I never imagined that my first job would do so much to prepare me for the world of business. Not in that “sell anything to anybody” way that so many people seem to think is something to be proud of, but for giving me a sense of ethical business. My first job was selling Mazda’s in 1978. I know, ethics and selling cars. Doesn’t seem like a likely match, but bringing ethics into everyday life, even work, is something I was raised with. Selling cars was a way to fulfill my responsibility to my family. Making sure everyone is happy and safe with what they buy was my responsibility to my customers. No questions…

I remember a single mother coming in to buy a car. I helped her find something she was very happy with but I found out later that the mechanics didn’t think the car would last long. I didn’t waste a minute in calling her up, telling her what I just learned, and offering her every cent she paid toward a more reliable car if she wanted to swap it. It may not have been what the bosses would have called “smart business” but it was good business. Honest business. This has been my philosophy throughout my career. I’ve been in situations where I’ve felt that I didn’t get what I paid for; where I’ve felt used, taken advantage of, cheated. We all know what that feels like. The last thing I ever want is to bring those feelings to another person. I like to know I am doing the right thing.

A few weeks ago a woman actually tried to BLACKMAIL me on eBay. She wanted money to leave me positive feedback after I fully refunded her money for a necklace she wasn’t happy with. I reported her to eBay and they told me to ignore it and hope the problem would go away (seems like the same way they handle all of their problems). Sure enough, when I didn’t pay her off she left me terrible feedback because I wouldn’t shell out on top of the full refund I had already given her. My feelings are hurt and I am rather stunned by this new breed of scam artist on eBay. I guess we should have seen it coming. eBay is looking into it, but they clearly have bigger issues to ignore than this.

People have trusted me in buying exotic cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars But this miserable individual, who received a full refund for a gorgeous piece of Tiffany jewelry wanted money in exchange for positive feedback. I have nothing to be ashamed of and will NEVER pay a liar and a fraud.

The lady who ended up with the necklace had it authenticated and is truly thrilled with it. So the necklace is with someone who loves it and bought it as a gift for her mother. I guess I’m happy at the outcome, just mad that there are creeps like this trolling the halls of eBay.

First of all, I’d like to wish everyone a warm and wonderful new year! Its been busy here and of course, we had a huge storm that took out the power, but was really very exciting.

I usually go off on unscrupulous sellers but I this time I have a few buyer and seller issues on my mind. Lets see…where to start…Before Christmas, I sold a lovely, aka expensive, Tiffany diamond ring. Paypal sent me the much loved message, “You have funds.” Two weeks after I shipped the ring, paypal sent a message I have never seen,”You have a reversal.” The buyer somehow scammed paypal and paypal took the money from my account. Its been a month now and even though they say I am covered by a sellers protection policy, I have yet to see the funds. They did deposit $50.00 in my account as a way to say they are working on things and I am a priority. Hmmm… Still waiting. The buyer has my Tiffany diamond ring and paypal has the funds. Not happy.

As you know, Marc has been working hard taking all of these gorgeous photos. I am finding other sellers using Marc’s pictures that they copy from my ebay listings and website. I have complained about this to ebay, but they keep telling me that these are stock photos in the public domain. I don’t think so. There was one seller using a picture with a ring on my finger! How is my finger public domain?!? All this time I could have been working as a hand model. I pointed out to ebay that they are contributing to the selling of counterfeits by not cracking down on these sellers (not to mention being party to violations of US Copyright law). They want use to use a watermark on our pictures. Thats the next project. So, sellers. lets all complain to ebay when someone steals our pictures.

