How to Authenticate a Tiffany & Co piece?

[nkc]

If I were in the market for preloved Tiffany: I wouldn't consider any other written documentation the equivalent of the original Tiffany paperwork & documentation.

If I were familiar with the piece and felt comfortable enough to authenticate it myself & have an appraiser of MY choosing agree, then I would go ahead without the Tiffany paperwork.

If it were for insurance purposes: An appraisal by a qualified professional should be enough.

I'm not sure why else you would want this as you've repeated that you know it's authentic? In my opinion, no secondary paperwork is the absolute equivalent to actual original Tiffany paperwork.

I agree with you. I think I have tome to that conclusion too. Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it.

 

[distracts]

There is nothing equivalent to actual Tiffany documentation. That's precisely the reason why Tiffany no longer provides documentation to anyone except the original owner - it puts a crimp in the secondhand market and makes people more likely to buy directly from them.

If you are looking for names of people to do authentication, I would start by asking your local auction house. I think Christies has their own appraisers and idk if they do appraisals, but other auction houses can also recommend people.

 

[denverappraiser]

The appraisal/authentication business is not regulated in any way beyond simple FTC regulations. There is no license required or even available in the US except for real estate.


Fundamentally you have, and are asking for, a report that boils down to “Some guy said xxx”. Nothing more and nothing less. That’s true for GAI, or me, or even Tiffany. The obvious response to that is to ask “Who?” and “How did they form this opinion?” Answering that Tiffany said so when you personally bought from them and as documented on the paperwork they gave you at the time would count as a highly credible source. Free, unsigned and random opinions from anonymous people online who have never even see it, which is where you are now, would count as a low credibility source. There’s plenty that fall in between.


The problem here is we’re talking about the credibility of the SOURCE, not the data. As has been pointed out several times above, there are a lot of charlatans in the appraisal business. Some opinions are worth less than zero. GAI is not especially well regarded by collectors but those collectors don’t get a vote unless you're trying to sell to them and even then their vote comes in the form of refusing to buy. Only you do. It’s your ring (I assume) and you’re the one who wants to rely on the document.


For most people, nothing holds credibility like an official statement from Tiffany. Tiffany won’t provide that unless you are the original buyer, and even then they make it difficult. It’s good to bear in mind that these things can and are counterfeited so even that loses credibility if it comes from a 3rd party, especially a seller. Where to go for ‘plan B’ is what you’re asking and, once again, it depends on what your objectives are. It may not be possible to do what you want (in fact it’s probably not). You may already have it. You may want to get something else.

 

[serene12]

Hi I happened to bump into this thread and i need all tiffany lovers and experts to help. I have this piece but I wonder is this authentic?

 

[MarionC]

Yes