I recently bought a a white polycarbonate Essential Cabin bag, priced $700 from the Rimowa store here in New York. I own three other Rimowa bags, all polycarbonate, from the pre LVMH era, including my workhorse Salsa Deluxe IATA carry on. Here are some initial observations

1) The new branding is evident, including the new stylized Rimowa font, some kind of “M” logo on the some of the plastic, etc. I like the old Rimowa logo better

2) The luggage includes a booklet with details on the warantee, instructions, etc. The old 5 year guarantee appears intact. Stickers and a luggage tag were also included.

3) The quality of the actual polycarbonate, zippers, handle appear consistent with my other luggage. The wheels will obviously need to be tested over time.

4) The velcro straps and fasteners on the compression system have changed. It’s hard to explain - the feels less grippy, which would intuitively make it less secure / easier to come undone. However the fasteners seem rock solid when fastened. There must be some kind of new technology in Velcro fastening that allows this.

To sum, while there are no obvious improvements that came with the price increase, I am not seeing significant degradation in quality either. As of now I’m pretty happy with the purchase (it was a gift). I need to upgrade the size of my current carry on - considering Rimowa and Away, and based on this purchase I am still strongly considering Rimowa.