[shelley]

The information and photos in this sticky have been provided by Numero10 and myself. We hope you find it helpful in your quest to find authentic Tiffany jewelry!

This thread is geared toward identifying the difference between real and fake "Return to Tiffany" pieces. These items seem to be the most popular request of all Tiffany jewelry.

Always keep in mind that the ONLY website to purchase authentic Tiffany & Co. jewelry is Tiffany & Co. | Home | United States. There are NO other authorized retailers of Tiffany & Co, jewelry.

If you are posting a link to a website (other than Ebay) that is selling Tiffany & Co. jewelry, it is safe to assume it is fake. We cannot vouch for its authenticity.

**** There are NO TIFFANY WHOLESALERS OR TIFFANY OUTLETS! TIFFANY JEWELRY NEVER GOES ON SALE!!! ****

There ARE good deals on Ebay, you just have to be very careful. The majority of the Tiffany & Co. jewelry on Ebay is fake.

Also, remember that there are sellers that will pull the "bait and switch" method - they display pictures of real jewelry and then send you a fake piece. Or they have photos of a real piece and their fake piece in the same auction. It is a RED FLAG if one seller is selling several brand new pieces of Tiffany jewelry.

Important things to pay attention to when looking at Tiffany jewelry:

The font: The font on fake pieces is usually way off. The fake pieces seem to have an Arial Sans Serif font instead of Serif.

Please look below at the difference between the font on a real piece of Tiffany jewelry and a fake piece.

Real pieces

Fake piece

Also, keep in mind that Tiffany never made a "Return to Tiffany" heart toggle necklace. If you are looking at this piece, it is obviously a fake since it was never created!

Here is an example of WHAT NO TO BUY:

Below is an authentic heart tag toggle necklace. Note that this piece has only the words "Tiffany & Co 925" stamped on the heart:

Here is a fake heart toggle necklace. It looks pretty good as far as the engraving, but pay attention to the fact the links are not perfectly soldered together. The link on top of the toggle should be perpendicular to the toggle:

And an authentic heart tag bracelet (not toggle):

This piece should also have "925" stamped on the clasp. See the example:
below:

Here is an example fake heart tag toggle necklace:

Packaging: Pay attention to the color of the Tiffany & Co. box if there is one shown in the auction. The boxes and bags are highly faked. The fakers have messed up the color and it is usually off (appears more teal green). The Tiffany blue color is very distinct. Here is an example of the incorrect color:

Fake boxes. Look at the horrible green color:

Here is a photo of a two fake boxes above a real box:

More real boxes:

Another thing to pay attention to is the little bag that the piece goes in. A lot of the fake bags are made out of a cheap looking velvet material (see below for an example). The real bags are made out of a suede cloth. Look at the font on the bag. The font printed on the bag should not be too thick or fuzzy. If the bag is a pouch with a drawstring, make sure there is material at the top of the bag when it is cinched shut. The fake bags do not have extra material at the top. Numero10 says the bag should look like "an old fashioned money bag". That is the perfect description. Look at these for example:

Here is a picture of a real bag and two fake bags:

Here are the bags cinched shut:

Interiors of the bags. Note that Tiffany takes great care even in the interior stitching of the bag. The other two are very sloppy:

Here are a variety of real pouches. Note that the stitching is straight and even down the sides, across the bottom (with the exception of the smallest bag) and around the top. All of the bags have the same font, but the size varies. The newer pouches are on the left. The type on the recent bags is smaller than the older bags.

Another REAL pouch:

Real pouches have an interior snap that reads "PRYM*2B*ECHT". See photo below:

Photos of real Tiffany Shopping bags:

If there is ever plastic covering on the jewelry, that is a RED FLAG! Real Tiffany jewelry does not have plastic on it!

Other things to remember:

If the pictures in the auction have different backgrounds or have different lighting, that is usually a bad sign. The seller is more than likely stealing photos!

You can purchase preowned Tiffany jewelry from Yoogi's Closet and Anne's Fabulous Finds. There are NO websites authorized to sell new Tiffany jewelry.

I hope this authenticity guide is helpful. If you still aren't sure of authenticity, feel free to post it!

