All You Need to Know about Louis Vuitton Date Codes
Here at Siopaella we get asked quite a lot how to tell how old a Louis Vuitton is, where it was made, and of course how to authenticate LV bags. And this can all be found in the date codes yay! We thought we would put together a little blog post to help you learn all about the date codes....
First and foremost...
It is important to note that slightly older LV bags have different date codes to the newer models! Below is a little list of the difference of date codes on slightly older Louis Vuitton bags...
Date codes which will either be a small leather tab or will be engraved into lining of bag . Models produced prior to 1980's have no date codes.
Early 1980's - Three or four numbers with the first two numbers representing the year and last number(s) representing the month. E.g. "836" would indicate a manufacturing date of June, 1983.
Early to late 1980's - Three or four numbers followed by two letters with the first two numbers representing the year, the next number(s) representing the month and the last two letters representing the country (see right sidebar for factory location codes). E.g. "874VX" would indicate a manufacturing date of April, 1987 and factory location in France.
Late in the 1980's - The letters representing the factory location came before the three or four numbers representing the manufacturing date.
Newer models of LV, which you are more likely to see more of, are usually quite similar in terms of their date codes! Here is a list of all the details of LV date codes up to the current date...
1990 to 2006 - Two letters followed by four numbers with the first two letters representing the factory location, the first and third numbers representing the month and the second and forth numbers representing the year.
2007 and newer - Two letters followed by four numbers with the first two letters representing the factory location, the first and third numbers representing the week of the year, and the second and forth numbers representing the year Letters indicate factory location
Where does the bag come from??
If you are examining a date code and want to know what location the item came from, check out our list of factory codes below!
Check the “Made in XXX” and make sure the code matches factory location
France - A0, A1, A2, AA, AAS, AH, AN, AR, AS, BA, BJ, BU, DR, DU, CO, CT, ET, FL, LW, MB, MI, NO, RA, RI, SD, SF, SL, SN, SP, SR, TJ, TH, TR, TS, VI, VX Italy - BC, BO, CE, FO, MA, RC, RE, SA, TD
Spain - CA, GI, LO, LB, LM, LW S.A. - FC, FH, FL, LA, OS, SD
Switzerland - DI, FA
Germany - LP
If you want to find out more about authenticating designer items make sure to check out our Louis Vuitton and Chanel Authenticating guides on our website!
Freya
Buyer + Stylist
