I love Chanel, and I also love anything vintage. So when I came across up-cycled (repurposed) earrings made with vintage Chanel buttons, I cannot resist.

The first time I have seen these up-cycled Chanel earrings a few years back was on instagram, and at the time I only see items available on Etsy. And, to get stuff on Etsy, it usually cost quite a lot to ship to Hong Kong, so I kind of gave up on it.

Then, fast forward to today, I started seeing advertisements on Instagram from individual shops in Hong Kong selling these up-cycled Chanel earrings and necklaces, so naturally I clicked to check it out. Well, then you guessed it, I got myself my first pair of upcycled earrings made with Vintage Chanel button $80 from a shop called Vintage Coco on instagram.

I unboxed it in the video below, so go ahead and watch it. : )

Not only did I just unboxed those upcycled Vintage Chanel earrings, I also compared it with authentic Chanel earrings that I own.

The vintage Chanel buttons feel very sturdy themselves, it’s weighty and of quality. With the back of the button embossed with a Chanel logo. However, I find the quality of the needle is not very well made, the metal seems somewhat unresistant and flimsy.

The second thing is I find the needle of the upcycled earrings are not placed in the right place, as in the needle is placed at the middle of the heart shape button, instead of being on the top part of the button like how the authentic Chanel earrings are. The issue is that, because the needle is placed in the middle of the button and the button is quite weighty, it made the earring not being able to hold itself at a 90 degree, pointing down towards the ground. Instead, it would tilt towards the front when I wear it because of the needle placement.

After I tried it for the first time, I sent my feedback to the shop owner who actually made the item, I asked if she can help me move the needle to the top of the button instead to fix the problem of the earring tilting to one side when I actually wear it.

She then said it’s not really possible, because of the Chanel logo on the top of the button doesn’t lay flat so its an uneven surface for her to put the needle there. She suggested me to change the back of the earring to the kind that has a plastic disc, which is exactly what I have on the authentic Chanel earrings that I have shown in the video. So I gave it a try and it really worked a lot better it’s holding the earring in a better and more secured place. However, you also have to push the back of the earring a lot tighter around your ear in order to make it work.

I have wore them a few times by now, although it does work that way, swapping the back of the earrings to the real Chanel ones. I often find myself feeling not very comfortable after wearing them for longer than 3 to 4 hours because I have to wear it really tightly.

——————update——————–

So I have wore it for like maybe 5 or 6 times by now, and this morning I wanted to wear them to work and I found one of the earring needle broke! Like the entire needle has disappeared from the earring!

Remember I commented that the needle part seems not very sturdy from the beginning compared to the button itself? I think the button is way too heavy for the flimsy little needle to hold.

I paid about $80 for this pair of earring and I did not expect them to break down to fast for sure. I messaged the shop owner and ask if she can fix it for me and she said she has never fixed earrings before and she said she will need sometime to figure out how to fix it.

So, well let’s see what she can do….

Meanwhile, I would love to know what are your experience with shopping vintage repurposed earrings and accessories. And, if you know any good seller who sells better quality, better made repurposed accessories out of vintage buttons? Please share with me in the comments below.