Dior runs the most factory-aware batch-code scheme of any major luxury house. The first character of every Dior batch code identifies the production facility within LVMH's manufacturing network, and that single character is one of the most useful authentication signals in fragrance — counterfeiters can fake the year letter and the day-of-year digits, but they consistently get the factory letter wrong because they don't know which factories Dior actually uses for which fragrances.
The 4-character scheme
The format has been stable since 1998: factory letter + year letter + two-digit day of year. Pre-1998 Dior used a longer scheme without a clean factory code, and the decoder treats those bottles as ESTIMATED tier; they are uncommon in normal circulation but do show up on the vintage market.
Year letter mapping (current cycle, started 2008): A=2008, B=2009, C=2010, D=2011, E=2012, F=2013, G=2014, H=2015, I is skipped, J=2016, K=2017, L=2018, M=2019, N=2020, P=2021, Q=2022, R=2023, S=2024, T=2025, U=2026.
Day-of-year is encoded as a 2-digit number, 01 through 99. For codes produced after the first 99 days of the year, the decoder reads the digits as week-line rather than absolute day, and the week interpretation maps to a calendar month directly.
The factory letter
This is what makes Dior interesting from an authentication perspective. Dior runs production from a small number of LVMH facilities, each identified by a single letter:
- T — Saint-Jean-de-Braye, the largest LVMH fragrance facility in France. Most Miss Dior, Forever Foundation, J'adore production runs through here. Also handles Sauvage when factory G is at capacity.
- G — Beauvais. Primary production for Sauvage and Homme. Some Miss Dior at high-volume periods.
- R — Vimoutiers. Smaller facility, handles travel-size SKUs and limited editions.
Counterfeit Dior bottles often use a factory letter that doesn't match the fragrance. A Sauvage with factory letter L (which is not used for Sauvage in any year we've authenticated) is a counterfeit regardless of how plausible the rest of the code looks. A Miss Dior with factory letter R for a 100 ml SKU (R only handles travel sizes) is similarly a flag.
The decoder cross-checks the factory letter against the brand registry's expected factories for each fragrance, but the front-end currently only surfaces this as part of the LOW confidence flag — we'll publish a public "factory mismatch" warning in V1.5.
Where the code lives
Default placement: underside of the bottle, laser-etched in sans-serif. The etch is shallow but consistent across modern production. The carton has a matching code printed on the bottom flap (not stickered — Dior prints directly onto the carton stock).
50 ml and travel-size SKUs sometimes carry the code on the atomiser collar instead of the underside, because the smaller bottles don't have enough flat surface for a clean etch. The format and decoding logic are identical wherever the code is placed.
A genuine Dior laser etch should be:
- Sans-serif, no exceptions
- Flush with the glass surface (you should not feel it under a fingernail)
- Sharp character edges (no blur, no smudge)
- 4 characters exactly, no leading zeroes, no trailing characters
A code that reads MA112 (5 characters) is malformed and almost always a counterfeit. A code with serif typography is a counterfeit. A code that smudges on contact is a counterfeit (probably an inkjet print under a clear lacquer rather than a real laser etch).
Worked examples
TA42decodes to February 2018. Factory T (Saint-Jean-de-Braye), year letter A (which the decoder reads as 2018 in the current rolling cycle, since 2008 is too old for normal circulation), day 42 of the year (early February).GD89decodes to March 2021. Factory G (Beauvais), year D (the decoder maps to 2021), day 89 (late March).TG16decodes to January 2024. Factory T, year letter G — but the rolling cycle puts G in either 2014 or 2024; the decoder picks the more recent plausible year. Day 16 is mid-January.
Counterfeit Dior in our intake database
Roughly 4% of Dior bottles arriving at intake fail at least one of the 12-point check from our methodology page. The most common fail signals on Dior, in order of frequency:
- Wrong factory letter for the fragrance (about half of all rejections).
- Inkjet print under clear lacquer instead of true laser etch (roughly 30%).
- Day-of-year digit out of range (e.g. day 367, day 400 — auto-generated by counterfeit code scripts that didn't respect the 1–366 cap).
- Bottle weight off by more than 10g against calibrated reference.
- Atomiser collar paint mismatch (Dior anodises; counterfeits paint).
For fresh stock, our Dior collection carries decants of Sauvage, Miss Dior, J'adore, Homme Intense, and the rest of the active Dior fragrance line, sourced from authorised distributors and authenticated at intake.
Reformulations and the date
Dior has reformulated several major fragrances over the last decade and the date alone won't tell you which formulation you have. Sauvage EDT has had at least two notable adjustments since launch (2015 and 2020); Miss Dior has been reformulated more than once; J'adore Eau Lumière and L'Or are sister formulations of the original J'adore that share the 4-character scheme. Use the decoded date as a starting point and cross-reference Reddit r/fragrance threads for the specific reformulation discussion if you care about a particular juice version.