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Updates: The latest Scams in Antique & Vintage Costume Jewelry:
June 20, 2010
Wednesday,
March 11, 2009
Warning,
November 25, 2008 Warnings: November 9, 2008
New Warnings August, 2008
Seller Sells Aunt's Collection on eBay Without Permission Fake Trifari Heron/Stork Sold for $799 Fake Weiss, Eisenberg & Lisner on eBay
Napier charm bracelets are much beloved by collectors, but hard to find. Hence, prices have gone sky high, so we must know the rules of costume jewelry collecting in this day and age: When prices get high, fakes swiftly follow. A dealer who knows Napier bracelets has prepared this tutorial for collectors: read before you buy! Napier Charm Bracelets: Don't Fall Victim
Also, to be aware of: Hattie Carnegie colorful figurals of creatures and fantasy creatures: Fakes Fakes Fakes. If you've noticed the sudden flood on the market of these little critters, be aware that tfakes are being sold brand new at antiques fairs.
A new Miriam Haskell fakesterette has been overturned squirming in the mud of ebay Haskell fakes. If you have bid on and won any "Miriam Haskell" jewelry from ebay seller t1bear1 out of NY, you have most certainly have bought a fake. All perusal of her past and present eBay auction listings are, according to a Haskell expert, a bunch of crap. Yes, all of it is fake. Take a look and see for yourself at one of t1bear1 's many Haskell auctions, Item#130288760665, Massive Vintage Signed Miriam Haskell Coral Necklace NR
Look at t1bear1 's past auctions in the ebay search engine, then look at the Haskell auctions in t1bear1 's feedback that can still be seen. My prediction is that very shortly, t1bear1 will make her auctions private. However, I have saved many of them. But if you get to the auctions in time, compare them to genuine signed and unsigned Haskell on Cathy Gordon's educational pages. Rebecca Fransway We now offer the link to an album page, Miriam Haskell Fakes, courtesy of Cathy Gordon, co-author of Miriam Haskell Jewelry which you can find at such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and your local bookstore. Ms. Gordon is considered an authority of Miriam Haskell jewelry. The photos are from an evaluation she did for a buyer who wanted to get her money back after buying fake Miriam Haskell. The pictures of the fakes are interspersed with correct Haskell as examples. More may be forthcoming. We hope this small tutorial will be helpful in helping buyers to distinguish fakes from genuine Haskell. In addition, Cathy has a large image event Haskell section showing genuine designs and offering closeups of findings, wiring used and other elements of signed and unsigned Haskell. Update: Dec. 10 2008 A person using the ebay username antiqueswelove
just sold a Staret brooch in auction Never bid on rare jewelry from a seller with a low number of feedbacks. If you win, it will be like sending your money up front to an absolute stranger in hope you'll get what you bid on. Beware especially if the jewelry never comes and the seller tries to string you along until it's too late to get your money back from Paypal. YOU CAN'T always get your money back from Paypal, especially if the seller has had time for Paypal to release the money. We noticed this kind of behavior before by another seller who held BIN style listings of rare jewelry with pictures taken from websites. The owners of the sites reported to eBay to no avail. Most of the listings were allowed to run their course before the seller disappeared. During this holiday season, many new and untried users are bidding on scarce or rare jewelry from sellers they don't know. Fraudsters are running rampant on eBay. Stay away from Miriam Haskell, Bakelite, Chanel and old signed classics like the Staret brooch unless the seller has an established reputation and you know what you are doing. Update: Nov. 25, 2008 A known fraudster from Australia is now back selling not only very gaudy fake Haskell, but also a large amount of saphiret jewelry that is suspected as being fake vintage. Her new user name is last_empire and her eBay store name is Vintage Vogue 2009. To read about the fake Haskell she made and sold under user name Shera_Jewels and Jewel_Gate, see our article here. Update Feb. 22. 2009 Here is a partial history of her user names. She is now operating as red carpet 1940
See some of the fake Haskell now selling or recently having been sold by the former Shera_Jewels as last_empire from her ebay store Vintage Vogue 2009:
Beautiful, isn't it? This jewelry maker could probably make a name for herself by honestly claiming her own designs. But this necklace is NOT Miriam Haskell. There are plenty of signs that this seller is a fraudster without you having to read it here: Seller holds private auctions so her repeats can't be checked and so her buyers can't be contacted and so any possible shill bidding is disguised. Seller offers WAY TO MANY listings of Haskell, saphiret jewelry and other very scarce items. Please be aware that saphirets or stones like them can occasionally be purchased on ebay and from vintage bead sellers, and they can easily replace stones in old jewelry from a junk pile. If someone has too much saphiret jewelry, you need to ask yourself "why?" I've been in business 6 years and have never come across a single piece. Some of her auctions may be sprinkled with genuine pieces, but you can never know with a person who will defraud collectors over and over, even after being found out. Update: Nov. 3, 2008 Common tasseled bangle now being sold at excessive prices as Haskell. The latest fake Haskell enterprise has just started on eBay. Some or even most of sellers are probably innocent; in fact when I informed one seller, whose bracelet went for $90, that it is not Haskell, he informed me of another auction where the seller offered the same bracelet as Haskell. Please note that other ebay sellers are usually not the place to get the best information, and misinformation passes from auction to auction in this manner. All of us has seen this type of bracelet in one form or another. My mother had one; she bought it in the 1960's. Almost all dealers and collectors have seen this thick wire wrap bracelet in various forms:
These tasseled bangle bracelets are NOT HASKELL. We think the reason for some of this confusion can be linked to the popular costume jewelry book, COSTUME JEWERLY, DK Collector's Guide, by Judith Miller. In that book, you can see a similar bangle on page 222 in her Gallery of Unsigned Pieces as Tasseled Bangle. The accompanying note says "possible Miriam Haskell." The above bracelets, for one thing, are simply knock-offs of the old style heavy bangle this picture depicts:
Notice that even in Judith Miller's book, the blurb says this bangle is possibly Miriam Haskell. It certainly was not depicted in her section on genuine Haskell jewelry, and has since then has been ruled out as Miriam Haskell by experts in the field. Don't be fooled into thinking either of these bangles are Haskell. If you like the style, you don't have to pay $90 for it or even $60 or $70. The older, higher quality bangles, gold plated and made with glass beads, can be very nice; I've seen them with green glass beads and even Italian Millefiori beads. These glass bead tasseled bangles are vintage, possibly 40's but most likely early '60s. Best, Rebecca Fransway
If you haven't
read the main article about Miriam Haskell fakes run rampant, you may read
it here, Just as ebay gets rid of the
notorious Barbara2025 and Sherajewels (aka Jewelgate) we have another faker
selling cheap repros at high prices to those who are still naive about greed and
fakery on eBay. Watch out for: How you can tell her Miriam Haskell items are fake: 1. Private auctions 2. All sales final 3. Too much of a rare designer in Mint or Excellent condition. 4.. The jewelry is too good to be true. You will very seldom find that much Haskell in "mint" to excellent condition, as this seller describes her jewels. Not only that, but too many Haskells. There are other signs on the jewelry itself that any Haskell experts can tell you--placement of hang tags, wrong types of pearls and connectors. If you have been unfortunate enough to have made a purchase from this seller, you will probably find that the jewelry is very light weight. The seller offers other high end items that you should also avoid. I cannot tell you if they are fake or not, but anyone who would go into business purposely making or buying cheap fakes cannot be trusted with any other kind of jewelry either. Update: Nov. 3rd 2008 princapshia: The seller princapeshia is now back on ebay selling fake Chanel. In fact, most of the criminal high end fakes dealers have sold this easily made necklace with forged 1981 hang tags. Copied Chanel 1981 hang tags are used, and sellers have made $$thousands by attaching these fake tags to collet set swarovski rhinestone rosary wired chain, which can be purchased new by the yard in various sizes. Or sometimes they get old Swarvoski swan chain necklaces or unsigned knock offs and put the hang tags on them. Since this article has come out, the seller, princapeshia has dumped most of the Haskell for now and is selling fake Chanel. See a picture of the fake 1981 tag:
There may have been other tags made from other years, or even signature plates. But the 1981 hang tag fakes are the most common fake. Anyone can have any tag they want made in this country or overseas and glue it or hang it on knock offs and homemade fakes. Crafters can make these hangtags with metallic polymer clay, which would make them very light compared to metal. If you have any doubt, you might be helped by writing to the company at http://chanel.com/ and click on contact. Two of princapeshia Chanel fakes:
If you have purchased jewelry recently from this seller, particularly high end jewelry such as Chanel and Haskell (she carries other designer too--all are suspect) you can have it authenticated and if found fake, get your money back. Or simply ask for your money back and report to paypal if the seller refuses. Some of these sellers have been ousted by ebay after reports were filed with the FBI. Best, Rebecca Fransway
Update: August 12, 2008
Latest eBay Scams: Resalebum One of the worst scammers on ebay, this seller used to be well respected. Don't know what happened to him, but the prices of signed jewelry have become so highthat some folks are tempted to scam their buyers. If you know rules to follow when looking for legitimate sellers, you already know one of the most important rules: Never buy from any online dealer who has no return policy and who has in their listings the terms "no refunds," "sold as is," "sales final." These and other such terms should send buyers flying. Legitimate sellers stand by their descriptions; they know you can't touch, weigh, or look carefully at jewelry shown only in pictures. Online buying is much different than flea market sales for that reason. An online seller must have a return policy because even the best sellers make mistakes, and the most detailed photos and descriptions can't always be relied upon. Resale bum has been complained
about again and again. He has been caught by experts selling fake Schiaparelli,
Trifari, Weiss, and other jewelry that has fake signature plates glued or
soldered on the jewelry. Some of these are a different color of metal than
the jewels it is applied to; others are cut wrong and/or surrounded by sloppy
solder. Some of them can be spotted in his pictures, but
many can't be. One unfortunate collector and her friend lost hundreds of $$ to
this scammer for Schiaparelli fakes.
