My Experience with Leather Surgeons

9:00 AM

A year ago or so I purchased a vintage Chanel classic flap off of Ebay (you can read about my experience here). When I received my bag, it was in need of some pampering so I brought it to Leather Surgeons, a reputable bag repair service for Chanel bags. This is the long-awaited post I had promised describing my experience with them. 

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the vintage Chanel bag I received in the mail was not as described. There were a few flaws that were not disclosed. I did not want to bother with the hassle and stress of returning the bag overseas to Japan, so I decided to send it to Leather Surgeons for some touch-ups. I had read many reviews extolling their magic and I was excited to see what they could do.

My bag arrived with the following flaws (none of these were disclosed in the listing, which is a reminder to ask for additional photos once you win an auction):

The front of the bag caved in

The chains were in poor condition. Showed tarnishing and the leather had tears

There was creasing on the inside of the bag


Tarnishing on the front clasp


Side view of the bag being caved in

Another area of the chain in poor condition

After reviewing these photos again, I am surprised I kept the bag now! I suppose it is a testament of the trust I had in Leather Surgeons for restoring my bag, or I would have just sent the bag back to the seller.

I emailed Leather Surgeons for a quote of all the services that I would want: re-touching the gold hardware, fixing the structure of the bag, giving it a "spa" treatment and cleaning, and repairing the chains. The communication was smooth - Leather Surgeons was so responsive and answered all of my questions patiently and thoroughly. 

Once they gave me the quote, I packaged my Chanel and shipped it off to Leather Surgeons. I crossed my fingers that my Chanel would make it to their offices safely with no hiccups. Once it arrived, Leather Surgeons let me know they received the bag and would work on it.

A few weeks later, they let me know the bag was finished and sent it back to me. I was able to track the bag's journey back to me through the shipping label, and it showed up on my doorstep one day.

I was impressed from the moment I unwrapped my bag. Leather Surgeons had packaged it so beautifully; it was like opening a new bag! The bonus of having Leather Surgeons refurbish my bag was that they also authenticate bags before working on them. They only work on authentic bags. I already knew my bag was authentic from another service I used once I won the auction but it was nice to have another confirmation. 


My bag was sent back in this beautiful dust bag




They fixed the front creasing of my bag and overall structure



Another angle of the structure of my bag



The inside of my bag was smooth from the spa service; micro-scratches have been smoothed over

The hardware on the front is beautiful once again 😍

They even smoothed out the creasing on the inside flap 

More inside shots

Back of the bag

The chains have been repaired and gold re-polished 


I am so happy with Leather Surgeons! They truly made my semi-battered bag look like new again. The customer service was so great end to end. I highly recommend sending your Chanel bags to them for any refurbishing or cleaning. I hope my review was helpful for anyone curious about Leather Surgeons.

Share This Story

Tags: , ,

You Might Also Like

0 comments

Subscribe