Posted 8 years ago
kyratango
(439 items)
To follow TassieDevil/Judy's post about reproductions of antique jewellery made in India.
This was bought nearly 10 years ago from an Indian seller who used a pic of an antique beautiful bee brooch, rosecut diamonds, sapphires, silver on gold.
I wasn't aware then of this awful commercial practice...
Price was low, something about 200$, and of course, I asked for more pics and if it really was silver on gold!
Seller then said he hadn't it on hand at the moment, the piece being at the workshop for polishing...
This is what I got!
For the price, it may seem correct, but the deceiving was HUGE!
It is obvious I'd NEVER bought it from the pics showed here ;-)
Of course I contacted the seller, who told it WAS the actual item photographied!!!
He proposed to refund it MINUS THE SHIPPING COSTS. But the return shipping tracked from France was prohibitive cost, and I preferred to leave a big bad feedback to this scammer seller!
5.5cm or 2.1/8" wide. Unmarked rhodium plated silver...
Is this the bee that you were talking about on Judys post?
Absolutely Jean!
It is a bzz bzz, it has diamonds, but not what was expected from the pic, grrrrr!
The first photo maybe posssible, the second and third I do see what you mean, very very flimsy looking. Do you have a photo of the original, just out of interest to compare.
They are creating lots of reproduction antiques in India now and selling them on the web as the real thing. The pics look awesome and the prices are really good, but I've always been very leery and stay clear of them. Sorry you got taken on this on Kyra!
Good heavens Kyra, of course you would not buy something like this!!! What a scam!!! This is just woeful!!!
We all get caught out with jewelry. I prefer to not buy anything on the web unless it's cheap or I know for certain I can get a refund if the item is not what was advertised.
Jean, that was 10 years ago, I don't have orig al listing, but it was something like one of these:
TWO ANTIQUE DIAMOND AND SAPPHIRE BEE BROOCHES | Jewelry, brooch | Christie's
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5314384
Scott, so true :-/
Judy, at least I learnt since :-))
Bonnie, happily, I got more bargains from ignorant sellers than scams from indelicate ones!
I avoid Asian sellers, except for some cheap findings you can't find elsewhere. :-)
LOL Pascale! I have, too.... :-))))
Sorry to hear that Pascale!Yep do becareful!
Flea, I'm now as cautious as a snake on broken glass coated path ;-)
Thank you!
It's so annoying! You expect to get some antique quality item for your money but receive some new, not well made copy. At least you immediately noticed it's a scam. Ebay shouldn't let fraudulent sellers operate. I often wondered why so many antique jewellery is on the site. Now I know for sure.
It is still pretty but it is a shame so many dishonest people selling on internet it is always a risk . I don't buy outside US I just don't feel comfortable buying from Asia for sure . Hope this new Year many gorgeous bzz bzz's arrive at your house .xo
Oh what a shame, Pascale, I'm so sorry you were scammed. I sometimes read comments on the eBay forum from people who get taken in, it is a real shark tank, and we have to be really careful. I personally won't buy from any seller that says China, I did once and the goods were worthless. Well ... You make so many really astounding buys that one or two burns don't really signify in the grand scheme of things, my friend. :)
I bought a reproduction lately, but then I knew it was a repro. I would think looking at the photo its way to good to be real.
Oh wow! That is just wrong! I was on that site the other day, I don't spend much time there and I noticed so much jewelry is coming out of India now...way more than the last time I looked. Before it was the big C. I also had a "silver" marked 925 post earring sitting here and had a funny feeling about it, brought a magnet to it and yes, it stuck to it! Sorry to see you took a hit like that. OMG, I just now read the comments and surprised this was 10 years ago!
A lot of great comments!
I'm sorry things turned out the way they did Kyra, but it really is a beautiful piece! I'm sure it's happened to all of us at one time or another. What I do appreciate is that you had no problem posting it and telling us the story. So many times you'll see items posted here on CW that when the poster finds out isn't real or a reproduction, they delete the post. I feel that posts like yours teaches all of us what to look out for and reinforces that we need to do our homework when buying.
