There are great guides by other eBay members about examining fake Tiffany. I am adding a few things that I found out on my own to supplement that information. Some of the extra information I am listing here is not found in ANY of the other guides I have read so please read! I am very detail oriented (as a future lawyer, I must be!). Unfortunately, it is all based on my personal experience of buying fake items here on eBay (unknown to me at the time of course) and authentic items at the Tiffany store (yesterday was my first time ever going to one!). I hope that I can save you from the trouble I went through.

I have purchased a total of four items here on eBay. Two items from one seller and one item each from two other sellers. I purchased a "Return to Tiffany's" heart tag bracelet, an "Elsa Peretti five open heart necklace", an "Elsa Peretti open heart link" bracelet, and finally an "Elsa Peretti mini open heart necklace (with three hearts)".

I thought I was being a wise shopper by comparing the items on auction with the same on the Tiffany website. I thought that because the pictures looked similar, they had to be real. I thought that because these items came with the "original" Tiffany bags and boxes, they had to be real. However, I received the items and realized that 3 of the 4 were unquestionably fake and the last item I was unsure about. I didn't realize that there are places and people out there who will sell fake Tiffany jewelry. They even produce fake Tiffany boxes and bags. If you go and "google" fake Tiffany jewelry, you can find websites that sell these fakes. Everything "looks" real right down to the "signatures" on the items. It is quite appalling.

You should know:

• Tiffany will NOT authenticate any jewelry. Don't let anyone tell you different. I contacted them by e-mail to ask when I received my items and was told they won't. Then yesterday I was at a Tiffany store and two different people in customer service confirmed this for me. I tried to have a "Tiffany item" cleaned and the man took it and wrote details of the necklace, but did not write "Tiffany" or "Elsa Peretti" on the slip (just that it was a 16" necklace). When I picked the item up from customer service after the cleaning, I spoke to a lady who said, "we cannot confirm or authenticate any items, even if you were asking about an item you JUST purchased in the store". (WOW!)
• Inspect the jewelry once you have received it- Look at the other guides for detailed information on what you should be looking for along with the information I have listed. I didn't have to look too hard because I noticed poor workmanship right away. Tiffany would not produce and sell something showing poor workmanship. Read the guides written by other members because they had EXCELLENT information on this. I will share my experience in comparison of my own fake and authentic bracelet (below).

Comparing my fake "Return to Tiffany" with my authentic Return to Tiffany heart tag bracelet:

• The authentic bracelet weighs more- I didn't actually weigh them on the scale, but you can tell when holding each in your hand. As I read on a guide, the authentics weigh more.
• The "Return to Tiffany" inscription (and other writing)- The writing on the fake was larger and didn't quite look smooth. It almost looked like there were ripples or something (hard to describe) behind the writing. The writing on the back of the authentic heart has the copyright symbol (the "c" enclosed in a circle) right before the "Tiffany & Co. 925).
• The authentic heart has 925 at the top of the part of the heart (front of bracelet) that is attached to the bracelet (so not on heart itself) and the fake does not. The fake has 925 written underneath the "Please Return to Tiffany & Co. New York" and the authentic does not.
• The authentic has the heart dangling from the same link that the lobster clasp is on. The fake has the heart dangling from the opposite side of the bracelet from the clasp (heart on one end of bracelet and clasp on other end of bracelet).
• The color of the fake is too shiny. It is a fake shiny. If you own any sterling silver items, you would probably know what I mean. From what I have read, this is most likely rhodium plated or something. That also explains why I had an allergic reaction to it when I put it on (made my wrist itch entire time it was on).
• The fake had links kind of sticking together and I had to "break" it apart so they wouldn't stick. The fake links had at least one link that looked like it had a gap (so it didn't connect completely) and other links that you could see too much soughtering (spelling?) left over. Again, read some other guides that show more information on workmanship.
• My authentic (purchased by me in a Tiffany store) came with a suede Tiffany pouch and this fake came with a drawstring type pouch. The inside of that pouch looked shabby also whereas my authentic suede pouch has a button on the front (like an envelope) and the inside of it is suede just like the exterior. One of the fake pouches even had smeared "Tiffany" title on front! The 3 fake items I bought all came with the drawstring type pouch (I read that only keychains come with drawstring bags). The fourth item I bought on eBay came with the suede pouch (I am not 100% sure if that is fake or not, but when I compared it to the same item in Tiffany there were some minor differnces. If you know more about Tiffany than I do, please contact me so I can ask you a couple questions. I messaged my seller to ask about this and haven't received a reply so far).
• My authentic bracelet came in a box that is larger than the 3 fake items' boxes I received. The authentic box looks more square and the fakes look rectangular. The fake boxes also look like a duller color whereas my authentic box is a bright Tiffany color. The "Tiffany & Co" written on my authentic is smaller font size than the fakes. The color should be the same on interior as it is on exterior. One of the three fake boxes I have has a white interior. The feel of the box should be similar on interior and exterior. The other two fake boxes feel too smooth on their interiors. The fake boxes look more shabby than the workmanship of the real one.
• My authentic item came in a beautiful bag that is made well and the color inside is the same as outside. On the inside of the bag at the top on the right hand side, it says "Made in China". One of the fake bags I have is white on the interior. The authentic bag feels thicker and of more quality material. The writing on the outside feels almost deeply printed within the material and the fake feels like it was stamped on there. The authentic font looks darker and the fake looks faded. The color of the fake bags looks darker than the bright authentic one. If you look at the craftsmanship of the bag on interior and exterior, you can tell.
• My authentic item's "care card" feels like a thick cardstock material and the two fake cards (one fake didn't have a card at all) feel very flimsy. The front of the authentic card ONLY says "Tiffany & Co." whereas the fakes say "Tiffany & Co. Care of Sterling Silver" The back of the authentic card is titled "CARE OF STERLING SILVER" and it never says "Thank you" for your purchase. The fake cards I have say "thank you for selecting this sterling silver gift from Tiffany & Co." The writing on the fake is larger and you can see a punctuation error even! The authentic card mentions not using chlorine and bleach, but the fake one does not.

