It continues…Ebay wants Tiffany to give me permission to sell my own collection of Tiffany jewelry. What possible motivation could Tiffany have for doing this? Besides the fact that ITS MY JEWELRY!!! According to ebay, any entity who has copy write of a brand name can do this..again, I quote, “These laws have been in place for hundreds of years.” Okay, that means all those years I was selling cars, I really needed to ask the manufacturer if I could advertise and sell their cars?? This is getting ridiculous!!!

I am still suspended from ebay. I was also told today that once they let me back on, if I ever list a Tiffany item, if Tiffany hasn’t given their permission, I will be suspended forever. Its time for me to learn how to knit because the only thing we can safely list on ebay is home made crafts. I don’t know what will happen to ebay motors….According to ebay, only home made cars should be listed. That will be very interesting.

Vito is off to Italy. His mother fell out of a fig tree. I hope I’m climbing trees when I’m 80. Without ebay to keep me busy, I am working on my website and swimming.

Yesterday, there was a big fire in the hills near Stanford University. I was swimming my laps and flakes started falling from the sky. It was all very strange. Especially since Michael took me to see the movie 1408 (excellent movie) and I have been a little jumpy.

I have also taken my Lemoncello making to a new level. I have made Kumquatcello with kumquats from Catherine’s family vineyard. Today I made Mangocello. I’m not sure what I’ll make tomorrow. I know this is a funny hobby for someone who doesn’t drink…

I have heard from more sellers that ebay is removing Tiffany and other designer products at a new, alarming rate. Yet…The counterfeits continue to flourish. Interesting business plan, ebay…A huge website devoted to counterfeits, homemade items, and the truly strange stuff you see on Jay Leno’s running joke about weird crap people pay a lot of money for on ebay. If that is really ebays business plan then those of us who love to buy designer pieces need a new “venue.”

On the upside, the website called “Tiffanycollector” has more then doubled the visitors then just a week ago. I am busy adding some vintage Tiffany Bamboo, Atlas, Etoile and Peretti that has been locked away for quite some time. Please let me know if you are looking for any specific pieces to add to your collections. Also, I love to trade and I’m busy buying collections from people who, like me can no longer sell on ebay. I can thank my son, Marc, for making this website to keep me busy the last time ebay decided to punish me for the great crime of listing my vintage Tiffany on their website. Master criminal mind that I am.

Ebay is not speaking to me. Even the power seller rep, who had been so “helpful” before, won’t return my calls. Thanks for that…They are letting me submit, via fax, proof that I am who I say I am. ie. phone bills, etc. And a signed promise that I will not break the rules of ebay and sell fakes. Lets see…Seven years on ebay, over 2000 transactions. One negative feedback in all that time… The buyer who didn’t read the measurements of a bracelet and wouldn’t return it for a refund.Thats it. And my crime wave continues…

Thank you to everyone who is writing to let me know they understand what is going on with ebay, and share my concern about the removal of so many honest sellers.

I have been suspended from Ebay again. I am crushed, but not entirely surprised. At first, I was told that Tiffany had issues with my listings. They think by using the words Tiffany & Co I am committing copy write infringement. Okay, they removed about 50 items and notified buyers that I had committed some mysterious and unfortunate crime against ebay and Tiffany. Then, today, they removed everything, including the none Tiffany pieces, and suspended me for a minimum of one week. All of my listings are gone and if I ever want to have them on ebay, I would have to start over again. 200 listings. I don’t think so.

During the last few months, the number of counterfeits, on ebay, has increased at an alarming rate. I thought I was helping innocent buyers, by reporting the most expensive of these pieces. I saw a counterfeit collection go for $1800.00 on ebay!!! Every piece was a fake. Ebay and Tiffany let that one stay, even after I reported it. Someone is walking around with a bunch of terrible fake Tiffany silver jewelry.

Here’s what this means..Tiffany LOVES the counterfeits on ebay. Every buyer who gets stuck with a counterfeit on ebay becomes a Tiffany retail buyer for life. They will never buy on ebay again. The buyer who gets a great deal on an authentic piece of beautiful Tiffany jewelry, will continue to buy on ebay or (hopefully) my website. Thats a loss for Tiffany. This is so logical…

Here’s something else I have noticed…Tiffany stores are more crowded then ever. Business is booming for Tiffany. I wonder how much of this can be traced back to the growing amount of counterfeits on ebay? So, it stands to reason, Tiffany is forcing ebay to remove anyone who has a lot of authentic pieces. The fakes can stay. Its all income for ebay. They really don’t know whats fake, nor do they really care. As I was reminded, once again, “Ebay is a VENUE.” At this point, I have to say, there are 50 fakes for each piece of authentic Tiffany on ebay.

I will be working hard on my website and hopefully Tiffany will leave me alone. They have shut down my website, only once. To all of my friends who love ebay…Be careful. Be very, very careful… 

A few nice ladies, who know I LOVE beautiful jewelry, told me about the exhibit at The Legion of Honor. It is all French jewelry of the twentieth century. Catherine was my kind and willing cohort for this grand adventure. It was amazing. I will remember this for the rest of my life! The kind of jewelry that is more brilliant them the Crown Jewels, just because of how it is crafted. It was enough to bring me to tears. And also to make me consider the life of a jewel thief. We took the whole tour 5 times. We honestly missed the sign that said, “No photography,” so I don’t know why they made such a big deal out of a few pictures…I will ask Michael to help me post those

We each have a favorite, but the amazing thing is how we kept changing our minds, each time we went through. Catherine has exquisite taste, I must say. I think my taste is getting more “over the top.” I would wear those pieces all the time. Gardening, I don’t care. Think Liz Taylor in a sun hat and wellies. I would wear them pinned to my nighty!!! The descriptions, of each piece, were  delicious and entertaining. I have so much respect for the artists who designed and crafted these pieces. Surely, these are the finest examples I have ever seen. There was one gorgeous piece of Tiffany. It was a tiny vanity box, inlaid with opals, with tiny gold drawers to hold little pats of powder. Most were made by Cartier, Lalique, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Boucheron. Many pieces had unknown designers and that does seem sad. We left grinning, hearts pounding and on a jewelry high.

Driving around the city was its own special challenge. You would think a tourist capital would put one or two signs around. We finally stopped and asked a tiny old man for directions and he knew every road and short cut. After the exhibit, we drove to the convent where Catherine worked and wrote about for her thesis. They had a lovely tea for the volunteers. It was really delicious. Our dear Catherine is so loved there. She even won a little Irish teapot and teas. After that we drove down to Santa Row and walked around. We were very tired from our grand adventure, but wanted to keep talking about our day. We were not ready to let go of the excitement.