If your gunna sell jewelry... know what your selling vent!

[jewelerman]

Good morning everyone!
So i just got back from an incredible and way to short mini vacation to Yellow Stone and Old Faithful!Yes it was great with the Teton mountain range,the buffalo running along side our car ,the moose and hawk sightings!The down side of the trip was the Antique jewelry and art show that was in town.About 50 tents and booths set up with jewelry and art ,both by young artists selling their handmade jewelry and people claiming to be long time experts having antique or authentic American Indian Jewelry.it was continual misrepresentation from the first booth...gold filled jewelry being represented as karat gold(The pieces were clearly marked as G.filled)...a g.f. locket tagged at $400.00!The silver and turquoise jewelry made in Thailand,Tibet and India represented as old American Indian for twice the current market value!When we did find actual antique pieces worth looking at we were hard pressed to find a vender who knew what they were selling( one admitted they had no idea about the pieces we were looking at and i stopped early on in the game trying to educate some of these people so they don't misinform other shoppers)!These people made the un trained part time sales associates at maul stores look like experts!Thanks for the vent... boy that felt good! !

 

[Arkteia]

Re: If your gunna sell jewelry... know what your selling ven

Oh, if you want to see the scams people pull, come to Russia! Indian jewelry? They sell "antique" rings with sapphires and claim that the stone have certificates, then when I ask to see the certificates, they tell me that they "can get one" from an appraiser next door, then when I ask if an appraiser has a degree (equivalent to GIA-trained), they say, the degrees mean something "only in America"! And this is not in Yellowstone, this is on one of the central streets of Moscow!
Even more interesting? I saw a ring (exactly the same I bought at Costco at 1100.00) for 7.5 K! It was a rhodolite in 18K WG. When I asked why so much, they said it was because of "platinum and diamonds". It was stamped 18K and yes, it had nice diamond melee in it, but it was nowhere close to 7.5 K! I wonder how they can buy these rings from Costco.

 

[Amys Bling]

Re: If your gunna sell jewelry... know what your selling ven

wow!

 

[HollyS]

Re: If your gunna sell jewelry... know what your selling ven

I'm also really disappointed by "antique" jewelry sellers. I haven't seen true antique jewelry at 'shows' or in 'shops' for 30+ years.

I know the difference between Bakelite and plastic.

I know gold filled from vermeil from the real thing.

I know hand made (Georgian, for example) vs. machine made (J.C. Penney, circa 1990). Yes, I actually saw a ring once that I know came from J.C. Penney. 10K gold with a lab created ruby. I pointed to it, and told my DH, in front of the store owner. A$$clown gave me a glare, to which I responded with my own withering gaze.

Sadly, few 'dealers' know what they have or don't have. Or maybe they are just shiesters looking to make a fast buck.

But the days of finding genuine antique jewelry, outside of the internet, are slowing to a trickle. It's sad. I loved treasure hunting.

 

[Circe]

Re: If your gunna sell jewelry... know what your selling ven

I find it to be one of the fascinating parts of the whole deal, though, and one of the things that keeps informed people treasure-hunting even as the masses get taken: the uninformed dealers also don't know when they've got something that's worth money! I got a gorgeous peacock glass Egyptian Revival buckle from an antique fair in London for 5 pounds ... comparable pieces sell for, oh, two hundred.

I know that's the reason why I'd obsessively research anything I was selling: I'd hate the idea of giving away treasure! I'm thinking the greatest offenders are those where it's less that they're ignorant, and more that they're deliberately misleading people, like the folks in Crasru and Holly's examples ....