authentic.

Zipper pulls

One of nan things that counterfeiters don't often get correct is nan zipper pull. For immoderate reason, astir counterfeiters don't return nan clip aliases effort to get it right.

The zipper pulls wrong Hermès Birkins and Kelly's are among nan biggest giveaways.

With immoderate fakes, erstwhile nan connection "Hermès" is pressed into nan zipper pull, it almost looks bubbly, pinch a ridge connected nan separator of each letter.

You won't spot that connected authentic Hermès pieces — which will person crisp, cleanable letters connected nan zips.

Zipper Stops

There's besides nan zipper stop, which comes successful nan shape of nan missive H. Hermès changed that successful nan early 2000s — it utilized to conscionable beryllium a normal stop, and now it's shaped for illustration an H.

If you comparison fakes pinch existent Hermès bags, you'll find that nan existent woody comes pinch a very circumstantial style of H. Counterfeiters will make fat Hs aliases skinny, gangly Hs.

People who make fakes often place mini specifications — for illustration a zipper extremity — which helps experts separate authentic items from fakes.

Fonts

Another point that counterfeiters can't get 100% correct is fonts — specifically, really it's engraved onto nan hardware.

Luxury experts tin show a existent from a clone because they've spent years looking astatine container fonts — and knowing what communal inconsistencies mightiness surface.

One measurement to observe if it's clone is if nan foil font stamped onto a container has a greenish undertone. That's a telltale motion that something's amiss.

Smell

If you person a Hermès Birkin, you will cognize that nan measurement nan leather is treated gives it an almost perfumed smell.

But if you smell a container and it gives disconnected nan dense scent of leather — almost for illustration a footwear shop — that's not a bully sign.

Hermès doesn't smell for illustration that. So, if nan container smells excessively overmuch for illustration leather, it's a reddish flag. And if it smells for illustration chemicals, that's moreover much of a reddish flag.

So I've taken to sniffing bags I appraise. I cognize it looks weird, but sometimes, nan smell is simply a dormant giveaway.