posted 06-06-2007 06:15 PM            

I am someone who adores jewelry, mainly sterling silver and Blackhills gold. My teenage daughter is starting to take after me and she loves the silver.

I love the Tiffany but the price tag is high for a teenage girl. I have found several on auctions but read somewhere that only about 5% of these are actually authentic. I would love to get my daughter a couple of pieces but do not want to pay a Tiffany prices and not get Tiffany quality.

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to know before I buy if it is actually Tiffany?

Any info would be much appreciated.

posted 06-07-2007 12:47 PM            

If you prefer older things, my guess is that number of 5% being genuine may be a bit on the generous side since the Tiffany name adds such an enormous additional market value to otherwise relatively nice but simple things that would otherwise sell for far less. Markings are pretty much the last thing you should look at when buying an older tiffany object. Instead you need to educate yourself thoroughly on the designs used by Tiffany over the years, what they look and feel like, and what the real and fake markings look like. You need to make yourself an expert on it. Even then you will only be right 90% of the time in telling real from fake.

An alternative would be to buy from a well respected and long established dealer in whom you have great confidence to the point of your being willing to spend your money on their being correct. If you are going to spend more than a small amount of money on an object, you would also want to have appraised by another well established and respected appraiser who has no relationships with the seller and who will give you an honest and authoritative appraisal.

posted 06-10-2007 07:29 PM            

If you live in/near a large city like New York, Boston, SF, etc., I suggest going to a high-end designer consignment store. I see Tiffany silver jewelry at these places almost EVERY time I go in, and it is often in the original Tiffany box. Just be aware of the Tiffany retail beforehand! The pricing at these stores can be very erratic in either direction.

posted 06-11-2007 12:15 PM            

quote:

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Luxury on a budget: What can you buy from high-end stores for a mere $250?

Vancouver Sun
June 13, 2006

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TIFFANY BOUTIQUE AT HOLT RENFREW PACIFIC CENTRE MALL

Tiffany & Co. is set to cut the ribbon in November on its first free-standing Vancouver store at Burrard and Alberni. Until then, we'll have to make do with the department-store version of the real thing. And no, it doesn't serve breakfast.

Like many high-end retailers, Tiffany has decided that price tags are gauche, so I had to ask a sales clerk to help me track down baubles that would fit my mythical $250 budget. Thankfully, she was well trained in the art of not sniffing disdainfully at such low-rent requests.

She pointed out a classic silver link bracelet with one tinkly charm for $225, and a silver dogtag on a beaded chain necklace for the same amount. Most style mavens would recognize the floating-heart necklace by Elsa Peretti -- you can get a teeny-tiny one on a wisp of a silver chain for a mere $175.

I was on a roll until I got cocky and pointed to a pair of sparkly heart-shaped earrings so small that they wouldn't keep your earlobes warm. I had to be able to afford those, right? "Those are 18-karat white gold with diamonds, and they're $2,150," said the gracious clerk.

Clearly, it was time to move on.
.....

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posted 06-11-2007 02:12 PM            

Last year, my ex was doing AV for a medical convention and given, as a tip, a Tiffany sterling bank shaped a lot like the Monopoly car, with the bag, box, pouch, etc. It weighs over a pound (on his kitchen scale), and is marked and made like their sterling banks (checked at our local store), but I've never seen the car, told him to just it into the store and ask them about it. Seems like sort of extravagant promo gift if genuine, but then again, the drug companies spend obscene amounts peddling their products. I used to tend bar on our tourist strip, best conventioneer gift I received was some high-dollar pool cue that was immediately taken off my hands by another customer (the ex complained bitterly about that at the time).

~Cheryl