Another issue that’s come up recently is buyers making up stories about pieces they’ve gotten to cover up their buyer’s remorse. I feel that the most important thing when buying jewelry is that you love it. If you don’t love it, return it. I give full refunds, just as long as you tell me within a few days. I don’t need to hear any stories nor do I enjoy threats and lies. We can all  be cordial and professional. This goes for buyers and sellers. I don’t think anyone needs threats of undeserved negative feedback (ie extortion) or tall tales when dealing with honest humanistic sellers. What has happened to good manners???? If you are buying on ebay, use paypal and make sure the seller will take returns and give you a full refund. Restocking fees for ebay? Don’t be silly. Sellers get the listing fees back as long as the buyer agrees. So, offer that you will agree to this. Lots of sellers, like myself, take returns because we’re happy when out buyers are happy, even if they’re happier after returning a piece. We understand and don’t need threats and lies to motivate us.

And lastly, on this rant of things hurting us sellers, is a recent glitch in eBay’s searching system. Maybe not many noticed it, but eBay’s been having problems in reporting search results. They’ll say there are thousands of items matching a search, but only report the first few dozen. Does anyone appreciate eBay charging listing fees for items that can’t be found? I called eBay about this and after a long, agonizing phone call got it out of them that it’s a problem they know about but decided to not tell anyone about. No listing on their support forums, no notice to sellers putting items up that there’s a chance no one would be able to find their inventory. What’s that called when a company charges for a service that they know they can’t deliver? Oh yea, fraud. eBay told me that the reason there wasn’t a notice on their forums was because they didn’t think the problem was important enough to be reported to sellers. We’re paying to have these items visible to people who want to buy them (the sole purpose of ebay) and a problem that stops this from happening isn’t important to us? That’s exactly what we’re paying for! How is it unimportant to us? Is anyone else tired of eBay acting like they’ve got a Papal Order and can do no wrong?

I think its time for a glass of wine and a wind down. Vito is already in Italy dealing with our obnoxious neighbors. I am going to try to go for a few weeks. Marc will be listing and shipping everything, so there will be absolutely no interruption for Valentine shoppers. I know plenty of you give and receive fine jewelry for these romantic holidays. Last year, I got a new leaf blower from my Valentine Funny thing, I really love my leaf blower…And I know, I’m not shy about buying jewelry.

Ah the holidays are here.

What’s better than the diamond-like twinkle of holiday lights lining houses throughout the neighborhood and, of course, Tiffany’s seasonal displays full of real diamonds, white-gold, sapphire and platinum?

It’s amazing to think that it was this time last year I started this blog and my TiffanyCollector.com website. To celebrate, I’m offering a special 5% off sale for my website’s inventory. Just use the code “newyork” during check-out and the discount is yours! Use it as many times as you like and please tell your friends. I’ll be offering it until January 2nd of ‘08.

Many of you know that I had to start my website to set myself apart from the fakes that started flooding eBay around the holidays last year and, low-and-behold, they’re back again now. This time last week there were roughly 1,400 pieces of Tiffany jewelry on eBay, probably 80% fake. Now there are more than 2,600 and, from the looks of them, about 98% fake. I’m sure that my fellow legitimate sellers will quickly agree that even though we pride ourselves on the authenticity of the pieces we sell, having all those fakes on eBay makes all of us feel uncomfortable.

Since eBay seems happy to leave us all fending for ourselves, I’d like to run through a list of ways buyers can help insulate themselves from the muck covering the floors of eBay’s auction halls.

How can eBay let someone with zero feedback who has been a member for only three days list ten pieces of the SAME Tiffany & Co item? I understand that some people may be wanting to sell a piece of jewelry to get some extra money together for the holidays, but even collectors don’t keep ten of the same piece around and if they did, they probably wouldn’t find themselves suddenly in the position where they need to sell all ten at once which all happen to be in “brand new” condition. Consider this step 1 in spotting spotty sellers. eBay, I’m saying this to you too.

As much as I detest the exorbitant fees that I have to pay PayPal (which have only gotten worse since eBay took them over), I am happy to get that added layer of security on transactions. I hope everyone watches out to avoid sending checks, or worse yet, money orders or western union, to these shady sellers who have started emerging from the dark shadows. This warning isn’t an exaggeration, I’ve had some customers have sent me green cash. Now I pride myself on running my business with untarnished honesty but not all sellers are so honest and, this time of year more than any other, we need to be watching out for sellers who only take money orders or cheks. That’s step 2 in keeping yourself safe, traceable transactions.

