Influencers & VCA

[S0nia]

if someone is branding something as white gold, why wouldn’t they go for the whitest shade they could go for?

Not necessarily. Not everyone loves this uber white colour of white gold. The point of white gold, historically, was to imitate platinum which was hard to get for a long time.
Just like everything, peoples have taste that vary through time and cultures.

Also, the advent of diamond as stone of choice has influenced the taste for white metals rather than yellow. Before the 19th century, diamonds were not the favorite stone they are now; people much preferred other stones and pearls.

And the need to replate influences the choice of plating metal depending on whether your piece of jewelry is elaborately mounted or not. Again, that is why platinum is better than white gold as no need to dismantle the piece just replate the damn thing.

White gold pieces are only of interest as stand alone unmounted pieces.

I do not think it’s a taste or branding for a company to make their white gold jewelry actually white, but more so skill. Yellow gold and rose gold is one thing, but gray isn’t white. Yellow gold can have a different look, so can rose gold, but to claim jewelry to be white gold but being the same shade as stainless steel seems to be a lack of craftsmanship.

No. It is taste and choice. Which is the reason you can find all sorts of white gold, legally called white gold, and yet vary from uber white to quasi grey. They are all white gold, because they are all 75% AU with a "white" plating.
VCA have simple settle for a shade of white gold that fits with their branding and that's all. Should anyone else want to reproduce that, they can. It's just plating, nothing technical or even mystical about it.

And the "white" in white gold is just descriptive. It was simply a way to say gold that is not yellow, i.e.e that imitates platinum.

Also, your basis on shade of yellow gold also isn’t true. Yellow golds shade is based on the karat, people in Indian culture like 22/24k gold compared to people in the west who like 10/14k yellow gold

I don't think you are actually understand how gold jewelry is made. Also, you may have issues understanding percentages.
For the same 18k yellow gold, i.e. (75% pure gold + 25% something else) the colour can range from pale yellow to darker yellow depending on the composition of the remainder 25%. For the same caratage, i.e. same 18k.

If you get the chance to travel more, visit souks and stores try and buy pieces from all over the world and compare them. Pieces that are all 18k and officially yellow gold will vary in colour because the of local tastes.

Of course, higher karat gold will be even darker. Again, please consult proper informational and educational material, not marketing material.

 

[S0nia]

VCA is plated with rhodium, there's no secret sauce to it, they stated it on the product page and the SA's concurred the same information. But the thickness of the rhodium plating vary by brands so I suspect just like wearing multiple coats of nail polish, a thicker coat (or multiple coats) would be more opaque, in this particular case, appear more white. With that said, I own white gold & silver pieces from other brands that are as white as VCA's white gold. Cartier only use rhodium plating on their diamond pieces, solid white gold pieces aren't so you have to pay extra for it if you prefer it to look extra white. I've worn my 5 motif chalcedony to death and the rhodium plating has definitely chipping away by the days, now it's has a grey-ish tone compared to my other white gold/platinum/silver pieces that I don't wear as much. But even in brand new condition, my chalcedony & 2020 HP aren't as white as, surprisingly, my Hermes silver CDC ring which also have a thick coat of rhodium plating. But I do think the white gold guilloche may appear whiter than it actually is since it's so reflective.

Oh my God!
Finally someone who understands what they are talking about!
LOL!

I suspect certain people here don't actually deal with and actually wear & manipulate jewelry but only look at them in the windows of the stores, or keep them in the boxes.
If you actually wear your jewelry, especially inter-generational pieces, all of the above is self-evident. As you said, no secret sauce...
I give up!

 

[S0nia]

11. Mentions her friend who is the wife of alleged slum lord - according to TPF, Reddit, and the NY Post who allegedly served 66 months behind bars for arson - like a badge of honor

Does anyone have links or references to this?
What is this about?

 

[Swanky]

Hi! Let's stick to topic please, discussing VCA Influencers

 

[Emily1830]

Does anyone have links or references to this?
What is this about?

Styled by Shishi’s husband is the one in this NY Post article.

Notorious Brooklyn slumlord sentenced to five years for arson scheme

Daniel Melamed was hit with a 66-month sentence by Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit arson.

nypost.com

 

[etoupebirkin]

For the life of me, I will never understand influencer culture. But then again, I am an *OK Boomer*.

It would not surprise me if these two ladies collaborated offline to create the “drama” to create more engagement from followers, thus more $ in their pockets.

To me, all these Instagramers are fake and not worth my time.
I’d rather get my style and VCA inspirations here.

 

[S0nia]

For the life of me, I will never understand influencer culture. But then again, I am an *OK Boomer*.

It would not surprise me if these two ladies collaborated offline to create the “drama” to create more engagement from followers, thus more $ in their pockets.

To me, all these Instagramers are fake and not worth my time.
I’d rather get my style and VCA inspirations here.

I highly doubt they colluded; I have followed both and their universes actually do not overlap, except for that VCA guilloché bracelet. LOL!

One does fashion, StyleHard is a fashion account and the other is a jewellery, VCA obsessed account. The scandal is actual bad luck for StyleHard as in the past she was reluctant to share her jewelry and resistant to the idea of filming jewellery collection videos. She also keeps some of it in the bank which clearly indicate that a lot of it is real. Nobody wastes time and energy going from and to the bank to protect fake jewelry. She probably just views all her fakes as accessories to dress up her fashion looks.
She is one who knows what she is doing (hence the savvy replica). The other one is a drama queen looking to grow her channel. But she is also probably right about that bracelet.
There should simply have been a disclaimer in the jewelry collection video.

