Luxury Designer Bag Investment Series: Céline Luggage Bag Review – History, Prices 2020

I started a series called: Luxury Designer Bag Investments – Are they actually worth the money? and will be going into the history & background, along with as many notes as possible into each Iconic Bag and how it reached Cult Status… and presumably stayed there!

As there are many bags, I will be posting a new one every week until I run out. 🙂

Today, introducing the…

Céline Luggage Bag

HISTORY: Why & how it became famous

This bag was released by Cèline in the 2010 collection in 2009 under the guidance of Phoebe Philo (loved her work!), as a part of a revamp of the brand, and was made famous by the Olsen Twins carrying it incessantly.

There is not much of a story. It was just.. a bag the Olsens carried, and then caught on like wildfire. Here is Mary-Kate Olsen carrying the bag along with her other massive bags and the always ever-present cup of coffee clutched in her tiny paw:

(What does she have in these bags!? Inquiring minds want to know.)

To be honest with you, this bag looks like a monkey’s face to me. I can’t unsee it now.

It may be a popular bag, but it isn’t my cup o’tea.

Apparently it is a fashion icon because it looks like a face, so .. goes to show you how much I know.

HOW TO SPOT A FAKE CELINE LUGGAGE

• Zippers are more of a gold, not a brassy one and the stitching is cleaner
• The shape is not as rectangular
• The font should not look thick and blurry, nor thin and faint.
• The serial tag can both be clean cut or curved in a real bag and properly embossed and clear
• Their zippers are unbranded though in the past they used Lampo or YKK zippers
• The lining colour matches the leather
• The leather is soft and supple and doesn’t crease easily or droop easily nor crumple but is still rigid though not stiff
• The clasp has 3 rings on the hardware stamped with Céline going from left to right starting at the 3 rings
• The stamp on the clasp also starts at the top of the clasp, not in the middle or too far
• The zips should have engraved, numbers just under the zipper center; not embossed or blank
• The C in “Céline” is more rounded like a circle and the font itself is thicker, and solidly stamped not faint and sparse or thin
• Hardware finishes are more antiqued, not shiny or glossy

PRICE LIST for the Céline Luggage handbag (Nano in Calfskin)

Year	Price in $USD
2009	$1500
2014	$2700
2016	$2700
2019	$2900
2020	$2700

RETURNS ON A CELINE LUGGAGE BAG

The bag has returned 57% in value since 2010 when it originally cost $1500.

If we normalize it to 2020 dollars, $1500 back in 2010 is now $1721.23

In stores, it sells for $2700 in 2020, for a difference of $978.77 or 57% over what its price would be, taking inflation solely into account.

(Remember, value is also subjective because someone has to see that and buy it from you at that price, just like with stocks, but a lot trickier to liquidate. Also, who is going to buy an old bag when they can buy a new one for the same price?)

The S&P 500 had you invested that same $1500 and not touched it or added any money to it, would have returned: $4053.19 even with the recent 2020 drop due to the virus:

If you want to read more…

• The RealReal: How to tell if your Celine is a fake
• Bags of Charm: Celine authentication guide
• Brag my Bag: Celine Prices (and old prices in 2014)
• PurseBlog: Celine prices 2016

—-

Loved this? You can see the rest of the luxury designer bag comparisons in this series here: Luxury Designer Bag Series.