Influencers & VCA

[Egalegaler]

clearly that "tarnished the brand" or "it's so over for VCA" that people have been saying about that Monica TikTok incident did not even make a significant impact lol

so why was it packed? just because it was a Friday?

Absolutely true! I love seeing people commenting on VCA websites about tarnishing but never hold one in their hands and can't even imagine their outstanding craftsmanship. If Monica really didn't anything to it, I assume the alloys were mixed poorly, but I always asking myself if this wouldn't be recognised much sooner (this bracelet must be nearly at least 6 months old)

 

[Egalegaler]

I saw the piece on the Real Real. Yes, oxidation happens to every metal. Maybe the owner of this necklace really neglected her piece. I'm not sure if they try to get it polished before putting on sale.

This looks really interesting, because the tarnished part is actually very protected from everything. But yes, even 18k can tarnish in very rare cases, even if I hope that this will not become the new fashion at VCA. But neither I nor anyone I know has had this problem in the last 20 years

 

[etoupebirkin]

My issue with the whole Monica thing is from what I understand that she surreptitiously filmed the SA and SM. That’s patently dishonest and possibly illegal. She knew she was filming the incident and manipulated her language, tone, and body language to provoke the response she received. This was done purposefully to promote drama and clicks.

I would hope that Richemont would ban her for that alone.

 

[A bottle of Red]

Cassie Thorpe did a video on the Monica situation and said that vca should've given Monica a free piece of jewelry ( in addition to the refund she got). I think that's ridiculously entitled.

 

[waterlily112]

My issue with the whole Monica thing is from what I understand that she surreptitiously filmed the SA and SM. That’s patently dishonest and possibly illegal. She knew she was filming the incident and manipulated her language, tone, and body language to provoke the response she received. This was done purposefully to promote drama and clicks.

I would hope that Richemont would ban her for that alone.

That's what I've been thinking too, considering that private recording has now turned into media content with millions of views & some profit. For the SM in the video with her face and name fully exposed, this can be a case of privacy tort & defamation. Cyberbullying and cancel culture are very real in this day and age, hopefully that SM doesn't get harassed in real life. Looking back at her video it does sounds like they did offer to send her bracelet to the workshop to get the motif replaced with a fee if she wanted to, so what's the problem here, she felt entitled for the free replacement? She was very dodgy with her explanation of the whole thing, making it sounds like VCA refuses to service her bracelet ever again and just gaslighting her into keeping it as it, with the tarnished motif.

 

[Egalegaler]

Chloeabeth4545 calling van cleef costume jewelry

Sorry I don’t know how to embed a TikTok video here. Summary for those who can’t watch:

Daughter of billionaire whose whole schtick is she’s “mega rich but down to earth and humble”

Explains the diamond fell out of her mums $250K ring so they bought her Alhambra bracelets in every colour to cheer her up. This is what they’re calling costume jewellery

This is where her own “obsession” started as she “grew up in VCA stores and became best friends with the security guards”



This video rubs me the wrong way idk- firstly she’s built her account following on being a VCA lover (she knows by the reaction she’s getting that it’s not costume jewellery)

She stores this said costume jewellery in the safe at home (why the need if it’s just costume jewellery to you)

When she travels out of Singapore they keep these in the safe and wear more minimalist/unrecognisable pieces (again why if it’s just costume jewellery to you)

She still has some unfulfilled wish list pieces with some being over $60k and some of these are not hard to get/ waitlist pieces. She put these on an excel spreadsheet with the tax free amounts calculated to persuade her dad for Xmas presents (it’s costume jewellery, aren’t you able to buy it all ?)

Hope I don’t come across as a hater - I just don’t like disingenuous and out of touch influencer behaviour 😅😅😅

I actually like Chloe. But maybe also because I'm gen Z myself and grew up similarly to her and her whole channel revolves around VCA (I have a neurosis lol). But showing her luxury purchases is her business, all other videos have much less views. I don't even think she's bragging, she just likes to show it off. Even if the $250,000 diamond didn't have to be mentioned. And if she didn't keep her jewellery in a safe, they would be permanently robbed. But I think she mentioned in the comments that she know vca is not custome jewelry, I think this was a exaggeration compared to the diamond.

