Hello Meredith: My Milk Tea Caviar Diana

It has been a while since I’ve blogged. As you can see we have been busy! However an event as significant as this one requires some blogging to commemorate. I thought I would go through the story of how I acquired each piece in my collection because each piece does carry some history with it!

I’ve been thinking that I’m nearing the end of my Diana collecting journey - I do have quite a number of Dianas now AND in most of the colorways I actually like. Over the years I’ve stopped with the hoarding and I don’t buy bags that I won’t use! Even with that mindset however...somehow I ended up with so many?

If you have purchased from our bag shop before, you will know that I have a few very “core” pieces to my collection and they feature on all of our cards. This is why I can never sell these precious gems. Asking to buy any one of these is akin to asking someone if their dog is for sale - YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT! They really are celebrities in their own right and I would like to think they have separate lives of their own. 

I should preface by saying that I actually keep one caviar Diana for every series because actually there are very subtle differences between series! But of course, those aren’t pieces I would feature here because one shouldn’t get too emotionally attached to one’s lab rats. 

You can see from my color library post all of the Dianas I have owned and/or sold previously if you’re curious! 

Henry

Henry is my first caviar Diana piece. I bought him right after I blogged about how I could ‘never afford the prices of caviar Dianas’...wow was I wrong. I actually found him online at some major platform (I forget which one, this was way before we officially started the e-shop). He actually has quite a bad structure to him but I don’t mind. If I was filming his video for sale, I would be all over those two sides. He was my first caviar Diana and I shall love him just the way he is even as he ages. 

Shelley

Shelley was the friend I never should have cut ties with. She is an ivory beige caviar Diana (quite like a warm off-white). Initially purchased from a private dealer, I actually stupidly sold her to an amazing customer of mine. At the time I had a white caviar Diana and Shelley on hand and then thought I didn’t need both. The regret really started sinking in 1 week after I shipped her out. I truly cannot believe I did such an idiotic thing. I then (unprofessionally) started cajoling this customer of mine to sell her back to me and eventually she was kind enough to agree to trade Shelley back for my black rectangular caviar mini even though we both knew that market price for Shelley was worth a lot more than my black rectangular mini at the time. This is why I call her a great customer - it was well within her right to sell Shelley back to me at market price but instead, she was happy to trade Shelley with a bag she would actually use and return Shelley back to her family. Experiences and interactions with these types of customers really shape how you think and run your own business so Shelley's history is now deeply intertwined with that telling experience. 

Sheryl

Sheryl is a piece I bought from a trip to Japan (back when you could travel). Prior to Meredith, she was the most expensive caviar piece in this collection (but obviously by current standards she is a great deal!) She is actually the second addition to my caviar Diana family. Way before this whole trend of the vintage nudes came along, I was long obsessed with the color. A lovely milk white chocolate (with some caramel swirled in). She is in the same series as Henry but maintains her shape way better. In general these pieces are all incredibly sturdy. I use Sheryl quite a lot because the colorway and the caviar makes her incredibly carefree. 

Bruno

Bruno is arguably the most famous of my caviar Dianas, so much so that he even has his own fan club! Bruno was purchased through another private dealer and initially I actually turned him down because he didn’t have his serial card. Now, many years wiser, I know not to give a crap about that type of stuff. The only thing those serial cards bring is COST.  Bruno is a dark brown caviar Diana and of the whole family, he gets to go out the most! He is my favorite neutral and I honestly bang him around so he has quite a fair bit of wear. His leather is very unique - it is definitely a dark brown but with a tiny hint of grey. There’s also quite a lamination to his leather which makes him virtually indestructible. Bruno and I have been on a number of adventures together. 

Meredith 

So this brings me to my missing piece and possibly my final Diana purchase ever. The one color missing from my collection of my favorite neutrals in the small Diana style. I had always known this color called “milk tea” existed in my favorite Diana style but could never find it. So I kept collecting this color in minis and classic flaps but always had a longing for a milk tea Diana. 

Above is Sheryl with Meredith. Meredith's color is called “milk tea” but it really looks more like a milk coffee and strangely enough is one of the few colors which I have seen more in caviar skin than in lambskin. Next to Sheryl, Meredith looks almost like a dark beige but I can tell that they are two very different colors. Milk tea is quite a unique neutral and I would describe it as a “faded Hermes gold” color. No colors in the Chanel or Hermes world really does compare in my opinion. I wear my milk tea colored minis and my flaps A LOT so I knew that getting one more in a Diana style would be a smart choice. 

So five years after my Diana collecting journey has started, I do think this is the end of the Diana road for me. If I buy another piece, it will simply be because I am a hoarder. It has been an interesting and now unaffordable journey with vintage prices for Dianas having literally doubled. However because I think this will be my last Diana, I splurged! Maybe this post will be revisited again 5 years later and hopefully I’ll think acquiring Meredith was a great decision after all.