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Not long ago, a $50 cashmere sweater would have sounded like an obvious scam. At best, you’d expect to receive something subpar in quality. At worst, you’d wind up with a completely different item than the one you ordered — a lesson many of us have learned the hard way after one too many questionable purchases from random Amazon sellers or any of the other discount-driven e-commerce marketplaces (e.g. Wish.com).
But that’s essentially the premise behind Quince, a company that has built its entire identity around selling familiar-looking wardrobe staples — cashmere sweaters, leather bags, silk slip dresses, etc. — at prices that feel suspiciously low. A report by The Cut once described the brand as a “one-stop dupe shop for a new generation of discerning, albeit weary, consumers.” In other words: Millennials who like nice things but are increasingly unwilling to overpay for them. So, since I count myself among that weary generation, it should come as no surprise that curiosity eventually got the better of me.
If you’ve read any of my work, you might know I’ve written a lot about luggage, and that I have a well-documented soft spot for Rimowa. I want one. Badly. But despite my having tested a frankly ludicrous number of carry-ons over the years, the Rimowa still eludes me. Mostly because their most basic aluminum model starts at $1,400.
You can imagine my interest, then, when I saw that Quince makes an aluminum carry-on that looks a lot like Rimowa’s. Naturally, I had to try it.
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Quick disclaimer before we dive in: I’ve never actually traveled with a Rimowa carry-on. I’ve handled them, admired them up close and written about them, but I have yet to take one out into the world. This is purely about my experience with the Quince aluminum carry-on, which has been, perhaps surprisingly, very positive.
Let’s start with the basics. It has a sleek matte finish and a solid, premium hand-feel. It’s fairly lightweight — a bit heavier than a polycarbonate case — but that’s to be expected with aluminum. If it were any lighter, I’d probably question its durability. It’s got leather-wrapped handles (you’ll only find those on Rimowa’s $1,650 Original Cabin Twist), a telescopic handle that extends really high (a detail I appreciate very much), smooth-rolling Japanese Hinomoto wheels (which sound fancy, though I am admittedly no wheel connoisseur) and a TSA-approved lock closure. Inside, you get compression panels and a removable laundry bag. Nice, thoughtful touches.
Of course, like all aluminum cases, it’s prone to dings and scratches. Many travelers wear those marks proudly — proof of their worldliness — but I’m a little more precious about my things. My approach to preserving expensive shoes, for example, is to simply not wear them, and I treat luggage the same way (which is probably why I’ve never been able to justify dropping four figures on a Rimowa). But that’s what makes the Quince version so compelling. At $275, I don’t flinch at the idea of checking it at the gate, even if that means adding a few new scuffs.
But does any of this answer the big question? Is the Quince carry-on better than, or at least of similar calibre to the Rimowa?
A while back, Wirecutter brought in leather expert Tanner Leatherstein to examine a Quince handbag, an apparent dupe of a $350 Coach bag. His verdict? It wasn’t built from the luxe materials the website claimed, and probably shouldn’t be directly compared to Coach. Still, he concluded that for $150, it was a pretty solid deal.
That’s kind of how I feel about the carry-on. I haven’t dissected it stitch by stitch, and I don’t want to. I like it. For $275, it looks great — expensive, even — and does exactly what I need it to. Whether or not it matches Rimowa in craftsmanship almost doesn’t matter, because unlike a $1,400 suitcase, I won’t be letting it collect dust in the name of preservation. Let the baggage handlers have at it.
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