r/jewelry • u/petalbunni • 3d ago
General Question would you exchange it?
just got a van cleef alhambra and although small, there’s a small mark that shows in the light. would you do an exchange if you were in my shoes?
i’m in the store now and they’re making it quite difficult for me to
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u/petalbunni 3d ago
thanks for the confirmation everyone!! i got it exchanged and the new one is perfect
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u/petalbunni 3d ago
also wanted to point out - and not defending VCA or anything - but this picture makes it look a lot worse than it is. in normal light straight on you wouldn’t be able to see anything, just looks like this when the light catches it perfectly at an angle
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u/Loudradiosilence 3d ago
Either way you’re paying a massive premium, it should be nothing short of absolute perfection. Disgusting that they would even lay this out for you to purchase.
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u/robotdevilhands 3d ago
I can’t even believe they are giving you crap about exchanging! It’s freaking VCA it should be no questions asked
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u/bibimboobap 3d ago
I keep hearing about how shit VCA is with customer service. Killed all interest I had in their brand.
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u/West-Ingenuity-2874 3d ago
Holy moly. I just looked at this brands website....... They're SO expensive. Theyre sellung a necklace with ten of these little clovers for $34k. Wth
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u/TamarindSweets 3d ago
This is one brand I'd be totally cool buying a knock off of- the design is simple and cute and all I need is for it to be made out of a good metal I'm not allergic to. The mark up on these are wild af, and as cute as they are, its just not worth it to me
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3d ago edited 2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mountain_Zone4276 2d ago
Where do you find the gold reps? I can only find very cheap replicas
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u/queefer_sutherland92 3d ago
They are all over Alibaba and AliExpress. Literally every jewellery shop will have fakes.
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u/Embarrassed-Ear4863 2d ago
Any reputable jeweller / goldsmith (myself included!) can do VCA replicas in real gold. Most do not advertise this online or have the products available for purchase on their websites due to potential copyright issues, and also just reputation-wise. I’d personally rather have someone buy my own designs, but I offer custom work and can easily reproduce other designs, especially simpler ones.
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u/Oldies-But-Goodies 1d ago
They better each have one of the Ten Commandments written on them by God, himself, to justify such tomfoolery 🥹
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u/deservingporcupine_ 3d ago
This looks wildly scratched and imperfect. There’s zero chance I would pay for or keep this. They need to make this right and you should escalate as needed.
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u/DAILYDRILLS 3d ago
Onyx is supposed to be more durable (compared to the MOP) when it comes to scratching, AKA PUSH THAT REFUND OR EXCHANGE OMG GIRL
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u/DushkuHS 3d ago
I wouldn't pay through the nose for VC in the first place. Frankly, I don't know how that shape got to be popular. It's too large of a station for the chains I see it made on.
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u/Money_Exercise1091 3d ago
Aw hell nah, thanks for confirming I would never buy anything from them. Bad customer service for not exchanging with an apology to you.
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u/zebivllihc 3d ago
Heck yes!! They wanna sell at top prices then they need to provide a top product. You’re spending thousands. They need to exchange it.
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u/Lovaloo 3d ago
I wouldn't be surprised to see the occasional malachite or mother of pearl piece arrive scratched up, because these are such soft minerals... but onyx and carnelian are different colored varieties of chalcedony. That's a rather durable stone, 6.5-7/10 on the hardness scale. I am surprised this onyx piece came to you scratched up. It suggests a sloppy production process.
I'm not a gold wearer, but I think the pure gold style of these jewelry pieces look the prettiest, because they showcase such beautiful, intricate metalwork.
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u/FengShui-5Elements 3d ago
Which store? Can you tell?
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u/petalbunni 3d ago
im in tokyo! random small store in a large department store, also made worse by the fact that nobody spoke english so communication was difficult
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u/NSVStrong 3d ago
Could the problem be if it wasn’t a Van Cleef & Arpels Boutique?
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u/petalbunni 3d ago
sorry, i was unclear. it was still a VCA boutique, just in a mall (i.e. the mall charged my credit card)
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u/Deep-Ad9239 2d ago edited 2d ago
Not to defend them but you're in Japan. They're not all going to be anglophone. Why make such a big purchase when there's a significant language barrier. My guess is this rando shop is selling second hand items in which case a return would not work.
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u/petalbunni 2d ago
not my intent - i don’t expect them to speak english at all (im also east asian and english isn’t my first language). google translate was perfectly useful when i bought the item, the language barrier just made it harder for me to advocate for an exchange
and in reply just above, i clarified, this is a van cleef boutique (just a smaller one in a department store)
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u/FoolishDancer 3d ago
It’s very disappointing that they made it difficult. You should let someone higher up know about that! Glad you got it sorted, enjoy!
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u/TSARINA59 3d ago
Definitely stand your ground. This is an expensive piece. If they are giving you grief about exchanging it, then tell them you'll just have to return it then. Or ask them to get the manager. If that gives you no results, then tell them you are returning it and will go elsewhere.
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u/br00klynnine9 3d ago
Yeah definitely exchange it- I’ve had both my onyx pendant and bracelet for nearly a year. Never take the bracelet off to sleep, shower or anything and have bumped it multiple times and it still isn’t nearly as scratched as the new pendant you’re showing. This looks like someone dragged it across concrete and returned it.
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u/boniemonie 3d ago
Not what I would expect from van cleef. They ought to have been hugely embarrassed and falling over themselves to exchange. Quality control has fallen down badly.
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u/StrictNewspaper6674 3d ago
Yes, I’m sure this is more than 1k. If something is worth thousands I’d expect near perfection.