Hermès Deep Dives

This is the technical core of the journal: the material and construction knowledge that separates a confident buyer from a nervous one. Leathers like Togo, Epsom, Clemence and the rarer heritage and exotic skins each wear, age and resell differently — and knowing which is which changes what you should pay and how you should care for a bag.

The same goes for hardware finishes, date stamps and condition grading. A blind stamp tells you the production year and factory. A hardware finish tells you rarity and durability. A condition grade — Western or Japanese — tells you where a specific bag sits within its price band. None of these are optional knowledge if you are buying or reselling seriously.

New to the terminology entirely? Start with the reseller glossary below — it defines every term you will meet elsewhere on this site and links straight through to the relevant deep dive.