Hermès Bag Stamp Guide

by HULA on Oct 16, 2020

Did you know that all Hermès bags and wallets come with a thing called "blind stamp"? This little and barely visible stamp can help you authenticate an Hermès bag. The stamps usually consist of small letters and numbers, which are not to be confused with serial numbers. Scroll on to see what we mean!

The "blind stamp" is essentially a tool help identify the date of manufacture. Although not a guarantee of authenticity, it's one of the telltale signs of a genuine Hermès bags -- we've seem some fakes without the stamps before! Hermès uses letters in alphabetical order to date the bags, often surrounded by a shape. From 1997 to 2014, a square shape was used to encase the letter. From 2019, there seem to be no shape surrounding the letter.

No Shape	Circle	Square
1945 A	1971 A	1997 A
1946 B	1972 B	1998 B
1947 C	1973 C	1999 C
1948 D	1974 D	2000 D
1949 E	1975 E	2001 E
1950 F	1976 F	2002 F
1951 G	1977 G	2003 G
1952 H	1978 H	2004 H
1953 I	1979 I	2005 I
1954 J	1980 J	2006 J
1955 K	1981 K	2007 K
1956 L	1982 L	2008 L
1957 M	1983 M	2009 M
1958 N	1984 N	2010 N
1959 O	1985 O	2011 O
1960 P	1986 P	2012 P
1961 Q	1987 Q	2013 Q
1962 R	1988 R	2014 R
1963 S	1989 S	2015 T (no surrounding shape)
1964 T	1990 T	2016 X (no surrounding shape)
1965 U	1991 U	2017 A (no surrounding shape)
1966 V	1992 V	2018 C (no surrounding shape)
1967 W	1993 W	2019 D (no surrounding shape)
1968 X	1994 X
1969 Y	1995 Y
1970 Z	1996 Z

There are additional shapes Hermes uses to mark their handbags, often found next to the branded "Hermes, Paris, Made in France" hot stamp, which can seem misplaced or random to the untrained eye. The square (☐): This symbol is used to identify an item as being made using Alligator Mississippiensis. The carat (^): This pointed symbol is added to an item when Crocodile Porosus is used. The Double Dots (..): The shortened ellipsis symbolizes when an item is made using Crocodile Niloticus. The Dash (-): This unassuming dash symbolizes when Varanus Niloticus Lizard is used. The Equal Sign (=): The equal sign is used to represent when Varanus Salvator Lizard has been used to create a particular item. The Horseshoe: Displayed on each custom Hermes product, a horseshoe will be stamped as a marker. The Shooting Star: Not as common, this stamp refers to a product that was created for a Hermes Craftman's personal use. The Employee Stamp: While it does vary, there will usually be a debossed S to indicate an item that has been purchased at a discounted employee rate. In some cases, there are additional numbers and/or letters included. We use Entrupy to authenticate our bags. Click "Entrupy" to learn more about the technology and how it works! Source: Love That Bag etc.