How to Spot Fake Tiffany Jewelry

It's shiny and silver, and is stamped with Tiffany's, so it must be real, right? Wrong! The Tiffany's stamp is counterfeited often by sellers trying to pass off a fake as the real thing. Follow these easy tips to find better ways of identifying a potential purchase as the real thing.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. First, if you're buying online and the seller is using a stock photo, stay away! This is a sure sign that they don't have an authentic item. If it were real, what would stop them from taking a picture of it?

2. The item should be heavy in hand, and not feel hollow or plastic.

3. The box the item comes in should be a robin's egg/baby blue. It should feature the Tiffany's logo indelibly stamped on with a glossy finish.

4. The purchase should be accompanied by or come inside a bag of the same color. The bag acts as a polishing cloth and is made of a suede-like material. It also has a thin drawstring closure.

5. The purchase may also be tied with a ribbon. If so, this should be a white satin ribbon. Do not discount a purchase simply for that reason, though; a seller may have taken the ribbon off before selling the item.

6. Most jewelry has a lobster clasp to close it. This should be high-quality clasp that takes effort to open. If it seems loose or flimsy, it's probably a fake. A pendant has a round ring clasp to close it.

7. The pendant, the chain and the clasp will all be stamped with .925. Some sellers piece fakes together with the real thing, but all pieces must say .925 to be authentic.

8. The engraving of the Tiffany name should be clear, dark, and above all, properly spelled. Believe it or not, some sellers actually try to sell misspelled jewelry as "rare finds."

9. Consult the Tiffany's website to check where on the jewelry the logo is engraved before assuming it's correct. Tiffany's has different places---sometimes multiple locations---to engrave its logo on each product.

References

• eBay Guides: How to Spot Fake Tiffany Jewelry

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish