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Showroom...Can I take photos?

Another_Newbie

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 6, 2011
Messages
2
Hi,

I'm going to head to some showrooms, and just wanted to pick up some etiquette.

Can I take photos for later comparison?
Is it o.k to record the GIA number for later research?

Anything I should ask or be wary of, or general advice?


Thanks for your help
 
You can definitely take notes regarding the GIA number. As for photos--- not sure if it's "proper etiquette" or not.
 
Feel free to ask. It's their stuf and it's their showroom. They can allow or prevent it as they want. Frankly, I would expect the answer to be no, especially if we're talking about propreitary designs.
 
I have had a 50-50 experience with photos. Tiffany's only let me if I was sneaky. But in NYC only Graff and HW let me, besides gog. Kaufmann de Suisse actually told me they'd call the police if I tried to take any more than the first one I got of the item in the window. He tried taking my camera away. Locally only a few places have told me no but I don't take like detailed shots of the setting. Just a side view ON my hand and a top view to see what it looked like.
 
Knockoffs are a big worry for jewelers. They worked hard to produce their designs, hopefully they're proud of them, and they are justly worried that someone else will take the photo and offer to make a cheaper copy. It happens all the time. In the case of stores like GOG and HW I wouldn’t expect a problem since high quality photos of their designs are readily available online and if you want to rip them off, the path is pretty obvious without the need to show up at the store and taking your own pics, much less the need to be sneaky about it. I’m a little surprised Tiffany doesn’t see it the same way and it may be a simple as not liking the way it makes the experience in the showroom feel for other customers. They are very sensitive to everything about the shopping experience in their stores. In the case of smaller stores that are a bit less free about passing out their own images I’m not at all surprised that they object. Fighting against copycats is a battle jewelers have on a daily basis. It's one of the things that has them losing sleep at night and this just feels like it’s empowering the other guys.
 
I usually just ask politely.

At my local Tiffany's taking iPhone pics of e-rings and wedding bands wasn't an issue. It could be because I come there more often and the SA knows me (and my indecisiveness) pretty well. Cartier didn't mind either. I usually visit during quiet times though, so there weren't any other customers, perhaps they also took that into consideration.
 
I found that taking photos of different stones and noting GIA/AGS numbers was no problem - in fact the salesperson felt like I was a more informed shopper. I believe taking photos of custom settings might have been an issue.
 
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