Ritani Pendant Ebay Purchase

[bettyboop]

After many emails back and forth with the seller of this item, review of Ebay feedback, Google research on the business, I took the plunge and purchased the following Ritani Endless Love pendant off Ebay. I''m supposed to receive the pendant on Thursday and will look at having it authenticated by my local Bailey Banks and Biddle (as I''ve worked out a return policy with the seller if the item is not to my liking and I paid for the item via credit card through their store so if there are issues, I can always file a dispute with my credit card company). Does anyone have a suggestion on who I could bring this to or send it to have the pendant appraised so I can add it to my Chubb policy? I''ve seen many referrals here for loose diamonds but not sure when it''s for a diamond already set. Also, does anyone know if I can work with Ritani to get a longer chain and send them back the 16" one? I believe I will need an 18" chain but then I will have an extra 16" platinum chain which I will not have a need for.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5058108199&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

I''ve also been eyeing the earrings also listed but haven''t been able to try the earrings on at BBB to see if I truly like the style.

Thx!

Betty

 

[Mara]

Hi Betty, what a beautiful pendant....

Do you know why the seller is able to sell a designer piece like that for so low of a price? Is it pre-owned or is a jeweler who is selling off all inventory or ?

I always wonder this when I see designer pieces for such low prices, it''s one thing if it''s a consumer seller who wore it for a year then re-sells it on eBay or something, but when I see Power Sellers with designer items, I always have to go HMM.

I hope it''s the real thing and that you adore it....regardless it looks stunning! Keep us posted.

 

[bettyboop]

Hi Mara,
I was totally with you ....my first question to the seller was how can you sell for such a low price and the seller emailed back that they were an estate and jewelry store liquidator in dallas. Their business name is Dallas Jewelry Buyers - not sure if anyone on PS has heard/dealt with them before. I wondered myself if it might be jewelry being liquidated from BBB as I know they are supposed to be closing 30 - 35 stores before year end. The BBB in downtown SF at the SF Centre had a huge 30 - 50% sale right before Thanksgiving and I didn''t get a chance to check out the sale or why they were having it but I heard they had these huge clearance signs as if they were closing.

I''ll let you know how it goes when I get the pendant on Thursday. I''m thinking I will stop by Geoffreys in San Carlos for them to take a look at it and also have my wedding ring set cleaned since I haven''t had a chance to stop by there yet.

Betty

 

[lmurden]

That price is unbelievable!
Also, I could see selling the pendant for half the retail price but less than that?
Lastly, a 3/4 G color center diamond going for so low is a bit perplexing.

 

[AndyRosse]

Well I sure hope this turns out to be a fantastic deal! Please let us know what BBB says after you receive it!

 

[glamgirl]

Yes,This is a perfect example of how deals can be had on Ebay, as I have myself experienced for many years. The secondhand market for jewelry is CONSIDERABLY LESS! I have also ALOT of experience buying on Ebay and many live auctions such as Butterfields in San Fransisco. My nephews Uncle has worked there many years, so I have been lucky to learn alot. Many times these pieces are bought at auction lower than what is sold on Ebay, and then sold ON Ebay or high end jewelry shops in there "estate section". When buying you also need to be careful, and my experience has been to mainly look for damage,repairs and stone replacements. I NEVER have had a bad experience! There are also companies, dealers and Estate companies that buy and sell for profit, or sell for the seller at commission. None of us could ever get our "money" back if we resell used. Many times items sell for way way less than wholesale. I have bought Kabana, Tiffany, etc all marked and all authenicated for way way way way less (think hundreds NOT thousands)! Its the nature of the markup especially for designer names, and diamonds, that makes retail astronomical. Hard to believe but TRUE! I placed a bid for a 3.80 pear vvs H med blue flour color pear set in platinum with .50 ct side bagettes for 13K. It sold for 17K! After auctions fees and taxes around 20K. It was spectacular. That pear haunts me today!

 

[BeaudryBabe]

Well Betty...

Did you get it? I am curious about how it looks.

 

[bettyboop]

Here''s a quick update ... I did receive the pendant yesterday and it looks great! I did bring it by my local BBB but the lady that was there was not willing to authenticate it for me. She actually told me I''d have to bring it back when they had one of their appraisal shows which wasn''t going to happen until around Valentine''s. I compared it to their pendant and it looked the same. I then stopped by Geoffreys in San Carlos and they verified it was a real diamond in the pendant and the color proximity. Sonny at Geoffreys said I actually got a great deal on Ebay for it. On a side note, I am soooo glad I had my wedding set cleaned at Geoffreys as my diamond was so loose in it''s setting that Sonny said I was very lucky it hadn''t popped out. I''m now definitely going to be stopping by once a month to get my set cleaned and checked out. There''s also a pave ring that Sonny showed me that looked much better than the eternity band style I was originally looking at so now I need to do some research on different pave style rings that I may like to wear as a standalone band on those more casual days.

As for the pendant, I still need to have it appraised so that I can add it to my Chubb policy and I need to get a longer chain as well. All in all ... I''m very happy with my purchase.

Anyone have suggestions of appraisers in the Bay Area to do the appraisal on the pendant? I had my ring appraised by Nancy Stacey but wasn''t sure if there were other local ones.

Thanks!

Betty

 

[Mara]

yay so happy to hear that the pendant worked out for you betty!! please post pictures and neck ones as well!!!

one Q...just out of curiousity, do you see arrows in the pendant at all? have you louped it or idealscoped it or anything? just curious if you were able to get an idea of the cut since it''s a Ritani supplied stone and we always wonder about designer stones.

re: an appraisal, are you sure you want to get it appraised then added to your policy? chubb is pretty pricey in this area, what about 2% of value? so if the pendant is appraised at retail of $4k that''s like adding about another $80 a month to your policy if not a little more. i believe in insurance for the ring sets that cost 10''s or 20''s of thousands but for the smaller purchases i decided not to add them to my insurance because in the end if you can afford to replace it then it''s not worth insurance. though i do see that this was a total steal so replacing it would be about $4k but what are the real chances you''d lose it or something? just thinking out loud here. i know i got tired of paying insurance after a while.

if you want it appraised, you could take it by Joe E or Willow Glen who don''t have independent ones but they could probably give you something basic for insurance purposes? i don''t know that i''d go all the way to see Nancy for a pendant, she''s kind of far...hehee.

 

[bettyboop]

Hi Mara,
Thanks. I haven''t louped / idealscoped it since I don''t own a loupe / idealscope (yes I know ... how could I not! I''m planning on picking up a loupe fairly soon as I think I''m starting to have a diamond obession . I have an appt this Thursday at Union St Goldsmith in the Cow Hollow area of SF for an appraisal so maybe they''ll be kind enough to get some photos that I can post. As for the insurance, I''m not sure if I''d do the insurance through Chubb or add it onto my renter''s policy through Safeco. Safeco had the insurance for my wedding set originally but after reading so much about Chubb and people''s experiences here, I decided to switch to Chubb for my wedding set. I''m still trying to authenticate that this is truly a Ritani piece - I called Ritani customer service today and the girl that answered wasn''t all that helpfull. She told me that I should go back to BBB and tell them that Ritani told me they could authenticate and if there were any problems to have the store call them. I still want the appraisal done so that I have some documentation and neck shots will be coming shortly after I find an 18" chain to hang this puppy on.

Betty