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Designer Jewelry Fakes Alert

Seller Sells Aunt's Collection on eBay Without Permission

Fake Trifari Heron/Stork Sold for $799

Fake Miriam Haskell

Fake Weiss, Eisenberg & Lisner on eBay

Czech Uglies

Update: March 20

Gotoheloldlady32 Sells Aunt's Collection on eBay Without Permission

eBay seller robinispoor321, now known as gotohelloldlady32, admitted it on camera: that she is scavenging & selling her 81-year-old aunt's lifelong collection of figurines and jewelry-- without permission. Twelve of the most recent auctions are for vintage costume jewelry and beads, scheduled to end starting March 22 to March 30. An old lady, trapped in a nursing home, who wants to keep the things loved ones have given her throughout the years, so please do not bid on these auctions. Also, there may be an arrest or a lawsuit.

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
and sends threats via e-mail.

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

eBay user ID: jewelsforeverismine, currently joesbuyingplace.
Prior user names: codyismyman, init4godsake

Fake Trifari Heron/Stork sold on eBay for $799. Item number: 110081126647
Seller: codyismyman, now known as jewelsforeverismine. Here is a copy of the Ebay Auction Page TRIFARI HUGE BLUE HERON VINTAGE RHINESTONE BROOCH pin.

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.

She also offered to buy other jewelry for prices up to $40 each, saying they were fake but she was going to keep them. Before even getting the jewelry she put it up on her own auctions, using the other seller's images and descriptions.

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
eBay user ID blainerichard

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
(ie. Boucher, Coro, Eisenberg, Hobe, Kramer, Lisner,
Sandor, Staret, Trifari, Weinberg of N.Y, & Weiss)

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.

The above is from a sampling of these auctions. This is how jewelry looks before it's plated. The silvery stuff is solder, which is meant to be covered with rhodium, gold or silver or some less expensive alloy.

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
*The jewelry was reinforced with extra solder.
*The back show the piece's age with metal wear/patina.

And, my personal favorite:
*A back like that proves the brooch is Czech.

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 Eisenberg and Lisner on eBay.

As the holidays draw near, counterfeit jewelry clogs the vintage jewelry categories of eBay. If you shop on eBay, you need to watch out for the following:

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:

Fake Miriam Haskell Jewelry: The latest report is that there is now much more fake Miriam Haskell jewlery on eBay than genuine Haskell. Recently, a fake out of Australia sold for $2600 final bid price.

Good news: On October 2, 2006, eBay made the following announcement:

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.
Good for eBay!

Learn More About Weiss Jewelry! Both books below have large sections about Weiss Jewelry with wonderful photos!

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