Many thanks to Numero10 for all of your help!

 

[janem_123]

I have some tiffany lock charms and bracelet if you would like them in the guide
They were bought from tiffany & co and are guaranteed auth

 

[lil_lisa]

I also have some real Tiffany earrings if you want pics? I know for sure because my fiance bought them from the (U.K) Tiffany official website. They are the 'Please Return To Tiffany's' small heart shaped earrings.

 

[susanlamb76]

THANK YOU for making this! I bought a heart toggle off a friend of mine about a year ago for $125.00 (great deal had to share). It had the weight to it so I was pretty sure and she was my friend, well now I'm totally sure. Hat's off

 

[shelley]

Thank you for your compliment!

 

[Silverblade005]

Actually, they DO make an RTT heart toggle necklace and a bracelet to match. Here is the link on the Tiffany's website: Return to Tiffany's Heart toggle bracelet

I work at Tiffany & Co. in customer service (I clean all the jewelry) and I've seen so many fakes come in that people don't even know are fake. On the heart toggle pieces, the easiest way to tell if it's fake is to look at the links connecting the actual chain to the T toggle. They are smaller. In a real one, these links will still have some weight to them, and the solder marks will be exactly like the bigger links - barely noticable. On the fakes, they are obviously cheap pieces of metal (not even sterling) and are most often not even soldered together. Dead giveaway.

The best thing you can do is NOT buy Tiffany jewelry on eBay. Buy it on craigslist. I've seen fakes that take us a few minutes to authenticate, and are so good that we have to feel both the fake and a real piece in each hand to notice the weight difference. THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR BIGGEST GIVEAWAY IN A GOOD FAKE. There will be a significant difference in the weight and also the sound when the links are rolled together (like dough). There are fakes so good on ebay that they'll look real, in fact they may be sterling plated. But the minute you feel the weight, and roll it between your hands, you'll know it's not an authentic piece.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me or email me and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[**fancy**pants**]

^ Did you seriously just recommend people buy on Craigslist over eBay? Ummmm no. Buying on Craigslist is far less safe then buying ebay and there are tons of fakes on there.

 

[Silverblade005]

My point for buying on craigslist over ebay is so that you can feel the merchandise and see it in person before spending your hard-earned money. Yes, there will be fakes on craigslist as well, but when you can feel the pieces in person, you can reject the sale, instead of accidentally buying fakes over ebay and trying to return them. Filing a claim with ebay & paypal over unauthentic merchandise is a pain in the arse, as they want an official letter from Tiffany's (or whatever company the merchandise is from) stating that the merchandise is certifiably fake. Tiffany's will not do this.

In fact, if you take pieces into the store to be authenticated, we can only recommend that merchandise may not be a certified part of the collection, but we can never tell someone that their pieces are flat out fake. It's just policy. Granted, not every person follows policy 100%, but thats what we are trained to do.

The fakes are getting better these days. Feel your jewelry before purchasing!

 

[**fancy**pants**]

Yeah, I suppose if the item is actually local it would be ok if you could authenticate it yourself. But you will find that most of the time with fakes on craigslist, the seller will require shipment of the item and will not let you come see it. They will list in several different locations, even if they are not anywhere close to that location.


Our forum admin is qualifed to write letters of authenticity.

 

[Silverblade005]

Oh yeah, that's what I meant when I suggested craigslist - meeting in person. I've never bought something on craigslist and had it shipped, I've always just met in like a parking lot or a mall. Does the forum admin work at Tiffany's? At my store, we were simply instructed to tell them politely that we could not authenticate the piece, and that we did not believe that the piece was a part of the Tiffany's collection if someone asked if it were fake. I know that if an unauthentic piece was accidentally shipped to our NY headquarters, that it would come back saying just that. I suppose the managers could write something up on the authenticity of a piece for claims purposes, I've just never seen it happen.

Anyways, I didn't mean to come on so strong. I'm very passionate about Tiffany jewelry and working in their customer service department, I've seen the best and quite possibly the worst fakes ever lol! I don't want to see anyone get screwed over shady people on the internet. It's gut-wrenching, especially in this economy - we don't have a lot for little extras like amazing jewelry!

