Vintage Coach Leather Handbags

• Most common leather type used.
• Heavier cowhide was used in vintage purses than was used in more modern ones.
• Vintage products were handmade by individual artisans.
• It had very specific tanning and processing, similar to baseball glove tanning and processing, which provided the bag with extra durability.
• Chroming was also used; this process filled in most of the leather grain, which gave a slicker appearance.
• Glove-tanned cowhide darkens over time, and also scarred easily.
• Very durable.
• Stopped being used after 1990.

Exotic Leather, including buckskin, Nappa, calfskin, ostrich, buffalo, crocodile, python

• Buckskin was used during the 1970s for sides and bottom of bag.
• Calfskin and Nappa were used for smaller items during the same period and produced a different appearance.
• Ostrich, python, crocodile, and buffalo leathers are more common in modern bags, but generally only for special edition lines.

Full-grain Leather

• Typically found on more modern bags (early 1990s).
• May be dyed different colors.
• Less affected by moisture.
• Partially waterproof, but does not have the patina that vintage bags have.
• NOT considered vintage.

• Typically found in bags from the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s.
• Many vintage Coach Italian bags used this type of leather.
• Suede is considered less durable.
• More expensive when they came out and more difficult to care for.

English Bridle Leather

• Typically a special edition line leather.
• Used in briefcases, belts, and satchels.
• Typically cowhide leather, with a heavier weight, though tanned and finished with a different process.
• Typically mahogany or British tan, though belts were typically dyed black.
• Mahogany was the least common color, so these are generally more collectible.
• Processing this was more labor-intensive.
• True vintage Coach bags were made completely of bridle leather, even trims.
• Usually made in Italy, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States.

British Tan Leather

• Very difficult to distinguish between this and bridle leather.
• It is actually the same as bridle leather, but it is just dyed and tanned differently.
• Mainly found on executive items and considered more luxurious.
• Generally a full-grain leather that was dyed with special oils, waxes, and lanolin.
• Highly sought after by collectors because it ages so distinctly.