Hermès date stamps: how to read the year letter on your bag
On a Hermès bag, the year of manufacture is shown by a single letter stamped into the leather. Depending on the era, that letter stands alone, sits inside a circle or is placed in a square. Here is how to find the stamp, read it without getting the decade wrong, and what it really tells you about your bag.
What is the Hermès date stamp?
Collectors call it the “blind stamp”: it is pressed into the leather without ink. It consists of a letter for the year of manufacture, sometimes inside a shape. Next to it, there is usually a second mark, made of letters or numbers, that identifies the workshop or the craftsperson who made the bag.
Hermès has used this system since 1945. The alphabet has been run through several times: the shape around the letter tells you which cycle it belongs to.
Where is the stamp?
Its position varies by model and era. A few pointers:
- Birkin and Kelly: on older bags, on one of the straps under the flap; on recent bags, inside on the left wall, near the back.
- Constance: usually on the central interior divider.
- Other models: inside, on a wall, under a tab or on the underside of a strap.
On a bag that combines canvas and leather, the stamp is pressed into a leather part. It is often discreet: a torch and a little patience help, especially on patinated leather.
The four Hermès stamp cycles
| Period | Shape | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1945 – 1970 | None | A (1945) to Z (1970) |
| 1971 – 1996 | Circle | A (1971) to Z (1996) |
| 1997 – 2014 | Square | A (1997) to R (2014) |
| Since 2015 | None | Letters out of order (see below) |
Letters in a square, 1997 to 2014
A 1997 · B 1998 · C 1999 · D 2000 · E 2001 · F 2002 · G 2003 · H 2004 · I 2005 · J 2006 · K 2007 · L 2008 · M 2009 · N 2010 · O 2011 · P 2012 · Q 2013 · R 2014
Letters without a shape, since 2015
Since 2015, the letters no longer follow alphabetical order: T 2015 · X 2016 · A 2017 · C 2018 · D 2019 · Y 2020 · Z 2021 · U 2022 · B 2023 · W 2024 · K 2025
Hermès does not publish these letters: they are known from specialists' records, and each new year is only confirmed once enough bags have been seen.
Why the shape changes everything
Take the letter M. On its own, without a shape, it means 1957. In a circle, 1983. In a square, 2009. Three bags with the same letter can therefore have been made more than fifty years apart.
Watch out from 2015 onwards: a letter without a shape can belong either to the first cycle (1945 – 1970) or to the current one. The model, the material, the hardware and the look of the leather usually settle the question easily.
What the stamp does not tell you
The stamp tells you the year of manufacture, not whether the bag is authentic. Good counterfeits reproduce it, sometimes with a plausible letter. Its main use is to check that the bag is consistent:
- the year falls within a period when the model was made;
- the shape of the stamp matches the cycle for that year;
- the position is usual for that model and era;
- the impression is crisp and even, like the rest of the “HERMÈS PARIS” stamps.
A full authentication also examines the leather, the saddle stitching, the hardware and its engravings. That is what we do for every piece before it goes online.
An example: the Herbag
The Herbag shows why dating a bag is useful. This model combines a canvas body with a leather top, flap and handle, which can be detached to change the body. The first version was made until the mid-2000s, then Hermès relaunched it in 2009 as the Herbag Zip. A Herbag Zip whose stamp pointed to a year before 2009 would therefore be inconsistent.
Our midnight blue canvas and leather Herbag is described area by area, with photos.
Find a pre-owned Hermès bag
The pieces in our Hermès collection are authenticated, then graded according to our condition scale. Looking for a Kelly, a Birkin, an Evelyne or a specific colour? Our personal shopping service will search for you.
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