Case study · Chanel caviar clutch From ivory, to black.
Front · before no. 1 ↔ after no. 1 — two photos taken in front of the same wall, from the same spot and direction, overlaid.
The after photo is only resized and moved to line up with the before photo. No colour or brightness changes.
Rest the cursor on a photo to look closer through the loupe — up to the photo’s own resolution.
An ivory clutch, soiled and uneven where hands touch it most, dyed a calm black with the caviar grain still alive.
Explore the work01 / 04
Up close, three places
The front is overlaid above. Here, the band around the CC — where hands touch most — and the bottom corner, which wears first, sit side by side, before and after.
01The front, closer
The CC, the quilted band and the chevrons beneath — the same two photos and the same alignment as the overlay above, this part only, larger. 02Around the CC
Before · no. 2
After · no. 6
The quilted band around the CC — a place hands touch often, and where the caviar grain shows best. The before and after photos were taken from different directions, so they cannot be overlaid. Both are centred on the CC and shown side by side.
03Bottom corner
Before · no. 3
After · no. 5
The bottom corner, which wears first. In the before photo the corner is worn and stained. The before photo shows the right-hand corner and the after photo the left-hand one — not the same spot, so they sit side by side.
02 / 04
The work, as recorded
What was recorded for this bag: its condition, the target colour, the work, the result and what remains.
- Brand
- Chanel
- Piece
- Caviar clutch · chevron quilting
- Colour in
- Ivory
- Colour out
- Black
- Sheen
- One step lower, as asked
- Photos
- 4 before · 6 after
IvoryBlackChanged to a darker colour
- Condition on arrival
A Chanel clutch in ivory caviar leather. Being a pale colour, it had picked up grime all over with use, and the colour had turned uneven where hands touch it most.
The bottom corner is worn and stained.
- Target colour
Black, all over — a change from ivory to a darker colour. The request also asked for a sheen that was not too strong.
- Colour mixing & process
- Clearing the ivory
- Dyeing black
- Setting the sheen
The traces of the ivory were cleared first, so none of it would show through the black.
Dyed a calm black, not overly deep, with the caviar grain kept.
The sheen was finished one step lower, as asked.
- Result
Shot in front of the same wall from the same direction, the whole front reads as an even black, with the caviar grain and chevron quilting still visible.
- Limits
Even in black, the result depends on the leather and the sheen you want; the sheen here was set to this request.
How far the corner wear was improved was not recorded separately — please judge from the photos.
Leather can only be dyed darker than its current colour. Ivory can become black; black cannot go back to ivory.
03 / 04
The sheen, one step lower
Along with black all over, the request was for a sheen that was not too strong.
Black that is too deep looks artificial; too much gloss buries the grain; none at all looks dry. Caviar leather depends on its raised grain, so the depth of the dye and the finish were balanced and the sheen set one step lower.
04 / 04
If yours looks similar
Message us to talk it through — photos of the whole bag and the problem area help. If you have a sheen in mind, tell us.
