jewellery from China

Artemis1

Hi all,

New poster here - please be kind!

Am thinking of buying some jewellery from an ebay seller in China. The stuff seems incredibly cheap given that it being sold as 'the real thing' ie not costume jewellery.

I know that if something seems too good to be true it probably is... but I am sooo tempted.

Anyone know anything about the jewllery trade in China - is it generally accepted by those on the know that it's a great country to buy fine jewellery from? or not??

Thanks very much.

A

Jo_F

What kind of jewellery is it?

If it includes metals, then you can be fairly sure that it will contain nickel, the metal that most people react to, (all jewellery sold in Europe has to conform to the EU nickel rules... no or very little nickel content).

A lot of so called sterling from China is fake, its just plated and then stamped.

Anything involving glass... very good chance the glass has not been annealed, therefore is more prone to cracking and breaking,

You have no way of knowing just what they have used and where it has come from, also bear in mind that you may have to pay duty etc on anything you buy.

rubymew

Hi I recently purchased about 15 separate auctions, all jewelery from China, several claiming to be sterling silver. Well, these items made my fingers go green! So I think it's safe to assume they weren't sterling silver. However I didn't expect excellent quality because I only paid pennies for them, just for some fun costume jewelery. There are real bargains to be had from Chinese sellers as long as you are aware that you may not be getting genuine precious metals and stones, but a close imitation. Good luck with your eBaying!

~~Diane~~

I've bought loads of "silver" jewlery from China, I know it's not real silver and for the price wouldn't expect it be. Most recently I bought a lovely silver twisted torque braclet 1p with £2.50 postage. When the braclet arrived it was in a nice little box very similar to Tiffany, so did a search and yes it is a copy, nothing mentioned in the listing about it being a genuine one and who in their right mind would expect to buy one for 1p. With these cheap items I can afford to keep swapping and changing.

I love watches and buy them all from China the only problem is the sizing on the solid braclets is rather on the large size.

Itismehonest

Artemis1 wrote: »

Hi all,

New poster here - please be kind!

Am thinking of buying some jewellery from an ebay seller in China. The stuff seems incredibly cheap given that it being sold as 'the real thing' ie not costume jewellery.

I know that if something seems too good to be true it probably is... but I am sooo tempted.

Anyone know anything about the jewllery trade in China - is it generally accepted by those on the know that it's a great country to buy fine jewellery from? or not??

Thanks very much.

A

The best known thing about Chinese jewellery is the high level of lead used in the products. The problem has been going on for years
The Chinese suspended production at a couple of factories but I wouldn't trust the stuff as far as I could throw it.

Artemis1

Thanks everyone for your helpful and informative replies. I am still tempted to go ahead and buy, even though realistically I know they won't be genuine gems or precious metals. Thanks, too, for the heads-up about the lead - I will be mindful of that.

Thanks again!