Real vs. Fake: CHANEL "Paris Souvenirs" aka "Devil Wears Prada" Pearl & Charm Neckace

[bulletproofsoul]

Hi everyone! I'm doing this as sort of a PSA to those interested in acquiring this piece since I am FED UP with all of the nasty fakes on ebay. One of the closed auctions ended for $1,100!! For a FAKE! This makes me so angry that some unsuspecting soul got taken for that much! So, here are some pics of the real and fake pieces and some pointers in telling the difference.

First of all, this is a shot from the movie. The fakers modeled their fake piece after this photo. It looks like Anne's character is wearing a double strand pearl necklace with charms. She is actually wearing TWO separate necklaces. CHANEL makes a lot of long pearl necklaces which can be wrapped several times for different looks. The Paris Souvenirs charm necklace is actually quite a bit shorter than the standard long pearls, so it can be worn with the longer strand quite seamlessly. The longer strand she is wearing is a chunkier pearl necklace with 2 charms along each side, and does not have the metal between the pearls:



Now here are some pictures that I pulled from recently completed auctions of fakes. The fakes have merged the 2 necklaces from the movie into one cheap looking piece. That is tip number 1. Tip number 2: Notice the hardware on this fake piece is silver. The real charm necklace has brushed gold hardware. Tip number 3: The charms on the fake are really cheap looking and different in "details". The fake Eiffel Tower has CCs hanging from the bottom, the real does not. The fake Rue Cambon sign looks cheap and has white lettering on some of the fakes (but has black lettering on others, still looks tacky), the real has black lettering and is reversible. The No. 5 bottle is cheap and tacky on the fake and is enclosed in a beautiful shadow box with a camellia on the real. The CC charm is white and metal on the fake, but on the real it is black and enamel, the bus is silver with a pink camellia on the fake. It is brushed gold with a white camellia on the real. Tip number 4: The "maker's mark" on the fake is sloppily attached to the back of a CC charm. On the real it is located on the bottom of one of the Eiffel Tower charms. Basically, the fake is a big mess:












^All FAKES! I'll continue on the next post with the photos of the real ones.

[bulletproofsoul]

I'll give you a chance to recover from the assault on your eyes from the previous photos...

OK, here are some detailed pics of the REAL necklace:



Bus charm:











Eiffel Tower charm:








More to follow...

[bulletproofsoul]

Last batch:

CC charm:




CHANEL/Rue Cambon sign charm:






No. 5, Eiffel Tower and Camellia shadowbox charm:








As always, if you see a charm necklace that you are interested in purchasing from ebay or another website, PLEASE cross reference with this thread and please don't hesitate to ask in the authentication thread. HTH!

[Syma]

Thanks for posting hun, those charms are just too cute. How much did the original necklace retail for???

[DeeDeeDelovely]

thanks, bulletproofsoul

[bulletproofsoul]

Originally Posted by Syma

Thanks for posting hun, those charms are just too cute. How much did the original necklace retail for???

I am not really positive, but I *think* $1,795 or $1,995.

[Smoothoprter]

Thanks so much for posting this. I hate the fakes all over eBay. Last year it was all of the fake black & white necklaces, this year it's the fake Paris Souvenirs necklaces.

I love the little charms. Thanks for the detailed pics.

[FanAddict]

thanks for showing such detailed pics of your necklace! those fakes are

[Jahpson]

well isn't that something? and i learned something today.

[Nat]

Thanks for sharing with us, BPS!

[gMbt]

Thank u for the tips bulletproof!
Ur necklace is soooooooooooooooooooo beautiful btw!

[sjunky13]

thanks so much, I want that necklace now lol. They NEVER pop up on ebay, the real ones I mean! Funny all of the fakes out now, the movie was a long time ago.

[thegraceful1]

Great detailed photos and excellent information to shared with all of us
Thank you for taking the time to take pics.

[janny328]

Thank you for sharing BPS! -I have always loved this necklace but have been weary about buying one precisely because of all the fakes.

I LOVE how detailed your pics are... maybe I'm a bad camera person, my photos are all blurry and not good, LOL

Hopefully this will deter someone from being duped by a nasty fake... UGH I can't believe someone out there paid over $1000 for a fake, it makes me sad to even think about those unfortunate people out there... but thankfully there are wonderful PF-ers like YOU who helping to get the truth out there.

[lebagfairy]

thanks bulletproofsoul i hate it when people get duped on ebay!