TheRealReal.com (Not so real) Tahitian Pearl Necklaces

[jshepherd]

I happened upon a few pearl listing on a site called TheRealReal over the weekend that just make me sad.

Take a look.
https://www.therealreal.com/product...-necklace-multistrand-tahitian-pearl-necklace

It's really strange that the site does have some genuine Tahitian pearl strands (in fact most of them are), but there are also a lot of dyed Chinese freshwater strands on the site that have been "... appraised and inspected by our certified gemologist" and are described as cultured Tahitian pearls.
https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/jewelry/necklaces/fine-jewelry-necklace-51962
and

https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/jewelry/necklaces/fine-jewelry-necklace-51985

and even (you almost have to be kidding) this

https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/jewelry/necklaces/stephen-dweck-multi-stone-necklace-23

I messaged the site over the weekend and copied the gemologist@therealreal email that's on the valuation forms to let them know they were selling dyed Chinese freshwater as genuine Tahitians but no reply.

Maybe they need a few more emails?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Agh! That last one is atrocious.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Ouch! What's particularly disturbing is the "Authenticated Luxury", "appraised and inspected" etc. language ... implying "You can trust us ..." ! I'll add an email to the pearl posse efforts.

Makes me so grateful we have access to such honorable and trustworthy vendors

 

[Tucs]

Ha. Their certified gemologist is my cat, in a wig.

 

[jshepherd]

Ouch! What's particularly disturbing is the "Authenticated Luxury", "appraised and inspected" etc. language ... implying "You can trust us ..." ! I'll add an email to the pearl posse efforts.

Makes me so grateful we have access to such honorable and trustworthy vendors

I don't think it's intentional. There are too many genuine Tahitian pieces on the site and if you do a search for freshwater pearls, you see a lot of them. Some are even dyed and described as dyed (https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/jewelry/earrings/pearl-heart-hoop-earrings).

Also, it seems some that the examiner could not determine what they were are just called cultured pearls, like this dyed Chinese freshwater - https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/jewelry/necklaces/14k-pearl-strand-necklace-3

The reason I emailed them over the weekend is because I figured this could be an honest mistake (although one a professional gemologist should not make) and they are being taken by people attempting to consign Chinese freshwater as Tahitians.

 

[Bailey1856]

Ha. Their certified gemologist is my cat, in a wig.

LOL. Perhaps even your cat would know the difference

 

[ckrickett]

oh wow, this is VERY comical, and very sad.

 

[JerseyPearl]

It might be helpful to mention why the pearls in these items are not Tahitians...what identifying characteristics should you look for in real Tahitian pearls?

 

[BlackPearlDudeDC]

This is a bit surprising. I actually know several of the Gemologist there, and they are awesome people. I am almost certain this is an honest mistake. I'm also a bit surprised at the cynical replies here . I will be curious to see what the official reply is...

 

[cmd2014]

Wow. Those aren't even close. Also, one of the necklaces looks photo-shopped onto the model. It's supposedly and 18 inch strand and it is sitting more like a 26 inch length.

 

[GemGeek]

How could a GG have so little knowledge of pearls that they could mistake dyed freshwaters for Tahitian pearls? I suspect that someone else is making up these descriptions because they are short-staffed for the holidays, or some such reason. This is especially embarrassing for a site that proclaims their authenticity.

 

[GemGeek]

I'm also a bit surprised at the cynical replies here . I will be curious to see what the official reply is...

It's inviting scorn to have obvious fakes after the big promotion of authenticity, expert evaluation and trust. If they handle the situation well, they can redeem themselves. We all make mistakes.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

There is a nice little disclaimer at the bottom of the "valuation report": "The knowledge of The RealReal in relation to each such item is partially dependent on information provided to us by the Consignor, and The RealReal is not able
to and does not carry out exhaustive due diligence on each item. "

 

[CathyKeshi]

GemGeek, I wonder if you've hit the problem ... inaccurate copy writing? Still no excuse but it could explain a lot. I wrote jewelry copy (costume and sterling mostly) for 25 years, and it was sometimes surprisingly difficult to get precise and accurate information on pieces from the supplier, and if in this case it's dependent on a consignor ... the only way they could be that accurate is if they had the physical pieces to examine and test before writing copy. Hopefully their integrity is valuable enough for them to appreciate the alert from Jeremy.

 

[Katbran]

I sent an email to them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they didn't check them and relied on the provided information. It's sad when things like this happen..someone spends a fair bit of money and gets screwed.

 

[BlackPearlDudeDC]

Without getting into too much detail publicly. I did a bit more digging with some connections. I will say this…gemologist are NOT the "techies", and things seem to get lost in translation as I suspected, still no excuse for not having crossed T's and dotting I's in my opinion…especially when putting your gemologists reputation at risk, when clearly they aren't at fault. All the gemologists in my circle…would never make that type of identifying mistake, it is not a complicated identity issue. Considering the sheer number of items processed, I bet the gemologists don't even see half the merchandise that comes in, and THAT is a whole different issue as far as the company website verbiage goes.

(I might have been too sensitive here, its just because I had a personal connection to people there, NOT the company)

 

[GemGeek]

Without getting into too much detail publicly. I did a bit more digging with some connections. I will say this…gemologist are NOT the "techies", and things seem to get lost in translation as I suspected, still no excuse for not having crossed T's and dotting I's in my opinion…especially when putting your gemologists reputation at risk, when clearly they aren't at fault. All the gemologists in my circle…would never make that type of identifying mistake, it is not a complicated identity issue. Considering the sheer number of items processed, I bet the gemologists don't even see half the merchandise that comes in, and THAT is a whole different issue as far as the company website verbiage goes.

(I might have been too sensitive here, its just because I had a personal connection to people there, NOT the company)

Actually, I love that you jumped to defend the gemologists. It made no sense that they could have made such obvious errors. I have a strong streak of following the rules, so when I encounter a company that says one thing, but does another, it riles me up. The Real Real's whole credo appears to be in question.

 

[BlackPearlDudeDC]

Well thank you for saying so. I've seen too many gemologist victimized by big "companies" using the gemologist credentials but disregarding the same advice that comes with that credential. Still probably an overreaction on my part. I admire you for standing firm in your integrity, reputation is such a fragile thing in this era of Social Media.

As far as this situation, if I didn't do a little digging it would have bugged me to think people I know might a part of "towing a line" at the expense of the consumer. Everybody makes mistakes for sure, but that shouldn't be enough to ruin a reputation. Reputation is everything in this business and it can easily get tarnished unfairly so. However blatant disregard for truth and consciously misleading others, there is nothing that could ever justify that behavior, and any gemologist supporting it (or towing a company line that does so) should be shamed and made an example of.

Actually, I love that you jumped to defend the gemologists. It made no sense that they could have made such obvious errors. I have a strong streak of following the rules, so when I encounter a company that says one thing, but does another, it riles me up. The Real Real's whole credo appears to be in question.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

A bit of a devil's advocate - the gemologists should have been aware that the company was doing (by such a simple expedient as browsing the website once in a while) and taken steps to either apply pressure from within to change or disassociating themselves from the company.

 

[Katbran]

Just to follow up on this...I got an email from them stating that they were looking into it...followed by another that said they had determined the pearls were freshwater and had changed the listing! Well done spotting this..and good on them for following up and addressing the complaint.