Luxury luggage isn’t a contradiction in terms—not by a long shot—but it’s a curious product category. The object may be expensive, but its working life revolves around conveyor belts, cargo holds, baggage carousels, and the indignities of mistreatment by anonymous people along the way.

RIMOWA and TUMI both sell luxury luggage. That doesn’t mean they’re selling the same idea. RIMOWA offers heritage, exclusivity, recognizability, and lifetime support. TUMI offers design diversity and retail ubiquity.

The choice between the two firms comes down to what’s important to you. That said, looking across key features, one of these two is a clear winner.

Paul Morszeck founded RIMOWA in 1898, with his first workshop in Köln. In 1931, his son Richard became involved in the company and registered the trademark Rimowa at the Reich Patent Office in Berlin. Their name is an acronym for Richard Morszeck Warenzeichen (Warenzeichen meaning trademark). They ask us to style it as “RIMOWA”, and seeing how the name began life as an acronym… fine.

As the story goes, a fire in the 1930s burned some of their materials, leaving them with only aluminum, leading to the focus on aluminum construction for which they’re so famous today. (This is reminiscent of the story of Hermès ending up with their iconic orange boxes due to wartime shortages of boxes, with orange being the one color available from suppliers because no other businesses wanted it.)

LVMH acquired a majority stake in RIMOWA in 2016, I assume because Bernard Arnault realized it was almost time for lunch that day and he hadn’t bought a company yet.

RIMOWA offers seven luggage collections. In their words:

From my travels, most of what I see is Original and Classic—both in the iconic grooved aluminum, but the Original is more contemporary and the Classic is, well, more classic. The Classic is customizable (handles, wheels), but the Original is Porsche 911-like in its timelessness. Its design would have been ahead of its time (though not unimaginably so) 50 years ago, and I suspect it’ll look good 50 years from now.

Charlie Clifford founded TUMI in 1975 after serving in the Peace Corps. It’s named after the tumi, a Peruvian ceremonial knife. No acronym to be found, but they style it as TUMI, and I allowed all-caps for RIMOWA, so… fine.

TUMI’s ownership history is more complicated than that of RIMOWA, including a stint as a publicly traded company, but as of now, it’s owned by Samsonite.

TUMI offers fourteen different collections. In their words (or edited from their words):

It’s hard to say precisely which of TUMI’s collections are most popular, because, honestly, many of them are fairly anonymous looking. I’m guessing the marketing folks at TUMI think all their collections are iconic—we all think our babies are attractive—but they mostly blend into each other, except for 19 Degree, which TUMI introduced in 2016. Given how much of it I see on the road, and the fact that it has been brand-extended across five different collections, it’s a safe bet that collectively, 19 Degree is TUMI’s flagship offering at this point.

The six pillars of The Comparison Lens:

Heritage. RIMOWA was making aluminum luggage in 1937. Charlie Clifford, the original founder of TUMI, was born circa 1944. This one is easy. RIMOWA.

Price. Comparing their flagship pieces, RIMOWA’s Original Cabin is $1,525 in the US, 1,180 € in the EU. TUMI’s 19 Degree Aluminum Carry-On is $1,295 in the US, 1 150 € in the EU. At the high end, RIMOWA’s Distinct Cabin will set you back $3,525 in the US and 2 850 € in the EU, whereas TUMI will perform a cashectomy¹ on you of $3,800 in the US and 3 500 € in the EU for their 19 Degree Titanium Carry-On. The bottom line is that this is all expensive luggage, no matter how you look at it. Tie.

Craft. Neither company is as forthcoming as they could or should be about where they make their products. RIMOWA says their products are “designed and engineered in Germany”, but it takes some research to learn that their luggage is made at their factories in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Canada. TUMI customer service simply states that they manufacture their products in “various parts of Asia”. Giving them a slight edge for being marginally more transparent and for owning their own factories, RIMOWA, giving them a slight edge for being marginally more transparent and for owning their own factories.

Function. Both companies make highly functional bags, though they use different internal organizational systems. Which you prefer is up to you. Tie.

Service. It’s tempting to give this to TUMI because they have a much more extensive network of retail outlets, most of which (in my experience) can accept a bag for service. No reliable published figures exist, but I’d guess they operate at least three times as many retail locations as RIMOWA. And TUMI does offer a five-year warranty. But RIMOWA’s warranty is lifetime, and there’s simply no substitute for that—nor is there an excuse for TUMI not to offer the same at their price point. RIMOWA.

Distinctiveness. The 19 Degree collection is attractive and distinctive. But it’s five out of fourteen collections, and the others are a hodgepodge to appeal to different tastes. RIMOWA has a through-line of design across their collections and across time (see below). RIMOWA, and it’s not close.

Both of these companies make high-quality luxury luggage while bringing very different strengths to the table. TUMI offers more diversity in design and more retail points of presence that make service straightforward. But RIMOWA’s advantages matter more, especially in luxury: heritage that derives from their history, craft through owning their own production, a lifetime warranty that makes their products inherently more sustainable, and the most iconic design in all of luggage.

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