u/fundrazor24

US to US only. $200 including USPS ground or two day shipping only (whichever is more economical.) Factory unknown, bought as a rehome, have POP. Beautiful bag in perfect condition. Dustbag drawstring fell out but can be rethreaded.

Due to being scammed by the Arizona ring, I only accept Zelle and you must have a Reddit history (length of time, karma, post history).

Reason for sale: bought a black Chanel mini flap - have too many black bags!

It’s time for Rep Science, Sweet Alhambra Bracelet Edition!
 
I bought two Sweet Alhambra Single Motif Bracelets in yellow 18K gold with Mother of Pearl to give as gifts, one from Vinko, and one from Funny. 
 
Why did I buy two of the same product from two different sellers?  Because I had a VIP insurance credit with Vinko, so I decided to order one from him, and I ordered one from Funny who’s price was cheaper.  These are my two preferred jewelry sellers and I go back and forth with them. 

Auth link: https://www.vancleefarpels.com/us/en/collections/jewelry/alhambra/vcarf68800---sweet-alhambra-bracelet.html
 
Vinko’s price including shipping: $470 USD
Funny’s price including shipping: $380 USD
 
Vinko’s bracelet weight: less than 1 gram (too light to register on my scale)
Funny’s bracelet weight: less than 1 gram (too light to register on my scale)
 
Vinko’s inquiry to item in hand time: 20 days
Funny’s inquiry to item in hand time: 20 days
 
Vinko Timeline
4/9 - first inquiry on this bracelet via What’s App
4/10 - paid 30% deposit via Wise
4/19 - PSP received and green lighted, paid balance on 4/21 via Wise.  The Wise payment cleared 4/22.
4/23 – shipped via Fed Ex
4/29 – arrived
 
Funny Timeline
4/11 – first inquiry on this bracelet via What’s App
4/13 – paid 50% deposit via Wise (Funny asks for a 50% deposit now)
4/21 - PSP for bracelet received and green lighted.  Still waiting for PSP for the ring I ordered.
4/23 – paid balance via Wise.  The Wise payment cleared 4/26.
4/27 – shipped (triangle shipping)
5/1 – arrived via UPS
 
Both sellers package their items very well.  Vinko sends his pieces in an unbranded padded velvet bag, Funny does not ship with a bag.  Both asked me to measure my wrist and made the bracelet the appropriate size.
 
Here’s the bottom line:  They are both excellent pieces and sellers IMO.  You can see details in the photos – Funny’s clasp seems thinner than Vinko’s, however the chain looks the same to me, the gold color looks great and the same to me.  These are very small bracelets - they weigh less than a gram – my scale stayed at zero for both.  It is very hard to photograph MOP, but the stones look the same. In the photos Funny’s Alhambra looks bigger to me (I had to get weird angles to capture the MOP) but IRL I do not think it is.  Please take a look at the comparisons – I would love to hear people’s thoughts.
 
I am going to continue shopping with both, and hopefully this info helps someone make a decision who to go with.

UPDATE: Xue replied and said: “Thanks for the reminder. I'll make the changes.” I don’t exactly know what that means. I wish she would send me a corrected version but I don’t think she will based on this response. I don’t think I “deserve” a new version of this - I didn’t see this on the catalog before I ordered and should have looked more closely because it’s there. But I have been a good customer and I don’t think it’s a big investment on her end to try to keep a good customer happy.

*************

I have posted several reviews on scarves I have bought from Xue, and I have bought at least 20 from her.  But now I feel the need to bring this to the community’s attention.  And this isn’t necessarily a Xue issue - I assume she obtains her scarves from the same factory other sellers do too.

In my last two orders there have been major printing flaws.  The first is on an Hermes Twilly - Paris looks like it’s spelled “Parid.”  I get the cursive writing is a little odd on the auth, but it’s still pretty bad.  I didn’t reach out to Xue on this because I have been very happy with the other scarves, truly have a win some, loose some mentality, and figured I could tie it in a way to not have that visible.  I mostly wanted it for the colors. I only noticed this because I was chatting with another community member who was buying scarves from Xue and we connected.  She was concerned and I literally went through all my Xue scarves and checked the spelling of every word (even googling if words were in French to make sure.) This was the only one I found with an error.  Until today…

Today I received an order from Xue that I was very excited to receive and was completely dumbfounded to see that on a Dior scarf, the initials were GD and not CD.  I went back to her catalog and enlarged the photo and it is GD in the catalog too.  It would have never occurred to me to check lettering on scarves in the catalog before now, or to ask before buying.

I know people working in the factories likely don’t speak English, but someone really should be proofreading or matching up to the original. It’s not that hard.

This scarf is worse than Canal Street s#*t. I’m embarrassed to even donate it.

Xue does not do PSPs like many sellers do - she sends a photo of the scarves folded up.  Because I haven’t had issues until recently, I never asked for more photos.

I have reached out to her to tell her I am not happy with this, sent pics, and hopefully she will respond with a resolution - I will report back.

I think she has nice scarves and I get compliments every time I wear one, so if you want to buy scarves I would still recommend her, but with extreme attention to detail and make her check any writing before committing - Do this for ANY SELLER because they may use the same factory.