And yes, , it is totally a boomer opinion to think that all influencers are the same; they're not! They are as different as the people in real life.
And they are better entertainment that TV, which is straight up propaganda. I like watching them at the gym or while cooking...

 

[GlamarousBarbie]

For the life of me, I will never understand influencer culture. But then again, I am an *OK Boomer*.

It would not surprise me if these two ladies collaborated offline to create the “drama” to create more engagement from followers, thus more $ in their pockets.

To me, all these Instagramers are fake and not worth my time.
I’d rather get my style and VCA inspirations here.

Eh, I'm not sure. I doubt they are conspiring together, the blonde lady has like 1M followers on TikTok and probably sees people with less as 'others'.

 

[880]

someone is branding something as white gold, why wouldn’t they go for the whitest shade they could go for?

I own white gold & silver pieces from other brands that are as white as VCA's white gold.

Not everyone loves this uber white colour of white gold.

VCA influencers might imply that the whitest shade for white gold is the best; the most costly; or the most pure. In times of economic slowdown, the average person might also assume that the whitest gold, being the newest looking and having the most bling, would be the most coveted. But, base metal like tin also shines brightly. One of my favorite jewelers, Suzanne Belperron, one of the founders of art deco, (and certainly an influencer of her time) preferred a shade for white gold that she actually called grey gold. It had a soft patina and looked more like the shade that a beat up Cartier love bracelet takes on. It’s a matter of aesthetics, not quality, as others posts above have stated. But, I think that isn’t as popular a position for a modern day influencer to take.

 

[GlamarousBarbie]

VCA influencers might imply that the whitest shade for white gold is the best; the most costly; or the most pure. In times of economic slowdown, the average person might also assume that the whitest gold, being the newest looking and having the most bling, would be the most coveted. But, base metal like tin also shines brightly. One of my favorite jewelers, Suzanne Belperron, one of the founders of art deco, (and certainly an influencer of her time) preferred a shade for white gold that she actually called grey gold. It had a soft patina and looked more like the shade that a beat up Cartier love bracelet takes on. It’s a matter of aesthetics, not quality, as others posts above have stated. But, I think that isn’t as popular a position for a modern day influencer to take.

I think the palest shade of white gold is the best for many because it has the most contrast with people’s skin tone. It makes the piece stand out and pop. It brings out the pink undertones in my skin and seems to make more cool toned clothing suit me more. I feel that white gold is the shade which brings out a different you…

 

[A bottle of Red]

I'd love a spin-off explaining different gold karats mixtures colors etc. tbh I don't have any jewelry passed down and don't know all the things mentioned above ( I also thought higher karat yellow gold was darker in color .)

To keep on topic, the beads on that onyx motif in the picture looked weird but maybe it was just an odd reflection.

Personally, I feel very uncomfortable with how much influencers lie or don't fully disclose things.

 

[Bisoux78]

I highly doubt they colluded; I have followed both and their universes actually do not overlap, except for that VCA guilloché bracelet. LOL!

One does fashion, StyleHard is a fashion account and the other is a jewellery, VCA obsessed account. The scandal is actual bad luck for StyleHard as in the past she was reluctant to share her jewelry and resistant to the idea of filming jewellery collection videos. She also keeps some of it in the bank which clearly indicate that a lot of it is real. Nobody wastes time and energy going from and to the bank to protect fake jewelry. She probably just views all her fakes as accessories to dress up her fashion looks.
She is one who knows what she is doing (hence the savvy replica). The other one is a drama queen looking to grow her channel. But she is also probably right about that bracelet.
There should simply have been a disclaimer in the jewelry collection video.

I’ve been watching StyleHard for years…I find her entertaining. Mirage was wrong for putting her on blast when this could’ve been done privately (the classier route). But, predictably Mirage took the scandalous route to get the views that she’s looking for. It just came across as vindictive. I had to stop watching her after a few videos because there’s always some kind of overblown drama attached to her stories.

 

[eletons]

I think the palest shade of white gold is the best for many because it has the most contrast with people’s skin tone. It makes the piece stand out and pop. It brings out the pink undertones in my skin and seems to make more cool toned clothing suit me more. I feel that white gold is the shade which brings out a different you…

I believe that you have vca white gold pieces in your collection? or at least you have some items from vca, right? It's more convincing when someone gives advice or reviews a piece that is authentic and share his/her experience of the white gold used in vca from first hand experience rather than just talk about the knowledge of white gold in general. (From your previous posts, I do believe that you visit vca boutique often and have a some items from vca)

Thank you for sharing your first hand experience.

That's why Style Hard got called out because hers is not an authentic one but she reviews it like she had the authentic piece.

 

[A.Ali]

I couldn't help but notice something peculiar about the video that Stylehard shared in response to Mirage. Throughout the video, she kept rolling her eyes, leading me to believe that she wasn't entirely honest with us. Additionally, it bothered me when she apologized for her husband's messy room. Why do people feel the need to pretend that their lives are flawless all the time? It's just a facade, and it doesn't sit well with me.

 

[september1985]

Stylehard commented under her response video that her husband was taking the guilloche bracelet back to the jeweler that they know personally for refund/store credit.

… so was their jeweler friend the reseller she also wrote on the video that the guilloche came with all vca packaging…