Should be careful when you order on Future Fashionista!!
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I agree, Gracie.
Even though I'm pleased with the two pearl strands I bought, it still leaves a sick feeling in the pit of my tummy. I fear I'll never feel the same joy in wearing the one I kept. I gave the other strand to my DDIL for her b-day last year, and she loves them so. I don't have the heart to tell her about all this drama. I would like to add that my approach to finding what value my pearls have was not what I could buy them for wholesale, but rather, what I'd have to pay to replace them. In the end, that's all that matters to me, since I never plan on selling them.
I agree, Gracie.
I would like to add that my approach to finding what value my pearls have was not what I could buy them for wholesale, but rather, what I'd have to pay to replace them. In the end, that's all that matters to me, since I never plan on selling them.
Just want to make sure I was clear: I never intended to sell my jewelry from Elana either. I asked specifically for a wholesale appraisal, because I was told very specifically that I was buying them at wholesale, at a jeweler price, at or very near Elana's cost. I asked for a wholesale appraisal to try to figure out how far reality differed from the story I was told.
Yes, lulilu, one of the big selling points for me was that the items were supposed to be made by hand, by Elana the dedicated bench jeweler.
And I agree, gracekelly. Caveat emptor indeed. Just lately, in fact, I was shocked to discover that a forum member I had previously respected and liked had bought a fake and presented it on the forum as real. I just don't immediately default to assuming people are liars. That's a chink in my armor, certainly, but not one I want to fix by swinging to the other extreme and assuming everyone is a liar.
I am sad that Elana was not the fine, talented, and honorable person I credited her for being.
I hope everyone is ok, things like this can take up space in our head and really cause pain and anger.[/QUOTE]
Irish, yes, Anger..............and pain.........you are right on.
Fraud on this level, fraudulent carat weight descriptions, fraudulent hand made statements, fraudulent quality and replacement value amounts, to so many purchasers in the forum alone, is very hard.
I took a look through several threads, and through some of the postings of buyers of all of the diamond jewelry they bought, and how happy they were and read many descriptions regarding the diamond rondelles, earrings, beads, necklaces, stating hand made, how long it had taken to hand make them, how crazy it was to hand make it, etc., and I am mad as hell. Like many others, I believed this person to be a hardworking, honest, talented, innovative jeweler.
There are posts both in the Jewelry Box and elsewhere of buyers who are still probably unaware of what is going on, some of whom as per their posts bought many very expensive diamond items. If indeed, all of the above claims are untrue,
Collectively maybe we can expose this.
Irish, yes, Anger..............and pain.........you are right on.
Fraud on this level, fraudulent carat weight descriptions, fraudulent hand made statements, fraudulent quality and replacement value amounts, to so many purchasers in the forum alone, is very hard.
I took a look through several threads, and through some of the postings of buyers of all of the diamond jewelry they bought, and how happy they were and read many descriptions regarding the diamond rondelles, earrings, beads, necklaces, stating hand made, how long it had taken to hand make them, how crazy it was to hand make it, etc., and I am mad as hell. Like many others, I believed this person to be a hardworking, honest, talented, innovative jeweler.
There are posts both in the Jewelry Box and elsewhere of buyers who are still probably unaware of what is going on, some of whom as per their posts bought many very expensive diamond items. If indeed, all of the above claims are untrue,
Collectively maybe we can expose this.
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It's not really a case of caveat emptor... I based my purchase on all of the feedback from other satisfied clients and seeing her inventory in person, plus word of many mouths...
I googled her before too and couldn't find any bad press... Really the only way to have known either way is to have the items appraised immediately after purchase, but who wants to go through that?
I googled her before too and couldn't find any bad press... Really the only way to have known either way is to have the items appraised immediately after purchase, but who wants to go through that?
