Who knew when I wrote about the first Polene numero un bag (reviewed here) that it would be such a hit. Also who knew that Polene would be as ubiquitous as it is now (I see them quite often)? Well I sold my original Polene numero un because I just found it too big for my needs. So I was super excited when I saw Polene release their numero un Nano. It was the same great style but so so so kayoot! So as part of the birthday bag experience parade (which started with the Cafune Stance bag and Tory Burch Lee Radziwill bag), I decided to finally go for the numero un nano. Also the price point of the nano is so much more palatable than most other bags out there at $260.
So what did I think?
I was not impressed— woomp woomp. I chose the black textured leather version and I have to say the workmanship was shoddy. It was definitely not as impressive as I was with my first numero un bag. The leather edging was wonky. The gold “Polene” letters were all jagged and not neat. The leather was super stiff and felt cheap. Unfortunately as soon as I held it in my hands, I knew it was going to be a return for me. I might have gotten unlucky with a bad batch or maybe if you choose the smooth leather version (that goes for $40 more), you might be happier with the leather quality. Either way I would say pass on the textured leather version.
Also the bag itself really is tiny. I could just barely fit my essentials. The sunglasses with case was a real squeeze. This nano size is definitely for the woman who travels very light. And I forgot to take a pic of it with my Celine nano belt (doh! missed opportunity I know), but the Polene nano is much smaller than the Celine nano. The Celine nano can fit all my essentials and then some.
With sunglasses and w/o sunglasses
Also I was annoyed how difficult it was to close the bag with the small magnetic closure. If I thought it was a little annoying to do it with two hands for the regular numero un size, the nano one is 10 times worse. Forget trying to close the clasp in a hurry. Again this might be an issue with the textured leather version since the leather seems extra stiff.
The top handle is quite small and doesn’t really fit over your wrist. It’s mostly a handle to hold in your hand (and tbh the leather didn’t feel great when holding it in my hand either).
Anyway I decided to return the bag, but since I’m returning it from the US I had to pay it back on my own dime. It cost me $40 via USPS to ship it back to Spain. That’s where they drop ship it from, since that’s where it’s made. I think that’s fine, but if Polene is not actually laying hands on or seeing the bags they drop-ship, then I’m not sure how they can quality control (which obviously they didn’t on this one). So I’m out $65 to try out this bag (includes the $25 shipping to me). But on the bright side, I at least got that bag out of my system (and could share my experience with you guys in this review). To be honest, it’s kind of turned me off the brand and I probably won’t be trying out their bags in the future. Better for me to stick with domestic companies, and even better, secondhand but quality bags.
Anyone else have the Polene numero un nano and what did you think?
{July 2020 Update: So I shipped the bag back in March to Spain, and due to the pandemic the parcel was lost in transit (even with USPS international tracking). When I emailed them about it their attitude was “we can’t do anything, go take it up with your postal carrier.” I was definitely disappointed but what can you do? There’s a pandemic going on and losing $250 on the grand scheme of things is nothing. Well in July I decided to check if the bag was still lost (thank goodness I kept the shipping receipt with the tracking number). Nope, it got there 3 weeks ago. So then I emailed them about it and after a couple days they finally refunded me. But if I hadn’t been proactive, they probably would have been fine to keep my money (which to me, is poor customer service). Well lesson learned, and at least money returned.}
{February 2021 Update: Even though I was turned off by the unpleasant experience of the return, after a year I finally caved and bought from Polene because I fell in love with their Beri bag. You can read my full review of the Polene Beri bag here. This time the transaction was easy (since there was no returns involved) and I was 100% satisfied with my purchase. So I guess for me, I probably will continue to purchase from Polene because I love their well designed bags, mostly good construction (loved 2 out of 3 so far), and reasonable price point. I also hunt the RealReal for used Polene bags once in awhile. So would I recommend purchasing from Polene? Yea I think it’s still worth it, just don’t try to do a return during a pandemic lol.}