What is the date codes?
Louis Vuitton started adding date codes to their products from the beginning of the 1980s. By checking the date code it is possible to tell when a product was manufactured. Each date code is printed in a different place depending on the product.
Factory location codes
By checking the alphabet attached to each date code, it is possible to tell where the product was made.
(Products before 1980 do not have date codes, moreover, products made before the first half of 1985 only display a number.)
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Franch
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AA AC AH AN AR AS BA BU BJ CT DU ET FL LW MB MI MS NO RA RI SL SN SP SR TA TH TJ TN TR TS VI
AAS (Special Order)
A0 A1 A2 (These are exceptions and contain no numbers)
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Spain
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CA GI LB LM LO
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USA
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FC FH OS SD
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Italy
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CE FO RC
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Switzerland
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CE FO RC
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Germany
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LP
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Repaired
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DK (If the area where the location code has been repaired, and is missing, the letters DK will replace the code)
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* The above codes do not include every product. Some products can have been made in two countries depending on the code stamp.
What year it's munifactured?
By checking the date code's number it is possible to tell when a product was made.
Before 1980
There is no date code for products made before 1980.
Early 1980s
There were only 3 or 4 numbers shown. The numbers represent the year and the month. The photograph shows the numbers "854", which means that the product was made in April of 1985.
Until around 1989
Until around 1989 letters then followed the numbers. The numbers still represented the date of production and the letters represented the location of manufacture. "884 TH", means that the product was made in April of 1988, in France.
From around 1989 until 2006
Letters started preceding the numbers from around 1989.
The second and fourth number represents the year and the first and third number represents the month. "SP1014", means that the product was manufactured in November of 2004, in France.
From 2007 onwards
Since 2007 the second and fourth numbers still represent the year, however the first and third numbers now represent the number of the week in which it was produced. "AR2111", means that it was manufactured during the 21st week of the year (May) 2011, in France.
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