Hermès decoder
Date your Hermès piece
Every Hermès piece carries a letter blind-stamped into the leather, sometimes inside a shape. The letter gives the year, the shape gives the cycle. Enter both.
Locating
Where to find the code
On Birkins and Kellys the stamp is pressed on the back of a strap near the closure, or on the interior left panel for recent pieces. Pressed without ink, it only shows in raking light. Other letters and numbers often sit beside it: those are craftsman marks, not the date.
Method
How to read it
01
1945–1970: letter alone
A for 1945, then one letter per year in alphabetical order, up to Z for 1970.
02
1971–1996: letter in a circle
The cycle starts again: A in a circle for 1971, up to Z for 1996.
03
1997–2014: letter in a square
A in a square for 1997, up to R for 2014. Letters after R do not exist in a square.
04
Since 2015: letter alone, no order
The shape disappears and so does the alphabet: T for 2015, X for 2016, A for 2017, C for 2018, D for 2019, Y for 2020, Z for 2021, U for 2022, B for 2023, W for 2024, K for 2025, G for 2026.
Ranges compiled from public authentication guides — the houses do not publish their tables. They are indicative, give or take a year.
What it does not tell you
A code dates. It does not authenticate.
Counterfeits copy codes, often correctly. What they do not copy are the leathers, the stitching, the engravings, the hardware — what our experts examine point by point, and what Entrupy technology verifies under the microscope for leather goods.
Our authentication protocolThe other decoders