Also, if you’re doing business with someone for the first time, take a look at their feedback rating. A good look. If someone has 2000 feedback but it’s all penny items in the last month and they’re now trying to sell high ticket pieces en masse that’s a red flag. I’ve spotted many seller who try to artificially puff up their feedback rating just to create an illusion of honesty and prey on eBay’s inability to notice trends like this AND on people’s good nature. Step 4, don’t just glance at feedback, examine it.

Speaking of what goes under eBay’s radar, there are a lot of misspelled “Tiffffany” items on eBay recently. I believe that this is also an attempt to slip past the screening processes that eBay has on Tiffany & Co. listings. Collectors are not prone to misspelling their collections. One typo could be an accident, ten is probably fraud. Step 5, a Foux-lex isn’t a Rolex and Tiffffany isn’t Tiffany

Watch the rocks. Tiffany only uses superb diamonds in their pieces. VSI’s the name of the game. SI or Included diamonds are not used in authentic Tiffany pieces. It’s ONLY the best for them. And on the quality of metals, Tiffany does not plate or fill. Older pieces may be 14k gold but new pieces do NOT use 14k. It’s the best jewelry and they maintain the BEST quality so watch out for “Tiffany Style” pieces that don’t come anywhere close to meeting Tiffany’s standards. Step 6, if Tiffany wouldn’t have it in their stores, you shouldn’t have it in your Watch List.

Last year, the big fake thing was the “PLEASE RETURN TO TIFFANY” sterling silver collection. This year, it’s onyx beads with a silver toggle. Now if you look at my website, I do have some vintage pieces with silver and onyx beads without toggle. This is all 10-15 year old authentic vintage pieces. Tiffany’s new line does not have silver beads, just a silver toggle. From the look of things, it’s counter fit’s hottest item. Be careful of this new line showing up on eBay, especially in sets. There’s no way that so many of these sets could have been sold and then placed on eBay in such a short time without a GREAT many of them being knock-offs. I have yet to see an authentic set on eBay. Step 7, if it couldn’t possibly be the real thing, it isn’t.

Let me wrap up that slight rant by wishing everybody happy and safe shopping.

On a more personal note, Marc’s finished his LSAT and is taking a well-deserved break. Michael’s continuing to work through his growing list of home-improvement hobbies. He took a tumble off a ladder the other day but is fine. Vito took me shopping to Nordstrom’s today, which I love, and after he recovered from a spell of sticker shock, we got home and had a fine day gardening.

ps..if anyone would like to add to this list of hazards, please comment and share ^_^

Michael came home from Southern California with a bad cough. Breathing that smoke for over a week was really bad for him. He saw a doctor and is on medication. Marc was drinking coffee, sitting on a rail when a strong wind came up and blew him off. He came home with a huge lump on his head and a cracked tooth. He refused to go to the hospital, but he was checked out by our own EMT, Michael. I made him stay up all night and when he fell asleep, I became hysterical and had a hard time waking him up. He was just tired from staying up all night. Even our cat, Max, was jumping on him! He seems more like himself today, but I’ve been better…The bump is going down and he is back to his old antics.