A lot of people love Becca Bloom because she looks so cute, but she actually does exactly the same thing, if not more excessively than Chloe. Who I find quite controversial is Mei Leung, who likes to read out her bills of the month (she spends tens of thousands on partying). That's really bragging. I'm a Nepo baby par excellence, but Mei's behaviour is inconclusive to me

 

[nicole0612]

I saw the piece on the Real Real. Yes, oxidation happens to every metal. Maybe the owner of this necklace really neglected her piece. I'm not sure if they try to get it polished before putting on sale.

This looks really interesting, because the tarnished part is actually very protected from everything. But yes, even 18k can tarnish in very rare cases, even if I hope that this will not become the new fashion at VCA. But neither I nor anyone I know has had this problem in the last 20 years

Thank you for adding the context. The serial starts with JB, so the piece could very likely be over 10 years old. I have some JB from only ~6-7 years ago, but it spans back to early 2000s. That should provide some comfort! It could have been exposed to all kinds of things over 10-20 years.

 

[september1985]

SB the jewelry consultant has lost all credibility which is sad. her videos used to be some of the most informative and now its all contradictory and disingenuous bs. for example: when she unboxed her carnelian guilloche bracelet she said that shes not having it re-sized because it gives her stack movement and an elegant look; but now its because she doesnt trust that VCA might change one of the motifs for a fake 🤯

shes trashed Cartier and is now leading the charge on the cancel VCA bandwagon. I noticed she mentioned Tiffanys as part of her proclaimed consulting knowledge

regarding Mango. she thought she could twist Van Cleef’s arm to gifting her a free bracelet. I’m sorry but that is low vibrational behavior. she should take her book and her refund and go away.

all of the influencers saying she should have gotten a free bracelet, I assume they must, otherwise they would get cancelled which is just about the worst thing that can happen to an “influencer.”

 

[oranGetRee]

Vca’s giving Monica refund plus gifts - I think VCA has already done more than enough… to the point I think it seems unfair to the rest of us non influencers and don’t pull such dirty tricks

 

[chareen]

I’m pretty sure Sibylla Mirage has visited this thread much to our dismay. (Who knows, maybe her partner’s friend will stop by and ask us not to talk about Alex and be in SM’s shoes.)

In her latest video, Sibylla defended herself for many of the things said here. lol. First was the tiger eye, carnelian magic motifs necklace. Someone accused her of possibly returning it - then she shows the original clip of her wearing it showing her off her 🍒 . 😂 We never seen her wearing it again. And let’s face it.. the main carnelian is super dark, I have a hard time believing she kept it. She likes her carnelians reddish - totally not brown or dark.

She says she will always stick with RG, but her latest purchase is a Cartier necklace in WG. Like, huh?

Then she goes on to say she met the Cartier manager and received a complimentary bottle of champagne for buying a pinky Love ring from SCP. lol. Oh, so many things wrong here: Why did she meet with the manager unless there was an issue? Champagne bottles are only given out for large orders. Was this bottle from a previous purchase because they usually are wrapped with thin wrappers. I can’t imagine someone coming in full Cartier gear getting a bottle from an SA purchasing a small Love ring, and a store manager stopping by saying, “Oh, we match anniversaries here’s a bottle.” The boutique doesn’t work that way. Also, it is my understatnding that scp boutique stopping giving out big champagne bottles; they only give out small ones.

I think Monica has let that VCA drama go. She’s back to doing makeup and sponsoring small business jewelers. Good for her! Maybe she can get a hook up at Tiffany or Bvlgari as an influencer to promote jewelry that never rusts. I do see a lot of influencers sponsoring those brands.

As far as surreptitiously filming the VCA SA and SM..I’m not sure. I can tell when someone is filming me because the phone or camera would be right at me. I could imagine either SA or SM saw this and knew that. Unless she carries a spy camera or pen (who has those?), people usually know they are being filmed. But then again, they were filmed from their profile view - so maybe they really didn’t see. And usually people love taking pictures within the boutique. It’s really up to Kathy the manager. I did read some nasty comments releasing her full name, and people saying they would go over there and speak to her. But store managers don’t usually come out unless an SA calls them (see my comment about Sibylla above). In this case, Monica escalated her issue about the tarnish with the SA, and Kathy came over to take look. Comments said Kathy must have blurry eyes (possible) or was just trying to be kind in her weird way about not seeing the tarnish so Monica could just enjoy her bracelet. Either way, Monica got her refund, so I’m happy for her.

Either way, VCA should improve their customer service and check their alloys. They are a sister company to Cartier - they should be comparing alloys. Alloys is what makes a gold jewelry tarnish- not the gold itself.

