Briefcases and messenger bags

What decides it

Laptop sleeve: check the padded sleeve fits your laptop, including a case if you use one. Leather finish: pebbled and Saffiano leathers handle daily commuting far better than smooth or vegetable-tanned leather. Trolley sleeve: a strap on the back that slides over a suitcase handle makes airports easier.

The pieces we would buy

Start with the Bottega Veneta Intrecciato Briefcase: woven leather briefcase with no logos. The Berluti Un Jour Briefcase is the better buy if you want a distinctive, logo-light briefcase. Usual prices run from $650 to $16,000. See the full buy-or-skip list or the head-to-head Bottega Veneta Intrecciato Briefcase vs Berluti Un Jour Briefcase.

Buying in the US and Europe

A briefcase gets daily wear, so buy the house’s most durable leather in black or dark brown; it will look better after five years than a trend color after one. Buying in Europe: European prices include VAT (around 20%), while US prices exclude sales tax, so a bag can look cheaper in Paris or Milan than it really is. Visitors from outside the EU and UK can often claim a VAT refund on purchases made in the EU, which is why many Americans buy Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermès while travelling.

Quick answers

Briefcase or backpack for work? A briefcase looks sharper with tailoring. A backpack is kinder to your back on long commutes; several luxury houses now make backpacks that work with suits. How heavy is too heavy? Over about 1.5 kg empty, a leather briefcase becomes tiring to carry daily. Nylon and leather mixes from Tumi or Prada weigh less.

Luxury prices move in a different rhythm from everyday shopping. The great houses (Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Rolex) raise prices once or twice a year, often in January and in spring, and almost never discount their icons. Seasonal pieces, colors and many shoes, coats and knitwear drop 30–50% in the end-of-season sales in January and from late June. Watches from brands such as Omega, TAG Heuer, Longines and Breitling, and most fragrance, see the best prices around Prime Day and Black Friday. Judge any deal against the usual price we show.

Buy from the fashion house, an authorized retailer or a reseller that authenticates and guarantees every piece, and keep the receipt, the dust bag, the box and any warranty card: they matter for repairs and for resale. Swiss watches carry a 2- to 5-year international warranty when bought from an authorized dealer, and buyers in the EU and UK also have a legal guarantee of at least two years on new goods.

How we make the call: we read the house’s own product details and care guides, compare materials and construction, follow owners’ long-term experience and track the usual retail and resale prices. A piece gets “Buy” only if we would tell a friend to spend that money on it. No fashion house can pay for a verdict.