^ and really who would if they trust the person they're buying from? and, forgive me because i am not much of a jewelry person, would anyone really buy from one jeweler and take it to another to be appraised- outside of vintage/ estate pieces? word of mouth and trust, especially, is a very powerful thing and elana was a very beloved member of the forum so i don't think anyone could have imagined things would end up this way.
i am so sad for everyone involved. really. this whole situation just sucks.
and gga- that's crazy about the bag. i truly will never understand some people.
i am so sad for everyone involved. really. this whole situation just sucks.
and gga- that's crazy about the bag. i truly will never understand some people.
Well, I just got back appraisals from a GIA trained appraiser and on the two diamond earrings pairs I submitted, both came back at roughly 3x replacement value to what I paid. For the one where there were specs on the web site, the appraisal was roughly 99 per cent the same as what was on Elana's site, except the diamonds graded slightly better and the pearls were 1 mm smaller.
I have two pieces still with the appraiser, including the same design diamond hoops GGA bought. I get those back in a day or two and will report back.
I am very relieved about these appraisals but still so mystified as to why mine differ so wildly from others, and still very sad that this has happened. There are no excuses for Elana not dealing with her disgruntled buyers and trying her very best to rectify the situations.
I have two pieces still with the appraiser, including the same design diamond hoops GGA bought. I get those back in a day or two and will report back.
I am very relieved about these appraisals but still so mystified as to why mine differ so wildly from others, and still very sad that this has happened. There are no excuses for Elana not dealing with her disgruntled buyers and trying her very best to rectify the situations.
gga, I'm so sorry and feel sick for the way this is turning out. It must be hurting on so many levels.
I haven't purchased anything from FF but I was close to buying big ticket ($10K diamonds) items multiple times. Once I was about to place an order, had the credit card in my hands and called my sister to run it by her. She thinks through everything thoroughly and she convinced me I should not buy that particular diamond necklace. I was disappointed when the necklace sold out but I'm so so happy that I didn't pull the trigger then.
I know it is easy for me to say this after the fact but many subtle things about FF and Elana bothered me from the beginning. But after reading the glowing recommendations from many members I decided to take a chance.
I am now very wary of choosing online vendors for jewelry. It is very unfortunate that people believed her so much to the point of not getting high priced items appraised. It is very very sad to see the trust of many people broken this way.
I haven't purchased anything from FF but I was close to buying big ticket ($10K diamonds) items multiple times. Once I was about to place an order, had the credit card in my hands and called my sister to run it by her. She thinks through everything thoroughly and she convinced me I should not buy that particular diamond necklace. I was disappointed when the necklace sold out but I'm so so happy that I didn't pull the trigger then.
I know it is easy for me to say this after the fact but many subtle things about FF and Elana bothered me from the beginning. But after reading the glowing recommendations from many members I decided to take a chance.
I am now very wary of choosing online vendors for jewelry. It is very unfortunate that people believed her so much to the point of not getting high priced items appraised. It is very very sad to see the trust of many people broken this way.
My guess is that she was/is buying from different vendors. I had been told by her that one pair of earrings I got were handmade but I found evidence to the contrary. I agree with GGA that I think a lot of what we were told was handmade was in fact bought elsewhere and sold as her work. I have a real problem with that.
I'm happy, of course, that my items turned out to be ok (so far). But very unhappy with the way she has handled this entire situation (or not handled it) and what seems to be the outright lies and obfuscation she used to sell things. I was told by her that the other pair I had appraised were 1920s vintage. They LOOK Edwardian, but the stones are not in keeping with the 1920s. Now, I love the design and they checked out ok spec wise ... but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There's a difference between buying repro and buying period jewellery and I always want to know the difference.
Yes, I understand this. What I was interested in was at what price a good, local jewelry retailer would sell the same quality items. That's why I took mine in and asked for same quality/size.
Replacement value for insurance is always waaay too high, IMO.
Misti, we had pretty much the same experience. And yes, it is very strange, indeed. As Alice said, this gets curiouser and curiouser.
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