Hi again kyra...I had to come back here because I know you have done enamel on jewelry before. I took a closer look (a different pair of glasses unfortunately ;) at the enamel on the side and it looks like someone may have done that after the fact. Now that I have read Tassies' post and this post it makes me wonder more about this ring. It's that top and the enamel that makes me wonder as I'm trying to 'place' the ring. I think if the enamel has been added, I should remove it. There is nothing I can do about the top but it's making it very difficult trying to figure out the true age of it. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
Manikin, thank you for your visit and bzz bzz wishes ;-))
Katherine, agree! Each lesson has to be paid for :-)
Phil, I knew it was a repro, but only not the item photographied... Effectively, it was too good to be true ;-)
Yes, Sue, 10 years ago...! Not so many "victorian style" jewellery from India then!
Rick, thank you! Even if the saying is "you only learn from your own mistakes", I think posting my own mistakes can help others ;-))
Sue, I answered on your post for the enamel, for the era, it could be vintage in antique style, still thinking it is of Asian origin.
I am always happy when these scams are posted! It has been happening for many years now both in fine and costume jewelry. Because we can no longer physically evaluate the merchandise and it isn't easy to spread the word about the scam, buyers get screwed, many without knowing it. Many years ago I was asked to evaluate an expensive collection of Miriam Haskell for a newbie buyer. Out of a dozen necklaces, 2 were real and the rest fakes. She never bought another piece of Haskell again. If any of you collect Bakelite, remember the Chines Faelite, so good that most of the normal tests showed it was real.
Unfortunately, the scammers ruin the market for honest dealers selling real pieces because they scare away the potential buyers.
If you want to see my post regarding Renaissance fakes, go to http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/153070-renaissance-double-sided-pendant-by-re
Sorry, lots of typos... Chinese Fakelite not Chines Faelite
When I started collecting a few years ago, I got taken several times as well. I bought jewelry in second-hand stores here in Canada clearly marked with "925" but they were completely fake! I trusted the marks, believing that it was a legal, as well as an ethical issue to mark silver correctly. I was so wrong!
What I don't understand is how/why people get away importing and selling these forgeries.
eBay won't police listings for fakes unless it is a) a major company such as Chanel, Tiffany, etc. who have the lawyers to back them into a corner, or and more rarely b) when the complaints get so egregious they have to do something. In the b) scenario, I was contacted by a woman who had bought several Haskell fakes from a "reputable" dealer. She wanted to return them and the dealer refused. In order to get her money back, she had to get an expert to examine the pieces, write a report and submit it on real letterhead (not a Word doc), all of this within very short timeframes. I did it for the woman, and eBay forced the seller to return her money and killed his eBay account. He was back under a new ID within a couple of weeks.
Another issue with the fakes is time and distance. You buy a fake and don't know it, relying on the seller. Then you resell it later on and someone relies on your description (which is based on the original seller). and so on. Perhaps by the time someone buys it and realizes it is a fake, there is no trace of the person who originally sold it.
I do not buy when I am unfamiliar with the seller unless there is an unconditional, no questions return policy.
Sorry Kyra for hijacking your thread... ;-)
Bluboi, your "hijacking" is very welcome!
Your story about the fake Haskells is so significative! Thank you for your input!
I remember well too your antique fake renaissance pendant :-)
Valentino, hi my friend! And thank you for your comment :-)
Freiheit, the 925 mark on modern silver covers so much fakes... 20 years ago, I bought in shops lots of CZ bracelets as sterling, and they quickly showed copper beneath... Thailand was a big supplier, and the work on them was so good, it is stupid to have done it in silvered copper! I still wear them occasionnally, and use a silvering solution for renovating them :-)
What is the silvering solution you use, kyratango? I've heard good things about Jax.
I wanted to ask you the same, kyratango. I got a costume ring a few weeks ago (I have not posted it yet). The ring has pretty pink glass stone, and pink is one of my daughters' favorite colour, and the design is in the art deco style (that's the reason I bought it even though I knew it wasn't sterling). It looked like a silver coloured metal but when I cleaned it, it started to show brass underneath. Would it be possible to "re-silver" it with a "silvering solution"?
Katherine and Freiheit, I use Medallion Liquid Silver lotion.
Some metals don't respond to it, but no risk to have a try :-)
Thanks kyratango. Does it matter if there are "stones" in a piece?