 

[**fancy**pants**]

It is not strange that Tiffany's will not write letters of authentication. Most companies won't. The Admin does not work for Tiffany's but she is one of the very few that is qualified to write letters for premium denim & other brands here to be used in a Paypal claim. I am not sure if she can do it for Tiffany specifically but I am bettin' that she can.

 

[goodheart]

Why the ebay seller was pissed and refunded me?

I recently bought this on ebay. The seller sold many Tiffany and Gucci pieces with NO RESERVE option and her feedback seems good.
Tiffany & Co. Pendant In Titanium New NR - eBay (item 220351951393 end time Feb-03-09 11:49:16 PST)

But the seller got pissed and refunded me after I sent her the below message:
Hi, No offense but I just found a same Tiffany Pendant on Tfn031-1837 long pendant with titanium & necklace For Sale
Obviously this one is a replica, please make sure the one you are sending to me is AUTHENTIC Tiffany.
I also noticed that the same pendant on the Tiffany official website has a 20" rubber cord, while the one you sold to me has 17.5" rubber cord. Could you please explain if there is any particular reason?
Thanks! Your response would be very much appreciated!

She then replied me: here is your refund, you would be much happier buying in Tiffany!!


Could anyone tell me if the piece on ebay is real or not? Thanks!!

 

[Shelly]

Just wondering if there are any reputable sites that sell USED Tiffany jewelry? I've seen some on Yoogi's Closet and Anne's Fabulous Finds, but are there any other reputable sites that sell pre loved jewelry such as Tiffany?

 

[shelley]

Honestly, those two are the only ones I can think of as far as retailers go.

 

[missy2662]

Tiffany & Co. Necklace Fake???

Well I was taken on Ebay. I purchased a Tiffany & Co. 100% Authentic black onyx necklace with a copy of the receipt, original bag and box as well. Excellent feedback. Upon receiving it, it was totally fake. The 925 was not stamped on the toggle. The bracelet had 48 beads not 47 like the authentic and some of the beads were spaced from each other, not closely tied. The seller had me return it to him so he can authenticate it. He claims that he knows someone at the Tiffany store and they can tell if its real Tiffany. Paypal is now handling this for me. Does anyone know if this necklace comes with 48 beads? Thanks

 

[GlamourGuy]

You really did a good job with it, LOL buying branded things is really hard
especially if yo don't know the signs whether they are fake or not.
Good thing there are forums that can help in choosing the real thing by
giving out some guidelines

 

[RachelsJac]

Question

Hello. I have a question regarding the · ECHT · · PRYM · 2B · on the back of the snap. I have two authenic pouches that say · ECHT · · PRYM · 2B · However, there are many forums that state it should say · ECHT · · PRYM · 2b · with a lower case 'b'. Was there ever a period that the snap used a lower case b, rather, than the upper case? When I do an internet search everything is coming up with the lower case? Thank you .. Tami

 

[tildenrick]

These all information are really very great. I know that if an unauthentic piece was accidentally shipped to our NY headquarters, that it would come back saying just that. I suppose the managers could write something up on the authenticity of a piece for claims purposes, I've just never seen it happen.

 

[Nexisfan]

I'm glad this thread was bumped. Any new info? I'm writing my law review paper on Tiffany's v. EBay (this case has been going on since 2004). Obvi, tiffany's is suing ebay for contributory trademark infringement, among other things. Has the fake Tiffany's merchandise been getting better or worse, in general, on eBay?

PS, Pam, can you write letters of authenticity for Tiffany's for paypal claims?

 

[sneezz]

Just wondering if there are any reputable sites that sell USED Tiffany jewelry? I've seen some on Yoogi's Closet and Anne's Fabulous Finds, but are there any other reputable sites that sell pre loved jewelry such as Tiffany?

Bluefly has estate jewelry sales once in a while for 36 hour flash sale. The jewelry has been authenticated by Circa, a leading jewelry resale company. I bought my Paloma Picasso X earrings in white gold from that sale and am very pleased..only thing is the pieces come in a generic jewelry box. They have a 14 day return policy.