Update: March 20 Gotoheloldlady32
Sells Aunt's Collection on eBay Without Permission Click on this link and read or watch the video: http://www.wpxi.com/news/11299223/detail.html After the news story hit on March 19, the seller robinispoor quickly changed her user name to gotohelloldlady32 eBay User ID History On the eBay community discussion boards, many are now asking: Why aren't her auctions suspended by eBay?
Update: March 9, 2007 Joesbuyingplace.
EBay Faker changes Seller ID again After receiving negative feedback for selling a counterfeit Weiss brooch, the ebay seller jewelsforeverismine made her feedback private and is now selling under the user name joesbuyingplace. See the threatening email she sent to Enchantment for publishing the report on this fraudster:
Update: January 29th 2007
This exact pin is depicted on Rhinestone Rainbow's fakes comparison page. While it is against eBay's rules to interfere with an auction while it's ongoing, I tried to inform the buyer after the auction, but eBay will no longer allow jewelry friends to write victims of thieves unless they are involved in a transaction. Details: Jewelsforeverismine, under the username
codyismyman, knew
the heron/stork was a fake. Investigation of past auctions show that she found the fake heron/stork in a prior eBay listing from an honest seller on eBay who did not know it was a fake.
According to this seller, jewelsforeverismine informed her the pin was a fake, then offered
to buy it for the $37 she had already bid, so the seller could close the auction
and not get into trouble for selling fakes! Then jewelsforeverismine turned around and offered
it at auction as a genuine Trifari. As you can see from the auction page, it sold for
$799. Here is some correspondence between jewelsforeverismine (Angie) and the other seller. This is published publically on eBay auction itme 270086488745. Scroll to the bottom of the auction page. Warning signs that jewelsforeverismine is a seller of fakes: 1. Feedback rating is very low. When you type jewelsforeverismine into the box negative-neutral feedback finder at http://toolhaus.org, you will see that the seller's feedback not only includes warnings of fake designer jewelry, but also the seller has paid to have some of the feedbacks removed. Some of the feedbacks suggest that seller perpetrates other kinds of fraud. 2. Auction policies: Payment due within 24 hours of closing. All sales final. This is so the seller can get payment quickly before buyer has chance to research or be warned. "All sales final" makes it much more difficult to retrieve money from Paypal. 3. Seller uses pictures of child and says "God Bless" in auctions. Unfortunately, these are common ways that fraudulent sellers or sellers of poor items try to build buyer confidence. I am sorry if this offends an innocent seller, but saavy, experienced buyers know that when people give sob stories, exploit their children, or talk about God in their auctions, WATCH OUT.
Update: November
19th 2006 One of the most blatant sellers on eBay offering reproduction classic vintage jewelry is listing the pieces in the Vintage Jewelery Section and mentioning nothing about the fact that these are not originals. This seller username is blainerichard and the eBay store is universalantiquesandjewelry. The seller says: We Specialize In Designer Costume Jewelry Most of these jewels are reproductions. Naturally, this seller, as well as other sellers of fakes, leaves clues that should alert collectors they are about to be defrauded: 1. Most of the listings offer no images of the backs of the fake jewelry, or doesn't show signatures. (exception: Fake Staret Torch.) Offers no close-ups. 2. In most cases, offers no description of condition or even of the jewel itself, other than what you can see in the picture. 3. Sells the same items over and over. 4. States: All Sales are Final. This should be the kiss of death on any auction, but buyers bite all the time. Don't think that just because you pay with Paypal you can get your money back if the seller lies about what s/he is selling. If you try to dispute "all sales final" or "as is" auctions, Paypal will require you to fax them statements from a third party affirming a jewel is not authentic. In California, a jeweler charges at least $100 for this service. Czech Uglies: brooch pins, necklaces and other jewelry. Currently being offered on eBay are large numbers of huge, glittery rhinestone brooches, especially angels, Christmas trees pins, figurals and other huge pieces proclaimed to be vintage Czech jewelry, some signed "Hubar." or "Husar." It is said these are pieces are from a jewelry manufacturer in Jablonec who went bankrupt. Supposedly the huge jewels are from the contents of his warehouse . The trouble is, the pieces being sold are not necessarily old. They look that way because the backs were never plated.
