cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

jewelry authentication failed!

I've been here since 2006 with 100% feedback selling jewelry.  Clearly I am not scamming customers.  I am sure they take the stuff they buy from me to their own jewelers, who confirm that my descriptions are correct.

I had my very first diamond ring sent to the jewelry authenticators this week and it FAILED!  It was a big chunky vintage ring, hallmarked 14k.  It passed the 14k acid test with the stone and the acid.  They failed it, saying they put it into some machine, and it came back at 13.3K gold, not 14k gold.  This is SO FRUSTRATING.  The gold in vintage rings often had a bit of alloy mixed with the gold, but the standard was they could still mark it as 14k because it was like 98% of 14k gold.  Who is to say that their gold test is correct and ours is wrong, or that the stamp on the ring is false? We as sellers have no recourse if the authenticator kicks our items back.  Is anyone else having problems like this??

Message 1 of 38
latest reply
37 REPLIES 37

jewelry authentication failed!

@desdemona1013 

Oh that is frustrating and i believe you, it's clear that you know what your talking about. I had a personal ring that was a heavy freeform design with a large Diamond/ stones and I had the actual appraisal papers of 14k. I took it to a well known  jeweler and it only came back just over 12k. He said something about the heavy weight and that other alloys must be added to strengthen ring and design. 

     I remember how disappointing it was to hear that. At least the good news is that your Beautiful ring will be returned to you but it is unfortunate that this sale is a bust.

Thanks for the memories Tropicana you will be missed
Message 2 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

It's actually not a bust, because I have another platform I sell on and buyer still wants it.  But STILL...I'm sure this is not going to be the last time it happens, and I'm not the only seller.  eBay is going to lose a lot of fees like this.  This ring was  over 1K and their fee is 13%.

 

Message 3 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

I was afraid this would be the way it would go.  Sorry.

Though the beauty may be in the butterfly, the struggle and growth occur in the cocoon.
Message 4 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Oh...I'm so sorry.  I'm not sure if Ebay, or the consumer public is totally aware that the mark, "14K" is still just an approximation of the amount of pure gold in a piece.  It's very difficult for a jeweler to hit the 14k content right on the mark.  Rejecting a piece of jewelry that tests 13.3k on some machine is really splitting hairs, IMHO.  You might ask what the tolerance is with the machine that they tested it with. 

I have a piece that is marked 22k, but tests only out to somewhere between 18k and 19k.  I went ahead and listed it as only 18k, but explained the reason in the listing.  That might be the way that you have to go until the buying public understands.

Message 5 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

13.3K, that is nitpicking. If there was no "P" for Plumb after the "K" they cannot expect it to be dead on 14K. Obviously the person doing the testing is not a trained professional. I used to have a link to a gov site that explained all this but that was years ago.

Message 6 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Hi -    

I read somewhere that it is legal to be off by 1/2 karat, when marking gold.   Also, see the following link I found on the web regarding karat gold marking requirements:  National Gold and Silver Marking Act | Stuller

Message 7 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Not jewelry but I purchased shoes through ebay authentication. I also authenticated them and they are real.

When I resold on ebay, they failed authentication and when I contacted ebay that they were the same shoes I bought through authentication they claimed there was no way to prove it. This is just the tip of the iceberg with issues with amazon authentication. idk what platform is "better" but expect a wave of headaches.

Message 8 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

That is amazing!   Did you resell them with eBay’s authenticity certificate displayed?  How could they suddenly become non-authentic?

Message 9 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

My buyer requested to resize the ring after purchase which we always used to do. Free of charge. They authentication failed because listing didn't match ring size even though buyer requested. Apparently they don't see buyers notes nor messages. This is crazy.... 

Message 10 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Reading other sellers' experiences on this thread is really eye-opening.  So now you have to get the ring back, relist it (with the correct size) so that your buyer can buy it again?  Then it has to be authenticated again?  That's a lot of shipping cost back and forth!

 

Message 11 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Coming from someone who was enthused about the authentication service, this is very disappointing.  In the 1980s the FTC passed a "plumb gold" law.  The law says any piece of jewelry that is quality stamped with gold fineness must be true.  18K must be 75% gold, 14K must be .5833, etc.  Also, If a piece of jewelry is manufactured in the US and is marked with a quality stamp, it must also have a manufacturer's mark.

 

So, it is perfectly legal to manufacture something that is underkarated, but the manufacturer can't stamp it "14K" or whatever.  They also can't make something that is true or "plumb" and stamp it correctly but fail to put the manufacturer's stamp on it too; they can't just stamp it "14K" or "18K", etc..  Theoretically then, the retailer's recourse is against the manufacturer if something is found to be underkarated.  

 

The law worked well and really cleaned up the rampant egregious false markings on gold.  But, for us eBay sellers of vintage jewelry manufactured in the 1970s and earlier, GIA failing the authentication is a problem.  I'm sure that GIA is using an Xray fluorescence machine to verify fineness.  We for the most part don't have these sophisticated instruments. 

 

So, the question is, what do we do?  I guess if any of us are selling something, especially older items, the thing to do might be to not sell it at a specific karat gold, but just say it is solid gold that is stamped or marked such and such.  Maybe we can specifically say in our listings that we are relying on the manufacturer's quality stamp, but we are only guaranteeing that it is solid gold and can't guarantee exact fineness of the gold.

 

All this seems like a lot of disclaimer legalese...and a lot of sale killing.  The thing we need is protection from unscrupulous sellers that are selling plated items stamped "14K"...not making us become metallurgists in order to sell jewelry. 

Message 12 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Also had a few interesting experiences with this, but wanted to comment mainly on the fact that I just discovered that ALL promotional items in the package (business card, boxes, pens with your name on it), get trashed going through the process.  My customers received none of my items but the actual piece of jewelry they purchased. 

Message 13 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

Any one know what this machine is so I can go read the supposed accuracy of it???

I know of no real way to do this with out full  analysis which is destructive to the item.

So called resistivity test can easy fail such. They should never be used to say the true mix.

Message 14 of 38
latest reply

jewelry authentication failed!

You have explained this so well that I can't add anything.  But that is the sentiment exactly.  I sell a ton of vintage jewelry, and I am definitely afraid that the gold is not going to test as 14k or 18k, and everything is going to get sent back to me.  I think it's pretty unfair that my customer does not get to decide whether he/she actually wants the item, whether it is 13.3K or 14k gold--it may have so much character, great gemstones, etc, which is why he/she bought it in the first place. 

To your suggestion about disclaimer in the description.  If title says "Stamped 14k Gold Diamond Ring" and the description adds something to the effect of the 1980s gold act intentions, I wonder if that would get around the "not matching the description" eBay policy.

I have already started to remove any designation of diamond color or clarity and have even become more vague about carat weight in my descriptions.  Sad, because nobody ever disputed our jeweler grading of any of these things--and people liked the specificity of my descriptions which included all of that info.

Finally, eBay has verified by phone that it is only a matter of time before sellers will be charged a fee for the authentication process that they are forcing upon us.  This is going to put me, as a small consignment seller, out of business.

Message 15 of 38
latest reply