EVERYTHING about the authentic Tiffany item is high quality! From the care card to the box to the bag it comes in as well as the pouch to store the item and of course the item itself. Tiffany has been around for quite awhile and they perfect every last detail of all items that have their name on it! Just because a seller claims to offer a receipt, doesn't mean it is authentic. One of my sellers said they would send a copy of a receipt and I NEVER got it. Also, why would they need to send a copy? Why couldn't they send the original.

• Another thing you should know is that if you get a receipt, it comes inside a white envelope that opens like a book. The front says Tiffany & Co, but the font is white also. You can feel the font engraved deeply. When you open the envelope, one side (left) is for a gift receipt and the other side is for the actual receipt. I couldn't purchase my silver spray at the same time as my bracelet because the spray is sold in customer service separately from everything else. Both of my receipts have Tiffany & Co in light colored wording about five times (from top to bottom, rotating between being right justitifed and left justified). The name of the location is under the dark Tiffany name at top of receipt. The name of the "sales professional" I bought from is on there (it says that title and then the person's name). There is a barcode at bottom of receipt and the back showsthe terms of sale along with the return policy.

The details I have listed may seem minor to you, but it is what differentiates and sets authentic apart from fake so pay close attention!!

Tiffany jewelry is copyrighted so the fakes out there are copyright infringements. Sending such items through the mail constitutes mail fraud. I have informed Tiffany of the fakes I know about and you should too. We all need to stop this now. It takes away from the people who may be selling genuine items here on eBay. I have had too many bad experiences with fake Tiffany jewelry so I won't purchase it on eBay ever again. I would rather pay more to purchase it directly from Tiffany because in the long run it saves me money and hassles. I purchased my authentic bracelet for $185 plus tax and the fake for $70 (included shipping). However, I have since lost that $70 to date because the seller refuses to refund it and PayPal is taking forever on the claim (and it seems like they want me to spend MORE money on this damn fake to prove that it is fake or to mail it back to the seller in Canada- see my blog on that). I had an allergic reaction to the fake. I wasted time on shopping for it here, inspecting it upon arrival, and by filing claims with numerous agencies (including making photocopies of documents for my bank). It caused me to doubt anything I buy on eBay for the most part. It caused me additional time because I ended up driving 2 hours roundtrip to a Tiffany store to replace the fake and of course the additional money I spent in buying a real one.

I also now have 2 NEGATIVE feedbacks against me for the two fakes I bought from one seller because she didn't like me saying she sold fakes, but I felt it was my duty to inform other prospective buyers since she has obviously been getting away with this for awhile and eBay seems to do nothing about it. Now my feedback rating has gone down because I was being honest and I have never had a seller complain about me EVER! Another way I get to pay. eBay WILL NOT remove the feedback that this seller left me either. So take that into consideration as well.

So just decide what getting a deal is worth to you. It isn't worth it to me when buying Tiffany jewelry. I don't want fake. Ask yourself "how is it possible for these sellers to sell SO MANY Tiffany items at such a low price". Tiffany doesn't have sales or clearances. Ask yourself "why are some of the listings on here marked as private so I can't see the details of items others bought". I understand making buyers' names private, but there is no need to make item details private UNLESS they have something to hide!

Read my 4 part series (blog entries here on eBay) to get more information on how to protect yourself if this already happened to you or to see how it isn't worth it. If this guide was helpful in any way, small or large, please vote so. I want to keep it in order to protect others.

**I received this from Tiffany and wanted to share it in case you need it:

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