Have a look there and count all the "museum memento moris"... (the pocket watch skull fobs is a recurrent one, but there described as antique!)
http://www.ebay.fr/sch/riaerica2000/m.html?item=302190791481&rmvSB=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
Freiheit, no, if not a coated or porous stone (will be stained in brown black!) Don't forget to wear gloves or your hands will be stained too ;-)
An exemple of result here:
Solving beetle lol post! | Collectors Weekly
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/149304-solving-beetle-lol-post
Kyra......wow , so many museum pieces!!!! What a joke!!! Do they really think people are this silly!!!!!
Thanks for posting the page.......it's a wonder you didn't hear me at your place the number of times I said "oh for heavens sake" (and worse LOL) :))
Many thanks for your tips, kyratango:)
Haha, Czech, an empty watch! No limit to scam!!!
Judy, I swore as loud as you did ;-)
Really a shameless and full of hope seller !
Freihet, you're very welcome :-D
Wow, this one heck of a bauble:
http://www.ebay.fr/itm/120-000-00-Imperial-Russian-jeweled-gold-6ct-diamonds-MAID-OF-HONOR-CYPHER-Hahn-/322371718661?hash=item4b0eda0e05:g:kJIAAOSw9GhYYpWu
Like all of us I have some also had some" lessons"on this subject .
For some times something paid but not received (at a rural site without guarantee and our police do nothing about this). Also, i bought a fake cameo brooch. When I got my money back she has asked well done but was very angry and did not want to do business with me, as if I still wanted it. See this story here on CW: http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/67093-false-full-body-antique-victorian-carved
Unfortunately, we must obviously be the hard way and the society is not fair on my experience!
Oh, Marga, I well remember your high relief cameo! That to say ALL OF US can be fooled...
It is good you kept the post to show the whole story :-)
I had too some stolen pieces, parcel arrived open... Insured mail! But no way to file claim between US and French postal services... and of course, that was before the Paypal refund policy!
Hello Kyra,a Dutch proverb says (something like that, there may also in French) to be wise by damage and shame.That's what we all have to learn and not allone with jewelry !
Nevertheless, this negative (as all negative) is also an advantage. We learn from them and to be very careful when purchasing and certainly also to look better so we continue to learn more about our "treasures", that's my lesson from the bad buys.
Katherine! Ô_Ô crazy! They are expecting Poutine will buy it...
Marga, so true :-)
Who in the world would send $52K through PayPal for something not in their hand? Maybe I'm paranoid, but not me.
Sorry you were scammed, but thankful I found this posting.
Thanks for sharing this, as it can be embarrassing admitting to being scammed. But letting the embarrassment keep peeps from reporting it also enables the crooks.
Just to know this happened to you 10 years ago gives me the creeps. I agree that it is an important post for sure!!
A little off topic but I had my purse stolen 15 years ago and it still feels like yesterday. When you get ripped off it sticks like glue.
So thankful that you share this information.
As well as your fab pieces...:):)
Karen, thanks, there is no shame to have been caught by a scammer! After all, they did their job well... ;-)
OGF, agree, my handbag was stolen too, long time ago, and I still miss some memorabilia I kept in it!
Thanks a lot for your comment and love:-)
Huge collective thanks to all of you, 23 lovers of the big scam ;-))
Nice find ...will look great with your collection....U need to add some shots of the kids on your time line >>>Wink
Oops should of read this ...lol lets go tear his house down and infest him with a million fleas and duct tape his hands ....smiling,.. ya I got burn a few times but that's life they tell me and I had no fleas at the time, but now I got Plenty,.. sellers beware...'-)
Lol, Gary! I thought you meant my scam collection ;-)
I'm delighted with your malediction, I could have sent this seller many fleas and worms from the twins when I got them first :-P
Thank you, my friend!
I'm sorry about the scam, but it is really beautiful.
Another bee from an Indian seller with beautiful pic.... buyer will be deceived too :-(
Here is the kind of pic which made me buy mine...:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/142270785800
Oh yes Pascale!!!! I see what you mean.......
Yay! Eileen :-D
Scammers beware!
Hi Pascale,
Gorgeous butterfly piece. Just wanted to clarify that my new post of the green Corocraft flower brooch is from the private collection of an elderly lady who said it was one of her favorite pieces and I believe it to be genuine :)