RepScience: Chanel 2.55 Reissue 187 vs God Factory vs Rome vs XiaoC
"All my means are sane, my motive and my object mad." - Captain Ahab, "Moby-Dick"
I've been chasing my white whale for the last week. I have had my heart set on the Chanel 2.55 Reissue in Aged Calfskin Black / Ruthenium. A little offbeat, I know, but I love the mademoiselle lock and its a little more everyday without the double Cs. Anyway, like Ahab, it matters not why I am obsessed, only that I am.
With immense thanks to the wonderful contributors of this community, there is an absolute treasure trove of information on Chanel, although mostly to do with the classic / double flaps. The Reissue is aged calfskin, so not standard caviar or lambskin, and the issues with kinks in the chain matter less because this is a no-leather chain. Conversely the aged calfskin on the Reissue is apparently notoriously difficult to imitate 100%. Plus, its slouchier.
I was looking for top-tier, and 187 / God / Rome are generally well-regarded in this chat, with specific quirks (e.g. 187 better on the leather, not so good on the GHW). XiaoC was also recommended by sellers so I included that, but it appears to be priced as mid-high tier.
There is also the elusive Blake - I touched base, but apparently this model is not currently in stock and would have to do a request, so no photos sadly, but there are several photos in rehomes, including one this week(which I missed :'(((((( sadly).
Conclusions
- Well-known sellers generally price accurately. I got 2-3 quotes for each factory and they were all within $10-20 USD of each other.
- I asked a couple of TS's who they would recommend and was told 187 and God (twice) and 187 and Rome (twice). Which is interesting, because there is a clear step down in price between 187, God and Rome.
What will I do? I'm not sure. I want something as close to auth as possible because a colleague of mine actually owns this auth and will probably be able to tell the difference. I've asked for more photos of 187 / God / Rome to see if I can do a more detailed compare, but to be absolutely honest, from the pictures below I can't really tell major differences. If anything, on the 187, the corners of the bottom look a little folded in and off to me. And the God and Rome tongues look a little puffy?
If all else fails, I'll probably err on the side of caution and pick 187, but I'll feel a little like I've fallen for representativeness bias by assuming that higher price > higher quality of this model. I don't doubt that higher prices are probably indicative of generally higher quality in that factory, but it does differ between models!
Or, I might fall for the scarcity value and wait for Blake...
Authentic (€10,300 / ~US$12,000) (the silver is not currently on the website, so linking from Sotheby's in the hope that they authenticated well...)
https://www.chanel.com/fr/mode/p/A37586Y04634C3906/sac-2-55-veau-vieilli-metal-dore/
Sotheby's Pre-Owned from 2011 (US$6,700)
187 (2 quotes ~US$620)
God Factory (2 quotes ~US$530)
Rome (2 quotes ~US$400)
XiaoC (2 quotes ~US$280)
Posted Jun 14, 2025, 10:03 PM UTC