How do you know when your Dior bag was made?

Got your hands on a new or vintage Dior bag? Congratulations on your new baby! Did you know all Dior bags include a leather tag inside the bag, which, depending on the age of the item, includes a date code on the back of the tag? This date code was designed to let buyers know they were dealing with a genuine Dior item. But what does the code actually mean? In this blog, we explain how to decrypt a Dior date code. 

The tag

All Dior bags include a leather tag inside the bag that contains a heat stamp. This tag should have a rectangular shape and rounded corners, not sharp corners. Bags produced before the 1990s are finished with one stitching on top of the tag. More recent bags have tags with a stitching all the way around. 

Logo stamp

On the front side of this tag, you will find the logo stamp. Depending on the model of the bag, the logo stamp should have two or three lines. You will find the words “Christian Dior” with “PARIS” in capital letters a bit below. For some purses, “MADE IN ITALY” or “MADE IN SPAIN” can be found on the front side of the tag, also in capital letters. On other models, the “Made in” stamp can be found on the back side of the tag, above the date code. This lettering should be clean and no color running outside the letters. The stamp should be placed perfectly in the middle and the lettering should be in either gold, silver or stamped without color. 

Date code

On the backside of this tag, you will find the date code. It is unsure when Dior started incorporating date codes on the tags, but various blogs mention the fashion house started using them around 1997. Shouldn't your bag have a date code, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a fake. For example, the Lady Dior was introduced in 1994, so there are vintage, authentic bags out there with no date code. The date code on a Dior bag is a combination of digits, letters and dashes. The order is at follows:

• 2 numbers
• 2 letters
• 4 numbers

On older models, the order may be different. These are separated by a space. The order is at follows:

• 2 letters
• 4 numbers

In the date code, the last 4 digits indicate the month and the year when the bag was made. The first and third number indicate the month of manufacturing, the second and fourth number indicate the year.

In the example above, 16-BO-0133 means the bag was made in March 2013. If the bag has a code like RU 0928, the bag was made in February 1998. According to BrandsBlogger, the format of the date code is the same as those found on Louis Vuitton, as Dior is part of LVMH. The letters indicate the factory where the item was made, just like the Louis Vuitton date codes. The first two numbers indicate the date or week the bag was made, according to this blog on the BrandsBlogger. We’re still not sure what the first two numbers mean. When we find out, we will of course let you know!

source: Westmountfashionista, Pinterest 

Serial number

Please note that the date code and the serial number of a Dior bag, are not the same. The serial number can be found on the authenticity card, and is the style number of the bag you purchase.

We hoped that our blog was able to help you decrypt the age of your Dior bag.

Still looking for your dream Dior bag or need some more help? That's not a problem at all! Browse our webshop and don't hesitate asking us some more questions online!