Chanel Serial Number Meaning and Sticker Guide
Chanel bags never go out of style. Vintage bags well over 30 years old are still in-trend and are very costly. And each year, these bags only appreciate in price. So, it's no wonder that NO ONE ever throws out their Chanel. Here is a Chanel serial sticker guide to help you date your bag.
Before Mid 1980's - no sticker
Chanel did not apply serial stickers at this time. It is a common mistake to assume that all Chanel bags must have a serial sticker to be authentic.
It's also important to mention that serial stickers can wear off or be removed. Fake Chanel bags oftentimes have serial stickers too.
Mid 1980's - 6 digit (1XXXXX - 42XXXX)
This time period had a very plain sticker. The number part may be more centered or left-oriented as shown above.
If the sticker is viewed at an angle, a CC logo may be perceptible, but usually not.
Late 1980's to 1990 - 7 digit (043XXXX - 15XXXXX)
Serial stickers changed to 7 digits but are still in sequential order. A 0 is added to the front for numbers lower than 1000000. Not only that, but the CC logo is more bold, and the sticker design is updated.
1990 to 1991 - 7 digit (16XXXXX - 19XXXXX)
CC pattern and font is changed.
1991 to 1993 - 7 digit (20XXXXX - 26XXXXX)
The appearance of the sticker drastically changes.
1993 to 1998 - 7 digit (27XXXXX - 56XXXXX)
There are several changes for this period. Most notably, the ink for these numbers is much heavier than that of previous stickers, and the sticker also has a slight texture.
1998 to 2021 - 7 digit to 8 digits (57XXXXX - 3XXXXXXX)
From 1998 to some of 2021, Chanel used the same serial sticker design. It is white with number and CC logos with a clear overlay sticker. On the left side, there is a dark vertical stripe. On the right side, there is Chanel text. There is a rectangular cut around the white part and an x cut across the white part. There will also be very fine gold glitter underneath the sticker. The amount of glitter really varies, and sometimes other colored glitter can be found, like blue.
Counterfeitors have become very good at faking these stickers, so many non-experts are getting duped with fake bags.
2021 onward- Microchip
In 2021, Chanel migrated to microchips instead of serial stickers (read more about it here). This is usually embedded in a metal block attached to the inside of the bag.
Serial numbers should not be repeated, so the same number should never be repeated for multiple bags. If you find 2 bags with the same serial number, chances are both bags will be fake.
The serial sticker is only one of many checkpoints for authenticating a Chanel bag. However, many fakes do this part wrong, so this alone can weed out many counterfeits.