On Halloween Eve we had a fairly big earthquake. Our strongest since Loma Prieta in 1989. No damage, this time, just a lot of frayed nerves. That morning, Marc took me to a large consignment store so I could look at the vintage jewelry. I spent some time looking and before leaving asked the saleswoman if she had any vintage Tiffany. She informed me that the only Tiffany worth buying would be something made by LC Tiffany. Anything else was “common.” I was so stunned by her stupid remark! I have trained and fired hundreds of salespeople. If she worked for me, I would have shown her the door. To imply to a customer that they have anything less then superb taste is the height of stupidity. I won’t be going back and I’m a pretty good customer for jewelry. I don’t buy just once in a while. Its my passion…

I bought some wonderful jewelry from a lady who has done a lot of traveling and has excellent taste. I am researching Roberto Coin and Hidalgo. I am fascinated with the enamel work on the Hidalgo and have found some interesting websites about European hallmarks. Each piece is like a little mystery and I am learning so much  I’m lucky to have Marc here to read all of the tiny letters and numbers. Plus, he is an excellent researcher.

The jewelers in Italy take so much well deserved pride in their craftsmanship. When Vito took me to Capri, I saw jewelry that would make you weep. I could tell he was not thrilled at the prospect of spending hours looking at some of the most expensive jewelry in world. He gets nervous just walking past Tiffany with me! He told me he would take me to every jeweler on Capri and take my picture outside each glorious shop. We did a lot of walking and had a wonderful adventure. I saw pearls as big as golf balls and diamonds in colors I never dreamed of. It was a holiday I will remember forever. Its an exciting 45 minute boat ride from Ischia, but feels like a different world. The villas belong to the most famous Italian movie stars and designers. I would be very happy living there.

I have been meaning to write in my blog for a few days now. As I’m sure many of you know, much of Southern California is being ravaged by fires. Marc and I were riding down Main Street and the trees are breathtaking! The reds and yellows are almost too much to look at. The air, however is gray with soot from the fires. It hurts my eyes and we are 400 miles away! My son, Michael is down there. He is a volunteer EMT and left a few days ago to lend some medical support to the exhausted firefighters. He went to Louisiana when the devastating Katrina hit and I was in hysterics. This time, I am dealing with it much better. We have family and friends in and around San Diego. Catherines family has a vineyard nearby and they are there if Michael gets a chance to see them. My brother Mark and our dear Kerri, who live nearby, are  in Italy for his birthday. When I read that these fires were started by arsonists I am just crushed! Why?? What does this do except ruin lives and our environment? I am heartbroken when I see the news.

I can’t help but wonder what I would take from the house, if we had to flee in a moments notice. After knowing my boys are safe, my pets. The stuff? Pictures, my moms paintings. I have a fireproof safe, but I wonder if it could really withstand the heat of a fire that melts alloy wheels on cars? I never want to find out.

As much as I enjoy writing about the lovely jewelry I collect, I can’t wrap my mind around anything except what is happening in Southern California.

I love making sets. I know a lot of people are searching for a particular piece to complete a set. I was searching for a Paloma Picasso necklace to go with a pair of Picasso hammered sterling silver dome earrings. Well…I finally found it and its wonderful!! Marc has taken some really professional looking photographs so I can share it with you. If anyone is interested, please email me and I will give you all the information. Its truly a work of art.

I first saw these pieces offered as a set in Tiffany stores in the late
1990’s. Though absolutely gorgeous, I missed the train and before I
knew it Tiffany had ceased production of this set and the last ones
quickly moved off the shelves and into private hands. I checked with
friends who collect fine jewelry but it had seemed to vanish. I have not seen these pieces since then and certainly never in a condition or at a price that, although consistent
with the Tiffany inflation prices, seemed worth investing in. After
years of searching I am THRILLED to have been able to put these pieces
back together into a set that is store-shelf worthy quality without the
price-tag that would be expected.

We have been busy pruning the messy oak trees behind our house. The view is spectacular! The leaves on our trees are turning bright orange and red. Its gorgeous. I already have our Halloween decorations out. I love this time of year. Its so nice having everyone home from their travels. Marc is photographing some jewelry that I have been saving for the holidays. We’ll be busy getting a lot of wonderful jewelry on our website. I am so happy to have him home.

