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The House of Gucci has a famed and storied history of producing some of the finest bags in the luxury market and Guccio Gucci understood the value and the craftsmanship of his brand. Every bag was labeled, even very early Gucci items are labeled and identified as Gucci. However, through the years, the labels exact text and font have varied and consistently went through changes until the current label format was adopted.
Although labels started early on, most early Gucci pieces that were produced in the 1950’s began to include the model number or also known as the “Brev” number. This model number however was not consistent and many bags ended up not including one at all. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that Gucci began to consistently mark their pieces with serial numbers.
Labels & Serial Number Location
Inside of every Gucci bag is typically a leather label that includes the logo and made in. Once you flip it over, you will find the serial number. Depending on the year the bag was produced, serial numbers will vary in format but not location. The serial numbers will typically always be behind the leather tab, however, wallets and small leather goods typically feature the numbers embossed somewhere near the card slots.
Serial Number Font & Format
Just like other brands, Gucci’s serial numbers went through a progression of changes throughout the years until it settled into the format we know of today.
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Serial numbers will generally consist between 9 to 13 digits.
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Sometimes be separated by dots or dashes, especially vintage pieces.
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The font is typically a serif type.
When Tom Ford became the Creative Director in 1994, the formatting of the serial numbers began to change and now serial numbers included two lines. From the mid 1990’s to the mid 2000’s, the pieces would typically have a top line of 3 digits followed with a dash/dot and then 4 digits and the serif font became more consistent with a few changes to the numbers.
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The numbers 1, 4, 7 all began to include small feet on the bottom.
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Zeroes became more oval in shape.
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Then number 2 and 3 included curls to their shapes.
With the use of a consistent font, a few more changes were made to the format afterward. In the mid 2000’s, Gucci eliminated the dot and the dash, using two lines of six digits or a top line of 6 and bottom line of 4 while wallets and small leather goods continued to have one line of digits separated by a dash.
Important things to note about serial numbers:
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The first line is the model number. Model numbers can change as the items are changed over the years.
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The second line is the supplier/batch number and can be the same as other Gucci pieces.
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You can use the model number to find an item on a search engine.
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The embossing/heat stamp varies and can sometimes look messy despite the item being authentic.
Variations through the Years
For more about Gucci, read our blog: A Quick Guide to Gucci Handbag Styles
