How To Spot a Fake Celine Bag: Ultimate Authentication Guide

Navigating through the Internet looking for the best offer for a luxury bag, an inexperienced buyer can find oneself in a sea of fake products. Big price doesn't give you any proof that you are looking at an authentic item of a high-end brand.

Counterfeits can be found in almost every second-hand online store, especially if there's no professional authentication. The market is full of forgeries, and they are getting better and better every year and you have to be an expert or professional to distinguish a true luxury purse from a good fake.

We understand the importance of having a luxury bag in your collection. If you aim to get a real deal, not a worthless piece with a famous label to show off, you should pay attention to numerous details. You need to be extremely vigilant if you are willing to purchase an iconic bag, as they are the most popular objects for counterfeiting. Choosing a legendary Celine bag, like Phantom or Luggage totes, inspect every single part of the item before buying, don't rely on one factor only. 

For your convenience, we have gathered the most important aspects of Celine bags in this article, so that you can do a step-by-step check before purchasing it.

• Shape and leather

• Hardware

• Zipper

• Heat Stamp

• Serial Number

Unlike other high-end brands, Celine often introduces small changes which makes it extremely hard to authenticate their items. We hope this full guide will help you not to waste hundreds of dollars on a fake.

Shape and Leather

If we take the world-famous and unique trapeze shape of Celine bags, it's quite easy to spot a poorly shaped bag because of completely wrong outlines. For other Celine purses just looking at the shape won't be a big help, so you can use a simple but useful trick. When it comes to shape and sizes be sure to measure the item carefully and compare dimensions. All necessary measurements can be found on the official Celine website.

One of the main aspects of a truly quality bag that cannot be a counterfeit is fine leather. Celine uses plenty of different leathers to create numerous finishing effects and to work with various colors. When you touch an authentic bag, it is usually soft to the touch. Counterfeits are mostly very rigid, as they try to imitate real ones.

Matte finish is another indication of a low-quality product, real Celine items have a small sheen. Some authentic bags tend to lose their structure over time, but a  bag of good quality will never be poorly shaped! Celine bags are firm and steady.

Hardware

High-end brand authenticators first inspect the hardware. The smallest details can give away a fake easily if you know where to look. Here are some tips to find out you're looking at a fake:

• Hardware is too shiny. That's definitely a fake! Hardware on Celine bags look rusty, not glossy. A real Celine bag always has an antique-like finish.

• Silver and gold-tone hardware means you have a real Celine bag in front of you. Metal should be solid and of good quality. Fake purses can have a golden finish, but such hardware starts to look worn after some time.

• Celine engraving on the hardware is one of the features that counterfeiters often get wrong. On an authentic bag, it goes downwards, with C being the highest letter, while on a fake it's most often placed at the bottom.
• Authentic hardware is always rounded. If you're looking at square edges, be sure it is a fake.

Zipper

Luxury items are known for their details. When fake goods are produced, manufacturers care more about the general image of a bag than about small insignificant details that can give a fake away. Celine uses special zippers to help you understand you're holding a real thing. Here are their three main distinctive features:

1. A digit on the zip between the teeth. It usually indicates its size. Fake zippers mostly carry letters or have no marks at all.
2. Absence of logo on the back. Many fashion houses still use branded zippers, but Celine now sticks to regular ones, so the back of the zip is usually plain with no marks. Fake items often carry 'Lampo' or 'RiRi' signs - stay away from these purses.
3. Special shape of ring holders. Yes, to authenticate Celine bag it's vital to actually pay attention to the smallest details, like these. Ring holders always have the shape of O or D with round edges. They are never flat.

And one general rule for all quality zippers: they cannot be uneven. Look carefully when you open a zipped compartment, there should be no rough waves on an authentic bag.

Heat Stamp

Celine places its logo only in the form of a heat stamp inside and outside. Counterfeit manufacturers often fail to properly replicate the original heat stamp, so having an example of the original Celine font (again you can use the official website to compare) you can tell what kind of item you are about to buy.

In 2018 the fashion house introduced a new logo, omitting the famous French accent pointing to the right above e in its name. Representatives of the brand told media they were following the trends of the 1960s when the logo had no accent. So don't be surprised seeing the Celine logo in its simplified version, it's not a fake.

The color of the outside logo always matches the color of the zipper and the hardware. Mismatched colors are an obvious sign of a counterfeit. When you look at fonts, pay special attention to the initial C - it should look like an unfinished O. If you see an oval symbol, that means the bag is a fake. All symbols of an authentic heat stamp have clean and straight edges. Poor fonts, unclear symbols and rough edges mean you're holding a fake.

Serial Number

Luxury brands are using unique numbers for each of their bags, but Celine purses have serial code. It's always featured on the leather tag inside the bag. Fashion house knows how valuable fabrics are, so they don't stamp anything except for the small logo. Serial code has a special order: one letter - two letters - four digits. Don't be surprised, some serial codes might be the same for different Celine bags, they just indicate the place and the date of manufacturing. Letters stand for factory location, first and third digits indicate the number of the week and second and fourth digits stand for the year the bag was made.

Apart from that, the serial code is printed in numerous fonts and sizes, and even the shape of the tag can be different. In some bags, the code features only one line, while in other there can be two: the second says 'Made in Italy' or features another serial number. The edges of the tag can be both curved and straight, but they all are even. Nothing in real Celine bag will make you think it looks untidy. Code symbols are never separated by spaces or dots. Celine uses dashes only. Letters are always capital and have the same size, height, and font as digits. The lines should be close to each other, not printed on the different edges of the tag.

Read More On How To Verify Preowned Luxury

Want more real or fake comparisons? Check out these:

How to Tell If a Louis Vuitton Pallas MM Is Real or Fake (Comparison)

How to Tell if a Chanel Bag is Real or Fake: Authenticating a Chanel Mini Square

How To Tell if a Louis Vuitton Graffiti Speedy is Real or Fake?

Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM: This Fake vs Real Comparison Will Blow Your Mind

What To Do Next?

If you need to authenticate a Louis Vuitton item, please order one of the three types of authentication:

Verbal Authentication $10

• good when you need a certificate for any reason,

Certificate of Authenticity $25

• good when you need a certificate for any reason, either to sell the bag with the peace of mind or to return a fake bag to the seller if you purchased a fake
• includes a permanent certificate on lvbagaholic.com

Certificate of Authenticity with a thorough explanation $50

• good when you need a certificate and you need to know why the bag is authentic/not authentic for any reason, either to sell the bag with the peace of mind or return a fake bag to the seller if you purchased a fake.
• includes a permanent certificate on lvbagaholic.com
• includes an explanation of why the item is fake (detailed pictures and comparisons with an authentic bag, more than 10 pics included)

PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE OPTIONS BELOW