Michael and I walked through the beautiful public Rose Garden near his house. Even this late in the season its a riot of color. Its a huge garden and wonderfully planned so you can walk on the grass between huge beds of each variety of rose. Its peaceful and smells delicious. Then I helped Michael take pictures of a pretty BMW hes selling. When people walk by and admire his car, I can’t help but mentioning that its for sale. As my son noted, some things seem to come naturally to me, like selling cars…

This morning I woke up very early to go to the antiques sale in my town. This is an annual event to benefit the Festival of Lights Parade that takes place during Thanksgiving weekend. Its really to kick start the big shopping for the holidays. I enjoy this event very much. I always run into old friends and get to take a good morning walk in my beautiful village. I am very focused when I go to any estate sale or antiques show. I get a big cup of coffee and go around to check out all of the jewelry first. Happy to say I found some fantastic old Tiffany. Of course, I paid dearly for it, but there were some real finds. I actually found a few pieces that have been on my list for a very long time. I have been so lucky to meet some wonderful people who share my passion for Tiffany. I was able to email two of these friends to let them know I located and bought the one piece they have been searching for.

After I tuck the jewelry into my bag, I start looking for vintage garden furniture. Today I bought Michael some wonderful old wicker chairs for his garden. I also found a beautiful old glass table that Vito loves. Heres the rub of the day. I’ve had Mikes pick up and wanted to drive it to the antiques sale today. My next door neighbor borrowed Mike’s truck from us 2 weeks ago. He went on vacation without letting us know or returning the key. Once again, I was stuffing furniture into my Jaguar. We’ll have a little chat when he returns.

Vito and I painted the chairs a pretty cream color. Mikes house was built in the 1920’s so the vintage wicker will be perfect for the garden. Tomorrow night we are having a dinner party for Mike’s 23 rd birthday. I just can’t believe my little guy is older then I was when I first got married. I can’t believe how young I was when I made such a huge decision. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

My experiments with lemoncello continue. I have made hazelnut, coffee, almond and kumquat cellos. All delicious. I also made chili cello with chili’s I brought home from Ischia. Vito gave it the first taste test. He started chocking and hollering at me that I was trying to kill him. I was not trying anything like that…It was very strong, though. I put a tiny drop on my tongue and it was painful. I wonder what I can do with it???

In the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of receiving four boxes of treasures. Trading jewelry is fascinating. I get to see what other people collect and then tire of. We are all, I think, refining our personal collections. This is really the foundation of ebay. Its a wonderful way, for people who love jewelry, add a piece to a collection. I have often wondered, why doesn’t Tiffany understand this and have a department devoted to pieces no longer in production?

I was thrilled to get some wonderful, older Picasso pieces. I love the big earrings and rings. I brought some interesting old watches to my jeweler for repairs and he was impressed with a few of them. I’m not a watch collector, but these are fascinating. I have my kitchen table covered in jewelry. Things to be repaired or  photographed and listed and some to be tested or appraised.

I will need to clean up this week as Marc and Vito are due home August 25. I am THRILLED!!! They are finishing up the last few projects and putting tools away. It has been very nice for Vito and Marc to spend this time together and with Vito’s mom, Ana. Marc likes to go out at night and explore. He told me that after almost a year in China and 2 weeks in Russia, he was never asked for identification other then the airport. Last night, on his way to have a snack, two carabineri pulled over and asked for his documentation or maybe identification. He told them he left his wallet at home. They wanted to know where is his home. He told them his family lives around the corner. His Italian isn’t as fluent as his Mandarin and they spoke only a little English, so there was a bit of a communication problem. Mostly, Marc thought it was very funny that he was stopped in the one place he does have a home. I told him to visit the carabineri office in town. Its a large beautiful office with white marble floors, a huge marble bust of Napoleon (I’m not sure why) and 5 or 6 Moto Guzzi motorcycles parked on the marble. These are the most beautifully dressed policemen I have ever seen. Life is so different in Italy.

