Coach Tribeca Hobo Navy Blue

With this bag I broke my rule and paid a little more. I paid $35.50 for it here. This is a classic Tribeca Hobo in Navy Blue, one very beautiful bag when in good condition. Mine was not in good condition at all.

This bag was made in the United States, and has a serial number B8C-9098.

It came in smelling of mildew and so stinky I thought I might never get it to stop being offensive to be around. It also has a handle that has been chewed on by a creature, I am guessing a rodent of some kind. It was so bad that it put me off rehabbing for a little while. This will be a gorgeous bag someday, when I am done with it, but for now, it is half-done. It doesn't smell anymore! I had to wash it three times and soak it really well to finally get the smell to go away. The leather drank in the conditioner, I think I used most of a tube of Glove CPR on it, then finally resorted to olive oil to get it to finally start getting more leather-like again. Olive oil is controversial in leather repair, it can go rancid in heat and destroy leather if you aren't careful with it. I used it because frankly this bag was going in the trash if it didn't start showing improvement soon, and olive oil was what I had on hand at the moment. This will be getting the Black Rocks treatment this coming week, I can't wait!

After looking at the photos, I took a couple more because you cannot see how odd the Navy blue color is in these pictures, and you can't see the darker splotches in places, it really makes the bag look good when in person it doesn't look that good.

Anyway, here are some photos:

Coach Small Legacy Shoulder Bag

This was one of my first projects and one of my favorites. It is a Coach Small Legacy Shoulder Bag made in the United States. I gave it a nice bath, and it came out beautiful. I do carry it quite often, and it always looks perfect! I still don't have a tag for it, have to remember to go to my favorite Coach store one day ans ask nicely.

Coach Logo stamped wristlet

I love the design of this wristlet, and when I saw it I really wanted it. It was a challenging rehab project, and it will never be blemish-free, but it has a lot of character. It was made in China and has the outlet store mark on the label.
This wristlet came in and was covered in dirt. It was washed three times to get all the gunk off, and finally, after all the washing I could tell there were marks that would not leave it. I am going to dry Black Rocks leather moisturizer on it pretty soon and see if I can darken it enough to hide the marks, but this is where it is in the rehab process at this moment.

Coach Red Canvas and Black Leather Wristlet

I bought this wristlet on Bonanza for $13 here. It came in beautiful and didn't require any rehabilitation.

Hampton Demi-Hobo

This is a brick red Hampton Demi Hobo model number 7785 made in China, serial number J1S-7785. It was purchased online. This was a challenging rehab project. It looked fine in the photos but when it came in it had dark watermarks all over the outside. I thought perhaps it wasn't salvageable. It is lined, and this was the first lined bag I had ever tried to work on. I gave it a bath and filled it with towels. It dried unevenly the first time, and any attempt at moisturizing made the dark splotches worse! I wanted to give up, but decided to bathe it again. The second time it dried evenly, and then it finally responded to the moisturizer. This is a bag I would not carry if it was raining outside because I think any water would immediately discolor the leather. I had to cover one spot with red acrylic paint because as most of the spots were dark, this one was indented and white. It covered up fairly well, and the bag is one I can carry now, so I am happy with the overall result.

Coach City Bag

I rehabbed this bag 6 months ago, it was purchased online, came in crushed and mangled and grey and very dirty, and I completely dunked it until the water ran clean, repeatedly moisturized it, and got a new tag for it from the Coach store. I carry it quite often now. It is a Coach City bag style number 9790 made in Turkey, serial number F62-9790 with a target symbol in the tag indicating it was a final sale or outlet purchase when it was new. I paid $14.50 for it on Etsy here.