I’m sure Monica is not going to the last influencer of their problems. Seems like her TikTok video made more people curious about VCA which is why the boutiques are more crowded lately. No more under the radar brand now.

 

[chareen]

Also what I did find interesting about Sibylla’s latest video is that it came across as an apology to the VCA brand and a self-imposed boycotting of VCA. I remember thinking if anyone was to be sued for defamation or banned of future purchases (for excessive returns within the 30 day window), it could be her for implying that the boutique’s jewelry is fake (remember that was the original headline?) and asking Monica to have it tested to see if it was gold plated.

No one else told Monica to have that gold tested but our favorite YouTuber.

 

[chareen]

I meant both Tiffany and Bvlgari jewelry brands sponsor influencers. Unlike U.S., influencers in other countries like UK and Australia have to let their viewers know that the picture is sponsored by placing hashtags like #ad #sponsored #gifted. I’m not sure why that is not enforced in the U.S.

Anyway, I do see see influencers like Monica with even 100k followers being able to pull this off. With comments in her Instagram acct saying that they want to know a brand that never rusts, I would explore that if I were her.

Yes, influencers - at least the smarter ones - do have an entitlement personality. They are used to getting free hotel stays (they need to post their stay there of course), free makeup samples, free beauty treatments (I’m talking about the expensive ones like Morpheus), free designer handbags even Chanel’s. The influencer world is pretty interesting.

But I have never seen VCA or Cartier sponsor influencers. They send them to events - but never gift jewelry like Tiffany or Bvlgari.

 

[Egalegaler]

I meant both Tiffany and Bvlgari jewelry brands sponsor influencers. Unlike U.S., influencers in other countries like UK and Australia have to let their viewers know that the picture is sponsored by placing hashtags like #ad #sponsored #gifted. I’m not sure why that is not enforced in the U.S.

Anyway, I do see see influencers like Monica with even 100k followers being able to pull this off. With comments in her Instagram acct saying that they want to know a brand that never rusts, I would explore that if I were her.

Yes, influencers - at least the smarter ones - do have an entitlement personality. They are used to getting free hotel stays (they need to post their stay there of course), free makeup samples, free beauty treatments (I’m talking about the expensive ones like Morpheus), free designer handbags even Chanel’s. The influencer world is pretty interesting.

But I have never seen VCA or Cartier sponsor influencers. They send them to events - but never gift jewelry like Tiffany or Bvlgari.

According to that, VCA only sends their to tier customers to events. I hope they'll stick with it and don't hire brand ambassadors (even if I would loooove to do it 😅)

 

[prettylittlethings2]

I'm glad this saga is over, it was getting annoying and click baity. I think it would be nice if influencers would stop wearing VCA and these "stacks" it really was cheapening the brand. I find it so tacky when they have a stack of VCA and Cartier- heck sometimes I think they're wearing fakes.

 

[etoupebirkin]

Personally, I find the influencer culture completely pernicious.
It exacerbates all the negative qualities of social media with little or no positives.

I do not follow any influencers. I refuse to give them my click.
I do follow craftspersons and artists. People whose content does not extract brain cells through viewing.

Brands can gift influencers items, that’s their prerogative, for them it may be cheap advertising. But it feeds into influencers’ vanity and attitudes, hence the call for the free VCA bracelet.

It would be interesting to see the socioeconomic demographics of Monica’s, Sibylla’s and others followers. Do these people actually have buying potential? Yes, I can see how influencers can build awareness of brands. But how many followers are inspired by influencers to make $5K+ purchases. A very, very, very tiny fraction. And is it worth it to brands to deal with influencer drama? Balance that with the return on investment for non-influencer marketing, PR, and advertising activities.

Also, how do influencers fit into their chosen brands’ image — and how do they modify them? When the Kardashians (Ks) used Hermes to build their brand, they changed the perception and reality of the Hermes brand. Hermes was never the same after the Ks. Before them, Hermes was a niche brand for accomplished women or for people with old money. Whether for good or bad, after the Ks, Hermes is far more well known and flashy.

I think the TPF site is very influential. I have put things on my wishlist and made purchases after seeing TPFers rock their bags and jewelry. And I know I’ve caused people to put a dent in their wallet. The key here is that (other than Megs and Vlad) TPFers do not make their living off of posting here. TPFers are passionate about bags and jewelry and provide their knowledge and expertise freely without compensation. That makes their opinions carry far more weight IMO.