Most of the sellers in these cases are honest, but ignorant. The pins (I've seen necklaces also) are probably Czech and probably from the fabled warehouse in Jablonec. They may have been stored in that warehouse for a good reason: They were never finished. What's so fascinating is reading how the mess on the backs is explained: *It does show its age on the back side with
discoloration of metal Some of these pieces were also left without pinbacks, so you can often find a huge brooch with a smalll pinback glued on, or a brooch made into a pendant and strung on a chain all wrong for it. Also, you will see many necklaces without the ends finished with clasps. To solve this problem, some dealers add chains and clasps, but they are usually very obvious additions. Or worse, the seller doesn't show the clasp of the necklace. One seller has offered scores of these pieces as rhinestone Christmas ornaments from Czechoslovakia. Several sellers have stopped showing pictures of the backs of these pieces. While this jewelry might not even be vintage, it is beautiful from the front. Unplated jewelry can be worn that way, or it can be taken out to a jeweler and plated. But a single piece of this jewelry really doesn't merit a cost of more than $10. It is certainly not rare. Boxloads of have been sold out to jobbers, one of whom has a large store in New England where, at one time, he had boxes of this jewelry which he sold for $1 per piece. To repeat: Never buy antique vintage costume jewelry online without seeing a detailed photo of the back. Never buy a necklace without seeing not only the back, but also the clasp. If it's a J-hook on one end, make sure the endpiece bead or rhinestone is on the other end.
UPDATE:
October 3, 2006
Fake Lisner Christmas Tree Pins: For awhile, fake Lisner brooches and earrings sets were being offered by the notorious Rhode Island sellers, but these particular fakes pieces never did sell well, because the only Lisner jewelry in high demand are the 1950s & 1960s rhinestone and thermoset jewelry sets, which are too expensive to fake. However, rhinestone Christmas tree pins with fake Lisner and Eisenberg signatures are rampant, often lumped into large lots along with fake Weiss. As far as I know, Lisner made only a few Christmas tree pins, and they are very hard to find. While genuine Eisenberg is being reproduced by the Eisenberg heirs, the jewelry is sold only to authorized dealers. Before you buy an Eisenberg brooch, especially Christmas trees, be sure you know what you are doing and who your dealer is. Two prominent sellers who offer a large number of fakes go by the user names mathermania, who keeps user IDs private and sells almost all fake signature jewelry including Weiss, Lisner, and Eisenberg, mathersmysteries (reported to be a relative of mathermania) and 4urjewelrybox, who offers page upon page of fake Weiss. There are many other sellers of fakes, inlcuding a new one: tomm98
A report has come in concerning other possibly fake Lisner jewelry. A number of mint condition identical Lisner link necklace sets with glass inserts have been reported being coming out of England. Because of the popularity of Lisner in Europe, as well as rising prices in the U.S., the fakery of necklaces sounds plausible. Books on costume jewelry and old Lisner ads rarely show Lisner necklaces & bracelets using glass inserts. More often, Lisner used glass beads for some of their bead necklaces. But their link neckace sets were generally made with metals, rhinestones, and thermoset.An abundance of the same style of glass necklace by "Lisner" should alert buyers to the possibility of counterfiets. Fake Miriam Haskell Jewelry: The latest report is that there is now much more fake Miriam Haskell jewlery on eBay than genuine Haskell. All sellers of "Miriam Haskell" jewelry on eBay are being investigated. Yahoo and other outlets that allow sellers to have no-return, all-sales-final policies. So far, we have evidence that the following three sellers are frequent sellers of fakes:
Members who have private Feedback profiles will no longer be allowed to list items after this change goes into effect. Only members with public Feedback profiles will be permitted to list items.
The change is expected to begin October 26, 2006. Of course, that alone will
not stop the counterfeiters ripping off eBay buyers, but it does mean these
shady sellers won't be able to hide behind private feedback any more. |
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Learn More About Weiss Jewelry! Both books below have large sections about Weiss Jewelry with wonderful photos! |
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Signed
Beauties of Costume Jewelry $16.47 |
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Collecting
Costume Jewelry 101 $16.47 |
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This page discusses vintage costume jewelry, antique costume
jewelry, rhinestone jewelry, vintage signed unsigned designer jewelry fake Weiss
jewelry costume jewelry collectors counterfeit Weiss, counterfeit fake
reproduction Miriam
Haskell, fake Eisenberg,
fake Lisner jewelry, Czech jewelry, and the discussion group, Discovering
Juliana Jewelry.
