Bought Cartier Ear clips.... seller lost certificate... thoughts?

[Bonsai]

I bought some Cartier trinity ear clips from 1995. The seller messaged me that they cant find t he certificate in the pictures of the listing and only have a copy.

Now, in defense of the seller they move A LOT of very very high end expensive stuff. They sell on ebay, Tradesy, etsy, and other sites. I've bought from them before and never had an issue.
Their prices are sometimes not consistent site to site. In this case I was going to buy on Tradesy b/c they had the promo this weekend, but I went over to etsy and the item was $500 cheaper on sale there.
So I canceled the Tradesy and bought the etsy.

today they messaged me that they cant find the certificate.
For the price I dont really care tbh. But its enough to make me at least post this thread and ask.

I know theres a lot of issues with fake Cartier love stuff, this is not that. in fact I've wanted these ear clips for awhile and have had trouble finding them. Typically with fakes you see a plethora on the market.
But I did wonder: why are they making copies of certificates in teh first place? Is this strange?

Looking at the pics the item is hallmarked, has serial #, looks good to go. I haven't had a problem with the items I've bought from them in the past, which has been 4-5 Tiffany items.

Does anything jump out at you as problematic on this?
The first pic shows the hallmark and second shows the serial #, albeit faint.
I usualy compare the items I buy to other sites if I can find one, such as real real b/c they will post weight, measurements etc. In this case weight, etc is all good.
but I'm still wondering why they keep copies of a certificate in the first place. Maybe for fire or insurance purposes idk.

I'll appreciate your thoughts.

 

[musicloveranthony]

I would probably only buy them if I liked the price for the product with no brand name attached. Would I want to pay that for them if they weren't Cartier? I don't see any reason to believe they aren't genuine, but you might have a hard time selling them as genuine if you ever choose to. So, hopefully you like them as they are not for what they might be.

 

[Bonsai]

I would probably only buy them if I liked the price for the product with no brand name attached. Would I want to pay that for them if they weren't Cartier? I don't see any reason to believe they aren't genuine, but you might have a hard time selling them as genuine if you ever choose to. So, hopefully you like them as they are not for what they might be.

I did consider this and. yes I do like them. I have a pair of off brand 18k non pierced hoops that I bought for $200 less. Those were 14.2 grams solid 18k yellow gold. These are 11 g. slightly shorter and slightly wider with the exception being at the tri gold part which is wider and thicker. In consideration of price I suppose its reasonable a tri gold pair might cost more for the labor in making the decorative piece as opposed to the other pair thats just plain yellow gold.

So reasonably, comparatively, I'd have bought them if they weren't Cartier b/c
1. I like mixed metals
2. Its very hard to find nice hoops that looks seamless for non pierced ears and dont look overly gaudy or big. It seems to get quality ones I'm going to shell out a bit and I'm ok with that.

theres not some known scam where they'd keep hte certificate on purpose to pulls something right?

this is actually the only Cartier piece I"ll own.

 

[musicloveranthony]

I did consider this and. yes I do like them. I have a pair of off brand 18k non pierced hoops that I bought for $200 less. Those were 14.2 grams solid 18k yellow gold. These are 11 g. slightly shorter and slightly wider with the exception being at the tri gold part which is wider and thicker. In consideration of price I suppose its reasonable a tri gold pair might cost more for the labor in making the decorative piece as opposed to the other pair thats just plain yellow gold.

Sounds like they're a good match for you, then!! I think they're lovely and look very well made

 

[Smith3]

I would not let it deter me, if you ever want to resell you can get a authenticity certificate from real Authentication, eurpty or one of those places. They’re really nice looking earrings!

 

[Lovinggems]

@Bonsai these are lovely earrings. I have an off topic question, are these types of earring comfortable to wear?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Bonsai]

@Bonsai these are lovely earrings. I have an off topic question, are these types of earring comfortable to wear?
Thanks in advance.

Thank you all for teh replies! Yes! Surprisingly yes. I had no idea they made non pierced earrings like this. My grandmother always had problems with earrings. I had my ears pierced as a kid and it was always a problem. Kids wouldnt stand next to me in gym b/c my ears got infected once lol.
Anyways I was buying lockets and I had never bought Tiffany before. I found their Ziegfeld ones and saw they had earrings with teh omega clip. I bought some and I stumbled around and found a lot of high end jewelers make earrings with omega clips or that clip like this. They stay on surprisingly well. the hoops are fantastic b/c the clip area is the same on teh front and back: so its teh same pressure. The omega clips can be tricky depending where it puts pressure and usually just takes some adjusting.
I actually started converting earrings for pierced ears. I bought these John Hardy ones on Real Real for $125. I cut the posts off, sanded teh area with a dremmel and pushed the omega clip to where it touches and its no different than the non pierced ones they make with omega clips. I wore them all day and they stayed put.
so yeah I'm excited to wear earrings gain. For years I thought I never could b/c I thought clip on earrings were only the gaudy things they make for your grandma

 

[peacechick]

As someone who also has never pierced her ears and loves clip ons, I think you shouldn’t pass up these earrings that suit your needs perfectly. However since they lost the original certificate, I feel that they should give you a partial refund equivalent to a discount since the certificate was part of the sale.