This was the first day that I really noticed the piles of leaves of the ground. I know some schools are starting already. We are planning to help harvest the grapes in late September. It will be fun to see Ana and my friends who are so kind and make such an effort to talk to me. Here, we tend to drive everywhere and zip around. On the island, I can walk to the town or take a tiny bus that travels around the whole island in about half an hour. We do have a little car, but I find when I drive, with Vito hollering instructions and all the scooters racing about, its too nerve racking. I also love doing our laundry there. I have a clothes line outside the second floor windows. I hang the clothes and visit with anyone working in the vineyard. I love the smell of the burning weeds and garden cuttings. The first time I ever did this, I really felt like an Italian housewife. I always learn so much from Ana. Some of the food, I’ll never be able to make, but other dishes I make for the boys all the time.

There were zucchini blossoms at the produce market this morning and I instantly remembered the first time Ana showed me how to make stuffed zucchini blossoms. She has a tiny kitchen and very old pots. By the time I wake up, she has sauces and meats bubbling away. I am usually in charge of making the strong coffee and shopping for the best pastries in the world. I know, its hard work, but someone has to do it…

As you might have noticed, ebay is letting me list my vintage Tiffany jewelry. I had a really nice phone call and letter from one of the big shots at Tiffany, back east. He was really very kind and we had a delightful visit. He wanted to let me know, personally, that they are aware of my collection and know it is all authentic. He also told me that they are aware of my efforts to rid ebay of all the counterfeit Tiffany jewelry. I report a lot of pieces and I actually thought that was why I was kicked off…Anyway, I was thrilled to make this friend at Tiffany and he assured me that I can contact him anytime. He doesn’t know what a pill I can be. He’ll find out

My darling Chialing was one of the brides of 7/7/07. I cried all day. She told me that I am crying in every single picture. I really love her and hoped she and Marc would find their way back together. Well, you never know… We did most of the food ourselves. I was at the church at 10:00 am and she had helpers from the church to help. It was a big production. I guess there were about 300 people. At first I felt very self conscience. Her mom was there, from Taiwan. At this point everyone was Asian and I thought they might not accept me. They couldn’t have been kinder. It was a long day and I was an emotional wreck, but we got through it. Chialing looked like a princess. Chailing’s mother is going to become a Buddhist nun. She is deeply spiritual and sad, but so lovely. She spent the day here, with me and even though we are very very different, we are both moms. She invited me to stay at the monastery, in Taiwan. I think I would like that. They wear no jewelry…I tried to tone it down.

Catherine graduated from university and we had a great party for her. Her family is very much like ours. It felt like one huge happy family. It was one of the nicest parties we have ever had. We put our big table in the back yard and Vito grilled on his Fathers Day grill. Lots of wonderful wine, food and of course, homemade lemoncello. Even Catherines 90 year aunt came. She is a darling Irish nun who lives in Texas. We had a big cake for Catherine and her twin sister Sarah, who graduated a few weeks earlier. Catherine leaves for an 8 month dig in Ireland, so Mike drove down to see her off.

It feels like everyone is so far off…Vito is in Italy, Marc is still on his big adventure in Russia, Catherine off to Ireland. I want to keep everyone close. Mike is close and doing a great job of including me in his projects. He knows how easily I can become a recluse. My dear friend Ann calls me everyday and if I don’t answer the phone, threatens to come over. We go out at least once a week, to the same coffee shop in Palo Alto. We’ve been going for years.

This weekend, I have plans to visit with a friend who moved to Santa Cruz. There are fewer tiny shops, but I still love the out of the way places. Hopefully, I’ll find some treasures. I have received two interesting collections that I will be going through and posting. A few good pieces of old Tiffany, so I’m happy about that. Enough to keep me busy. Still, I feel restless…

I made cherrycello, gingercello and pineapplecello. We tried the gingercello. Sweet & Yummy. Vito will be surprised when he sees the line up of liquor…I think the cherrycello would be delicious warm, over vanilla ice cream.

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…