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Updates: The latest Scams in Antique & Vintage Costume Jewelry: New Warnings August, 2008 More Miriam Haskell Fakes The Truth about the Discovering Juliana Jewelry Group The Truth about DJJ update August 14, 2008 The Truth About DJJ Update August 15, 2008
Seller Sells Aunt's Collection on eBay Without Permission Fake Trifari Heron/Stork Sold for $799 Fake Weiss, Eisenberg & Lisner on eBay
Update: October 7, 2008 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 Barbara2525 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 jewlery 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. Best, Rebecca Fransway
Update: August 12, 2008
The
Truth About the Discovering Juliana Jewelry Group Since it's beginning in January of 2006, the Discovering Juliana Jewelry group, from now on known as DJJ, has devolved from a somewhat helpful group to an organization less than useful for learning about and verifying Juliana jewelry and into something resembling a cult that demands time, money, and endless energy from it's members. Janice Young, the authoritarian leader, is an opportunist who has found a way to exploit the weak and the naive over, of all things, rhinestone costume jewelry! All of the facts stated in this article can be proven by original online documents, some of which will be copied and included. Let's turn to Jan Young's rosy description of the group and compare this description with the actual experience of many, many group members. : Here is what Jan Young says about DJJ (taken from the Yahoo site as per fair use act)
FACTS: The DJJ group is actually the means for Jan Young to use the members to get financial support as well as legal possession of photographs of Juliana jewelry that she plans to publish in a book. This can be proven. Yahoo's user agreement provides that any photos submitted to the albums of any of their groups become the property of the group. In this case, the group is Jan Young. While almost all Yahoo group owners offer open albums with everyone having access, or who would delete photos from their albums on a member's request, Jan Young keeps the photos under password protection for only a few of the enormous membership to see. This is NOT for member's personal copyright protection, for members have actually lost their copyright to the images just by joining the group and submitting the images for verification. Jan protects the images under passwords for her personal agenda, ie. the book, and also as a means to control members. NO members who displease her ever see their own photos again. She furthers this manipulative agenda by frequently changing passwords to the albums and releasing the new passwords only to her most obedient members. Furthermore, any member who dares to sound even a little frustrated or disapproving is either booted from the group or proclaimed a "spy," and forbidden use of what are now Jan Young's personal albums. No one who is independent or learns well on her own or is busy with more important things than the life goals of Jan Young ever stays in this group.
DJJ is not free. To get any benefit from the group you have to pay one way or another. You are expected to post email to the group, participate in the discussions, cow-tow to Jan and her inner circle, and most of all, to submit photos. Because of the many weird rules and frequent confusion, all of these things take a great deal of time and effort. But if you fail to fulfill the criteria, you will not receive passwords to the photo albums, which, until recently, we thought was the only way to verify Juliana jewelry. * (See update below) Many, to show that their enthusiasm, were driven to give money or jewelry for Jan's "fund raising" activities.
FACTS: The above statement an outright lie, almost the exact opposite of what
Jan does. Copyright means nothing to Jan. The Yahoo user agreement states that any photos
members submit become the property of the group. While unwitting members
think Jan is protecting their images, what she is actually doing is
taking over the rights to use the images.
FACTS: This is untrue. Anyone cannot join. If Jan Young, who is eternally suspicious of "spies," cannot ascertain exactly who you are, you don't get in. People do join, but first the leader and her coterie of devotees need to know your full name, your web site or ebay username, address, phone number and other facts before you are allowed to enter. Even then, you won't have access to all the albums until Jan decides you are "ready." And after that, if you don't cowtow to Jan Young and defend or keep silent about her actions, you are suspected of being a "spy," and either ousted or deprived of the latest passwords.
FACTS: You can never be a side line cheerleader on DJJ without being considered a "non contributing member" and therefore deprived of the means to verify jewelry or to study Juliana at a time convenient to you, even albums with your own pictures inside. But if you think that it's fun being used for your pictures and then being treated like an expired credit card, you will have fun on DJJ. If you think it is fun to be forced to participate in "Training Day" like a pissy pants kindergartner, if you think it's fun being discussed behind your back by Jan with her devoted coterie, if you like to view an arena where others are openly disparaged to to a mob of 400 members and then become subject to systematic destruction of their reputations in the online jewelry community, then you will have fun on DJJ.
The investors have access
only to photos of the art
through a password protected secret folder, where only an elite circle of conned
ones is allowed. But if investing members leave or get kicked out,
they never get to see a picture of their investments again, until, of course,
Jan's book comes out. And I'll bet you anything that every member of the DJJ
will have to pay for that book, just as they have to pay $150 to Jan for tickets
to the DJJ convention and $50 to hundreds of dollars to advertise on a little
piece of paper at the convention. Also, such conned
investors who get fed up and leave do not get their money back. Jan Young is in panic due to this article. The first thing she did yesterday was shut down the DJJ archive so she can go in there and delete incriminating posts. Not the parodies, which she says she is investigating--horse roar! All she has to do is look at the headers and run them through a traceroute--or the cops she said she called can easily do it. Hey Jan, just write me and send one of the parodies with full headers and I'll trace it for you in five minutes! Stay tuned but be warned. Some of you will vindicated, others will hang their heads in shame, pure shame, over what was done to a certain ex-member, a generous person who gave Jan tons of jewelry and money for her profiteering and, because he wouldn't give her another $3,000, was kicked out of DJJ, lied about, and flagged on Ruby Lane by Jan's thugs until he was driven out. Another update: It has been confirmed that the receipts given to those investors who gave Jan loads of $$ for Juliana art work are, legally, no more than evidence of a donation made to Jan Young. And any investor with a good tax attorney will learn that the Discovering Juliana Jewelry Group is NOT a non profit organization. None of the so called investments and any other $$ and property donations made to Jan can legally be written off at tax time. Jan Young has conned her followers up and down at the same time! Important update August 16, 2006: Mr Delizza, the retired owner of DeLizza and Elster, has just informed us that he is very upset by what he has read about the problems we are relating, and that he has always been available to verify Juliana Jewelry, and that no one needs to be a member of any group to get verification.
DJJ members and other interested parties can be added to a mailing list of updates. Just email me and type "mailing list" in the subject line. Just think--your new motto can be FREEDOM FOR JULIANA JEWELRY! Also, some of the investigation is still ongoing. If anyone has info that can be verified, please write.
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 high that 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 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 colllector 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, are totally obvious additions. Or worse, they just don'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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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.