Comments on: Persian Lamb: Telling the Genuine from the Faux

By: carole

carole — Sat, 04 May 2013 21:05:47 +0000

Sharon, I have a Persian Lamb coat from the 50s that was my Mother’s. The skins are still very soft and pliable. The coat is 3/4 length, long sleeves and is beautiful. VERY heavy. I am wondering what the value of this could possibly be. Can you help me out?

By: Sharon Maxwell-Yamamoto

Sharon Maxwell-Yamamoto — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 02:25:14 +0000

Hi Nina,
I suggest you go to “Ask a Worthologist” so you can submit photos and get some information and an appraisal.

Thanks for reading my article!

By: Nina

Nina — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:21:19 +0000

I have a black and a brown Persian lamb coat from mother and grand mother. They are from Galvin Brennin Furriers in Boston. Are they real?

By: Monica

Monica — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:43:13 +0000

This is a very informative article! I read through the comments as well, and they are helpful.

I do have a question myself.

You say the coats are heavy. What would you estimate the weight of a short jacket to be approximately? I think I could tell in person, but I have been looking online a lot lately.

I *love* vintage and have worn it for years. Beautiful, well-made things never go out of style.

Many thanks!

By: Genna

Genna — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:18:06 +0000

Sharon -

Thank you for all the great information.
I am about to attempt a remake of my mother-in-law’s Persian lamb jacket. I’d like to convert it into a vest.

Did you Feb 2011 experiments with home products result in any recommendations for cleaning or reconditioning our vintage pieces?

By: Sharon Maxwell-Yamamoto

Sharon Maxwell-Yamamoto — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 07:25:54 +0000

Hi Nurraa,
From what I know to be true, Miracurl is a brand of faux fur. Even the name suggests that a synthetic fabric could quite miraculously be made to curl in such an authentic way, so as to appear almost real. I hate to say I know it all, because I don’t, but I am 99.9% sure that the coat is faux Persian Lamb. If you do the tests I mention in my article, especially checking between the curls under a good light, you can be sure. And do let me know what you find!

Also, a person who wore fur a lot may have purchased a faux fur to wear when the weather was too wet for the real ones she loved so much. A faux fur coat is great for running around in the rain. Just a thought.

Thanks for visiting Worthpoint!

By: Nurraa Ali

Nurraa Ali — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:14:07 +0000

I have inherited my grandmother’s Persian Lamb coat and have kept it for more then thirty years it is in excellent condition. It has a mink silver collar and I am sure it is the real thing my grandmother had many furs. It is one size smaller then I am but I still can wear it and wore it twenty years ago to my mothers funeral. I have only taken it out of my attic once a year since then and found my self repairing some small areas of it with Black thread a few years ago. The label does say a Miracurl, however it is very heavy coat (weighs a ton)and I believe it is the real thing, I would like to know for sure before I have it professionally cleaned.

By: Sharon Yamamoto

Sharon Yamamoto — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 03:53:53 +0000

AnAhita, I do know fur prices very well, and a brand new persian lamb coat can cost that, but this post is about vintage. Most vintage persian lamb coats are worth very little on the resale market. Only a collector’s piece like a Schiaparelli or one owned by a famous person would hold any higher value. Fur prices differ greatly between new and used. I have purchased many of both.

By: AnAhitA

AnAhitA — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:55:58 +0000

Sharon pleae check ELAN FURS and you will see top quality Furrier prices , and yes of ourse one must add another type of fur to add some visual Intrest and design Factors

AnA’HitA

By: Sharon Yamamoto

Sharon Yamamoto — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:09:01 +0000

Yinka, only professional cleaning can remove a bad smell and then, some odors simply won’t ever come out. But to make it less noticeable, I hang the coat with a dryer sheet taped to the middle of the hanger, not touching the fur, but the nice fragrance does permeate the fur and mask the objectionable odor. It’s exchanging one smell for another, but frankly, I would prefer the fresh fragrance of a dryer sheet over a musty smell any day, wouldn’t you? If you can get a cotton (not plastic) garment bag and hang the coat in it, just place a couple of dryer sheets in the bottom, not touching the fur, and the fragrance should really get into the coat and make it nicer to wear (and nicer to sit next to for your companion!)

Thanks for coming to Worthpoint!

By: Sharon Yamamoto

Sharon Yamamoto — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:52:43 +0000

AnAhita,
I’m afraid you’re overestimating a vintage persian lamb coat by quite a bit. Even a vintage mint-condition Schiaparelli isn’t worth that. To give that kind of information, a coat would have to be really appraised in person and then believe me, persian lamb is just not worth that much. Mink might be, Chinchilla and certainly Sable, but not persian lamb.

By: AnAhitA

AnAhitA — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:09:37 +0000

If your fur is the genuine article it’s value is approx: 4,500.00

By: Yinka

Yinka — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:29:14 +0000

Thank you

By: Yinka Awe

Yinka Awe — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:28:53 +0000

I really love the coat, but it smells real bad. Thank you.

By: Yinka Awe

Yinka Awe — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:27:56 +0000

How do I get an the musty smell out of my astrakhan coat?

By: Terry O'Day

Terry O'Day — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 22:25:55 +0000

I have an authentic Persian lamb coat with a grey mink collar that was purchased at N. L. Kaplan in Buffalo, New York thirty years ago. The owner died over twenty years ago. Her coat has been carefully preserved and is in mint condition. The lining is embossed with a floral pattern and her name embroidered in it.
I would be willing to sell it at a good price.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:22:39 +0000

Thank you for the your informative article. I just purchased my first (now I know) authentic Persian Lamb
coat from an Estate sale. Its beautiful, but I had
no idea if it was authentic, until reading your article.
My final confirmation was when you mentioned the weight.
I’ve never owned a coat this heavy! Thanks Again

By: How to fix your broken zipper

How to fix your broken zipper — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:30:09 +0000

Fantastic guide, I found it to be very useful. Perhaps you have heard of fixazipper.org? They have a lot of of free tutorials on zipper repair and maintenance, the majority of them include videos also. I have serviced a number of zippers on my kids clothes using their free videos, you might want to chekc them out.

By: Carlon

Carlon — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 06:36:17 +0000

I have a Persian lamb hat that says jj steiner and sons ny is it authentic please let me know ASAP thank you!

By: Sharon Yamamoto

Sharon Yamamoto — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 21:17:28 +0000

Hi Sharon,
You emailed me directly already and maybe you didn’t get my reply, but your coat is faux fur and can be dry cleaned by any cleaner. To get an appraisal, please see “Ask a Worthologist” on this website.

Take care,
Sharon