Wednesday, 11 March 2015

CHANEL batch-codes: solving the major issue.





PROBLEM: as many perfume lovers know, there are apparently TWO different four-digits Chanel batchcodes, in contrast each other. What's the correct one?  
SOLUTION: We should have some fresh-factory perfumes to check.... and luckily we got a few "Bleu de Chanel" for verifying it.



Chanel batchcodes aren't easy to understand because are monthly-based, i.e, the batch change with "months", instead of "years". 
So we could have (it's only an example) "00" for March, "01" for April, "02" for May, etc. At "99", the cycle restarts: it needs roughly 9 years to complete.
For a complete list of Chanel batch codes, see HERE
The biggest issue is that apparently (I told *apparently*...) Chanel affirmed to have restarted the cycle on January 2000 (NEW batch code). So , "01" = January 2000, "02" = February 2000, "03" = March 2000, "04" = April 2000 etc. 
On the contrary, according the old classical batch code, started in the 1970s, January 2000 should be "05" ; February 2000  = "06" , etc.
Putting it side-by-side:
DATE               CLASSICAL code -  NEW code
January 2000           05                           01
February 2000         06                           02
March 2000             07                           03
April 2000               08                           04
May 2000                09                           05
June 2000                10                           06
as you can see there is a difference of 4 (four) months.
(anyway, for vintage purposes it's not so important: just four months are not a dramatic difference)

However, I wanted to solve this issue, so asked my friend Alessandra (sales assistant) to call me at the arriving of "Bleu de Chanel EdP" new stocks. Why "Bleu de Chanel EdP"? Because it was launched in late 2014, so it's a recent fragrance. 
She finally phoned me and I arrived a few day later, to check the batchcodes.


Please note: all pictures shot on Saturday, March 7th, 2015 

Chanel Bleu, Eau de Parfum 100ml,
batch 8302, and:
Chanel Bleu, Eau de Parfum, Tester 100 ml
batch 8301
According the classical batch code:  83xx =  "July 2006" or "November 2014"
According the new batch code: 83xx  = "November 2006" or "March 2015"



Chanel Bleu After Shave 100 ml
batch 8401
According the classical batch code:  84xx =  "August 2006" or "December 2014"
According the new batch code: 84xx  = "December 2006" or "April 2015"


Chanel Bleu, Eau de Parfum 50 ml
batch 8501

According the classical batch code:  85xx =  "September 2006" or "January 2015"
According the new batch code: 85xx  = "January 2007" or  "May 2015"


CONCLUSIONS

According the new stocks arrived in shops at the beginning of March, 2015, the "new" batch code started in January 2000 appears to be un-realistic. New Blue de Chanel EdP bottles (arrived in stores on March 7, 2015) can't be batched "April, 2015" or even "May, 2015".
So -until further proofs- the old, classical Chanel code appear to be the correct one. 

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