A Guide To Hermes Blind Stamps

Exquisite Pieces, Savoir-Faire of Excellence, An Audacious and Elegant Art of Living.

Hermès is a fashion house like no other. A family-owned French luxury brand, Hermès pieces demand distinction from cheap counterfeits. 

Part I: Hermès Hieroglyphics 

What is a Blind Stamp?

The Hermès blind stamp is an embossed stamp that details the year of manufacturing and the creators of the bag. This stamp is essentially a code giving the buyer incredibly useful information that should be considered, though it does not necessarily guarantee authenticity.  

History

Hermès is a fashion house rich with history. Their stamps are extremely unique. Depending on manufacturing year, they used letters in an alphabetical order to date bags along with shapes. From 1945-1970, shapes were not included in stamps; from 1971-1996, a circle shape was incorporated. In 2019, the stamps went back to not using shapes. The history and evolution of these stamps mimic the fluidity yet timelessness of the brand.

Working Girl Tip!

Knowing when your bag was manufactured can give you all sorts of vital bag information including the color name and the type of leather, aiding the authentication process.

Part 2: The Blind Breakdown

Blind Stamp Anatomy 

There are two elements of the Hermès Blind Stamp: the Date Stamp and the Craftsmen Stamp. 

The Date Stamp

It records the manufacturing year of manufacture and uses alphabetical letters and a surrounding shape, or just the alphabet (depending on the year).

The Craftsman Stamp

It signifies the craftsman, or craftsmen, that created the piece. It uses individual or multiple stamps of different shapes, symbols, letters, and numbers. When bags are brought in for repairs, Hermès, so we are told, can tell who worked on the bag using these symbols so that the bag can be sent to the original creator for repair.  

Working Girl Tip! 

Additional numbers or letters near the blind stamp, inform you of the atelier section the bag maker works within.

Where Are the Blind Stamps?

With a fitting name, blind stamps are hard to spot. It is designed to be hidden. However, leather aging can also influence the stamps’ visibilities. They are often found behind plaques, in the interior pockets, or other hard to reach spaces.

Refer to…

Your Handy Working Girl Hermès Blind Date Stamp Chart

The Five Eras

Hermes Date Stamps are grouped into five distinct eras:

Era 1: is from the founding of their leather goods department in 1922 until the year 1944. Leather goods of this era will not have any stamps at all, as the system containing a date code was not enacted until the second era beginning in 1945.

Era 2: A single letter. This system was in place through the end of the alphabet, ending twenty-five years later in 1970.

Era 3: The letters system incorporated a circle enclosure around it. Bags created between 1971 and 1996 boast this combination of letters and the surrounding circle.

Era 4: followed 2nd and 3rd era structures, just replacing the circle with an enclosed square. The years include 1997 to 2014.

Era 5: completely and utterly different. From 2015 onwards, a streamlined Blind Stamp system with a date code was used. The stamps included a L LL NNN LL format, where the first letter in the string is the Date Stamp, and the following letters and numbers represent the Craftsman Stamps. No shape was used

Working Girl Tip! 

The D Square stamp is the year 2000! Count through the alphabet until the correct year is reached.

Now that you are armed with these tips, you can have that added foundation to build that Hermès collection of your dreams.  

xo Happy Shopping!