 

[Bonsai]

As someone who also has never pierced her ears and loves clip ons, I think you shouldn’t pass up these earrings that suit your needs perfectly. However since they lost the original certificate, I feel that they should give you a partial refund equivalent to a discount since the certificate was part of the sale.

I was going to ask for one but I didnt only because I had originally bought them on Tradesy for 1800. I went to etsy b/c I remembered I saw a pair there and I always compare weights, things like this to verify its legit. Anyway I didnt realize it was the same seller and they had them marked down on sale on Etsy to $1300. so I was like. yeah I can push it but they can just say no and in teh end I felt $1300 for a pair of Cartier ear clips was ok. I'm hoping they will find the certificate. They told me they moved locations (bcc I asked how it came missing) and said the'd try. Ive bought from them quite a bit so I'm hoping to maintain a good relationship in hopes that I can get good deals in the future.

Idk do you think $1300 is too high. The only other pair I found on real real is $2100 without certificate. I'd been watching this pair for awhile and went to pull the trigger when Tradesey ran a sale only to find out they were also discounted on Etsy. I haven't found them on any other site in all this time I've looked.

 

[Lovinggems]

@Bonsai great post, thank you so much. Same issue I too have my ears pierced as a young kid and then they got infected. I have a few pairs of omega back pearl earrings, but I can only comfortably wear them a few hours at a time, always want larger hoops so looking forward to seeing your collection.

David Klass also made a diamond hoop pair for me, had to make quite a few changes before they are comfortable, but not sure they'll want to make another pair after this.

The Cartier one is nice and if it's comfortable and you really like it might be a keeper.

 

[LilAlex]

today they messaged me that they cant find the certificate.

saving it for the next one

 

[Bonsai]

saving it for the next one

I assume you mean to imply they are fake and using the next certificate for the next fake pari they sell. It crossed my mind. In this case do you think they are faking serial numbers? this is what I am trying to research. Do the earrings look fake and if so how? Thank you

 

[Bonsai]

@Bonsai great post, thank you so much. Same issue I too have my ears pierced as a young kid and then they got infected. I have a few pairs of omega back pearl earrings, but I can only comfortably wear them a few hours at a time, always want larger hoops so looking forward to seeing your collection.

David Klass also made a diamond hoop pair for me, had to make quite a few changes before they are comfortable, but not sure they'll want to make another pair after this.

The Cartier one is nice and if it's comfortable and you really like it might be a keeper.

I would love to see your diamond hoops please. David is very nice and easy to work with. He's done a few things for me. I considered having him or someone make me earrings but I wasn't sure if custom jewelers did a lot of non pierced style that was good. I would love to see a pic.

 

[Lovinggems]

@Bonsai here's 2 quick pics, sorry photo quality is not great I'll try again in the morning. There's a hook at the bottom for attaching different dangles.
I do have to check every so often and make sure my earrings haven't fallen off, but I do that with every pair.

 

[LilAlex]

I assume you mean to imply they are fake and using the next certificate for the next fake pari they sell. It crossed my mind. In this case do you think they are faking serial numbers? this is what I am trying to research. Do the earrings look fake and if so how? Thank you

I can't say that I think they are fake and, if they are, I am not implying that the seller created the fakes. I just meant that the documentation adds to the value of the "package" and if you saved $500, you may have also not gotten the docs for that reason. Some documentation is more item-specific than others (serial number, date and place of purchase). You can buy a Patek box on eBay, etc.

But yes, that could be a sign that they are not genuine. Did the original photos show the writing on the certificate confirming that it pertained to this item? If yes, then keep an eye out for the next one.

That said, lots of shops lose/misplace certificates -- but generally not valuable ones like a GIA/AGL report or, presumably, evidence of authenticity for Cartier jewelry.

 

[Bonsai]

I can't say that I think they are fake and, if they are, I am not implying that the seller created the fakes. I just meant that the documentation adds to the value of the "package" and if you saved $500, you may have also not gotten the docs for that reason. Some documentation is more item-specific than others (serial number, date and place of purchase). You can buy a Patek box on eBay, etc.

But yes, that could be a sign that they are not genuine. Did the original photos show the writing on the certificate confirming that it pertained to this item? If yes, then keep an eye out for the next one.

That said, lots of shops lose/misplace certificates -- but generally not valuable ones like a GIA/AGL report or, presumably, evidence of authenticity for Cartier jewelry.

Yes in this case the cert in the picture had the serial # of the earrings. You can see it faintly in one of the pics. Their site loaded the images better quality so I was able to match it. I was considering they may be doing the but then what they're ripping a bunch of fakes with the same serial #? IDK

 

[Bonsai]

@Bonsai here's 2 quick pics, sorry photo quality is not great I'll try again in the morning. There's a hook at the bottom for attaching different dangles.
I do have to check every so often and make sure my earrings haven't fallen off, but I do that with every pair.

Those are real nice I need to talk to him about making a pair for me. I have a slightly different idea but if he can do them....

 

[Lovinggems]

Those are real nice I need to talk to him about making a pair for me. I have a slightly different idea but if he can do them....

I think you can definitely improve on mine, I'm not very good with design details, maybe should add one more diamond at the bottom, also the front padding is a bit big so the flow of a huggie design is somewhat lost , but it's more comfortable. Do post yours if you ever decide to go ahead with it.