A Recent Discovery:  Over the last few years, I have been watching the Erte listings and was thinking of picking up some of the Courvoisier Erte Limited Edition cognac.  It seems, however, that the supply of this rare series that sold out a decade or more ago has been increasing.  Perhaps that mystery was solved during my recent trip to Thailand.  I saw some of this stuff for sale in a liquor store in Bangkok for 5000 Baht - about $125, although that price was negotiable, as are most things in Thailand.  It was bottle number 8 - the really rare stuff!  I doubted that the bottle and contents were legit, and when I asked, the store clerk smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and said it was good cognac.  He said he could get other labels.  I passed.

Moral of this story:  Be sure that you get the box along with all the Corvoisier papers and registration documents before you shell out $400+ for your bottle of cognac - one which you will probably never open.  There were no papers for the stuff in Thailand, but it did have a correct looking box.

Other Erte Fakes:  I have seen a fake Visage du Femme vase reappear a few times, and there are lots of fake serigraphs out there.  One seller from the Far East seemed to have an endless supply of Erte serigraphs that were listed for a pretty good starting price.  The fake vase, however, was not priced low so you can't always use price as your guide.  You might also want to consider that you can buy any kind of fake watch in Thailand for around $20 to $30.

I got stung with a fake Callaway HawkEye 5 wood once, and I was totally shocked when I heard that there were fake golf clubs out there.  As I subsequently discovered, however, it's a huge market.  Callaway has information about fakes on their website, and can do a confirmation for you.  I somehow doubt that Courvoisier has anything similar to assist you with Erte Cognac.

As always, it's buyer beware.  Research what you want to purchase long before you do so.  There will be no satisfactory recourse if you end up with a counterfeit product!