Louis Vuitton 18k white gold bracket at the beach!

[slider66]

That’s a beautiful find. Congrats


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[low tide]

Why did you move there ? 4hr drive for you now. Yeah...there are some finds , but it hasn't been the greatest ...

Long story..... Basically my boss hired a new-hire. Someone with ZERO experience and right out of school in a field that mandates experience. This person is 22 yrs old and a female ( in a 99% male profession). I was a Lead. This person did something they shouldn't have and I PROFESSIONALLY spoke with the person to try to not have it happen again. This new hire took offense and was rumored to be going to HR.No leg to stand on but that mixed with 5 months of severe workplace stress after being there for 10 yrs and now an entirely millennial crew, I just got sick of it. I took a transfer to Vegas. I went from a stressful Aviation Lead position down to a mechanic position (same pay, 1/10th the stress, no state tax, and buying a home for literally 70% less than it would cost in San Diego, it was a no brainer.

I am getting land lock fever though. Vegas doesn't have much history.. Maybe 60 yrs or so, so there's not much going on with old coins. There is lake Mead but from what I hear it's pretty much off limits.Gold fields are in AZ.....but I may start doing some nugget hunting...
I fly free so all I really have to do is pay for a rental car when I want to hit a beach, but that will be like 30.00 a day or whatever which isn't worth it when I hit a beach and pull 10 quarters and a silver ring at best on most hunts. Then again I don't hunt for just the reward of finding. I Just like hunting.

I pretty much went from hunting 40 hrs a week to 0. That's life sometimes.

 

[Livinlocal619]

Your jeweler sounds like someone at one of those "We Buy Gold" places, that always offer a somewhat low amount, based on Karat and pennyweight alone. They do not pay for brand name value when they buy. She must have verified some good gold content, but likely had no clue if it was a real LV.
Commonly, these places only offer around half the melt value of the gold. So I did a quick calculation of 6.5 grams of 750, or 18K gold, at a fairly current melt rate of $35 per gram. My calculator says $227.50. So, real world value should be around $200. Being the skeptic I am, I'm guessing she bumped up her lowball offer on the hopes it might be a real Louis Vuitton. The lame missing "N" comment is a dead giveaway that she was trying to devalue it, hoping you would cave, and take the Benjamin. So glad to hear you didn't! Still can't tell you if the brand is authentic, but very nice score, even if it isn't!

That's exactly what it was. It just happened to be the closest place to my house. They are a jewelry shop and a pawn shop right next door, they are both owned by the same owner. I'm with you 100% on believing she was trying to devalue it.

 

[Compass]

Long story..... Basically my boss hired a new-hire. Someone with ZERO experience and right out of school in a field that mandates experience. This person is 22 yrs old and a female ( in a 99% male profession). I was a Lead. This person did something they shouldn't have and I PROFESSIONALLY spoke with the person to try to not have it happen again. This new hire took offense and was rumored to be going to HR.No leg to stand on but that mixed with 5 months of severe workplace stress after being there for 10 yrs and now an entirely millennial crew, I just got sick of it. I took a transfer to Vegas. I went from a stressful Aviation Lead position down to a mechanic position (same pay, 1/10th the stress, no state tax, and buying a home for literally 70% less than it would cost in San Diego, it was a no brainer.

I am getting land lock fever though. Vegas doesn't have much history.. Maybe 60 yrs or so, so there's not much going on with old coins. There is lake Mead but from what I hear it's pretty much off limits.Gold fields are in AZ.....but I may start doing some nugget hunting...
I fly free so all I really have to do is pay for a rental car when I want to hit a beach, but that will be like 30.00 a day or whatever which isn't worth it when I hit a beach and pull 10 quarters and a silver ring at best on most hunts. Then again I don't hunt for just the reward of finding. I Just like hunting.

I pretty much went from hunting 40 hrs a week to 0. That's life sometimes.

Wow LT, I had no idea that you had moved. Sorry to hear that you miss the beach so much but it's not like they have been all that productive this year. An old friend of mine used to find some nice things around Lake Havasu. Still a bit of a drive but closer than the beach. There must be several areas along the Colorado river with old coins and jewelry and not beat up from the salt water and surf either.
You might want to do some research on WWII training camps in the desert area as well. When I was younger we used to go out to the eastern California deserts and find coins, insignia, shell casings and even a little jewelry that Patton's army had lost when training there. I heard that some of these camps stretched into Arizona as well- not sure about Nevada. GL&HH!

 

[Oro Puro]

If the gold shop was willing to give you something for it. I’d like to think that the material it’s made of must be worth something? Unless it even fooled that shop employee?
The craftsmanship itself doesn’t look all that great either. Then there is that funky shaped L. Doesn’t look anything like the other examples. Hopefully it’s just a beat up example of the real deal.

 

[Dewsweeper894]

Following this thread . Very cool save and obviously gold .
Keep us posted .
,Dew

 

[Surf Master]

Good Luck

Found one this past summer stamped simular , didn't listen to the guy's on here , they had me scratching my head, so i ordered a stong magnet off Amazon, and bam didn't pass that magnet test , now im not a fan of the 750 club, hope it's real 4 you bro., disapointed here , nothing but silver, tungsten, and junk , happy hunting. PS I have come to the conclusion, if the guy's on here think it's a fake , test it, Earl

 

[Livinlocal619]

Found one this past summer stamped simular , didn't listen to the guy's on here , they had me scratching my head, so i ordered a stong magnet off Amazon, and bam didn't pass that magnet test , now im not a fan of the 750 club, hope it's real 4 you bro., disapointed here , nothing but silver, tungsten, and junk , happy hunting. PS I have come to the conclusion, if the guy's on here think it's a fake , test it, Earl

I am now past believing it's fake gold considering it passed the acid test at the shop, on the pendants and the chain. It also passed their magnet test as well as mine. I have an extremely strong magnet I use for finding studs behind drywall, and the bracelet was not magnetic.

Now I'm just wondering if it's a real Louis Vuitton bracelet or not. to me it seems strange that a counterfeit would be made out of real gold, but at the same time, it's only a few hundred dollars worth of gold compared to the $3,500 they sell the bracelets for. Maybe it's worth them making it out of gold to obtain the rest of the money?

 

[Livinlocal619]

Following this thread . Very cool save and obviously gold .
Keep us posted .
,Dew

thank you! I plan on bringing it to a Louis Vuitton store once all the Christmas madness is over.

 

[Skippy SH13]

That's what I'm thinking and really hope that to be true! I really couldn't imagine somebody making a counterfeit out of real gold. In my opinion, that really defeats the purpose of being a counterfeit.

I guess my next step could be contacting Louis Vuitton, but I'm not sure I would ever be able to get more than melt value anyways.

I'll tell you right now, that bracelet is worth WAY more in gold melt than the paltry $150 she tried to buy it from you...

The site here, lists it at 10.5 grams of 18K.
https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kaitorikomachi/item/lv0058014-u03/

That means the gold ALONE is worth $380. She literally offered you about 28% the value to start with. That's pathetic. Most jewelers will START at 60%. She offered you about "pawn" value. I'd personally never go back there.

You could send it in to any refinery, and get $325 out of it after shipping, even if the melt has loss. Don't take anything less that that.

Even if its a "fake" it'll sell for way more than $325. But frankly, I think it's real, if you can spot at V. If that was her only reason for saying otherwise, she no doubt saw it, and saw an opportunity to take you to the bank and clean out your account.

Start the bidding at $900 on eBay, and you'll discover really quickly what it's actually worth.

Cheers!
Skippy

Edit: just saw this:

thank you! I plan on bringing it to a Louis Vuitton store once all the Christmas madness is over.

If you do, don't go in and ask if it's real. Ask them if they can clean it and tell you about it, because you "recently picked it up," or "I recently
picked up this estate piece. I think it's really neat, but can you tell me more about it?"

I'ts "literally" the truth. I've used those words many times with jewelers. Whatever assumptions they make is on them (such as that you bought it, or got it in an estate inheritance). No reason to tell them it's a metal detecting find. I've never had one person ask for more details.

You're being 100% honest, and they'll give you the skinny on the spot. If it's fake, they'll know it, and they'll TELL you, without you asking.

Cheers!

Skippy

 

[Foragist]

I'll tell you right now, that bracelet is worth WAY more in gold melt than the paltry $150 she tried to buy it from you...

The site here, lists it at 10.5 grams of 18K.
https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kaitorikomachi/item/lv0058014-u03/

That means the gold ALONE is worth $380. She literally offered you about 28% the value to start with. That's pathetic. Most jewelers will START at 60%. She offered you about "pawn" value. I'd personally never go back there.

You could send it in to any refinery, and get $325 out of it after shipping, even if the melt has loss. Don't take anything less that that.

Even if its a "fake" it'll sell for way more than $325. But frankly, I think it's real, if you can spot at V. If that was her only reason for saying otherwise, she no doubt saw it, and saw an opportunity to take you to the bank and clean out your account.

Start the bidding at $900 on eBay, and you'll discover really quickly what it's actually worth.

Cheers!
Skippy

Edit: just saw this:


If you do, don't go in and ask if it's real. Ask them if they can clean it and tell you about it, because you "recently picked it up," or "I recently
picked up this estate piece. I think it's really neat, but can you tell me more about it?"

I'ts "literally" the truth. I've used those words many times with jewelers. Whatever assumptions they make is on them (such as that you bought it, or got it in an estate inheritance). No reason to tell them it's a metal detecting find. I've never had one person ask for more details.

You're being 100% honest, and they'll give you the skinny on the spot. If it's fake, they'll know it, and they'll TELL you, without you asking.

Cheers!

Skippy

Hey Skippy, I think you missed it in the original post, that the OP said it weighs 6.5 grams. It is different from the one in that link, that is supposed to be 10.5 grams.
Good advice about what to say/not say when he brings it in.
One more thing; Ebay is a good option only if it is authentic. You can get booted off for selling a fake.

 

[Livinlocal619]

I have a little update. I have not had a chance to take it to Louis Vuitton yet, but I purchased my own acid test kit, and it appears to be 18k.

When using the 12K acid, it did not dissolve the gold. When using the 18K acid, it slightly dissolved the gold, but not really. When I used the 22k acid, it completely dissolved the gold.

 

[Joshc214]

Do you have the 14k acid? If it dissolves at all with the 18k acid its most likely 14k.. looks completely legit to me... if it's gold then why fake it? Another simple test you can do is a gold density test to check the specific gravity. There's plenty of how to youtube videos on it.

 

[sandgroper]

I have a little update. I have not had a chance to take it to Louis Vuitton yet, but I purchased my own acid test kit, and it appears to be 18k.

When using the 12K acid, it did not dissolve the gold. When using the 18K acid, it slightly dissolved the gold, but not really. When I used the 22k acid, it completely dissolved the gold.

Sure is a nice bracelet, hopefully the guys at LV don't tell you it's a fake.

 

[Livinlocal619]

After looking at my test bottles again, it was actually the 14k I used, not the 12K.

Do you have the 14k acid? If it dissolves at all with the 18k acid its most likely 14k.. looks completely legit to me... if it's gold then why fake it? Another simple test you can do is a gold density test to check the specific gravity. There's plenty of how to youtube videos on it.

 

[Vermonster]

Your jeweler sounds like someone at one of those "We Buy Gold" places, that always offer a somewhat low amount, based on Karat and pennyweight alone. They do not pay for brand name value when they buy. She must have verified some good gold content, but likely had no clue if it was a real LV.
Commonly, these places only offer around half the melt value of the gold. So I did a quick calculation of 6.5 grams of 750, or 18K gold, at a fairly current melt rate of $35 per gram. My calculator says $227.50. So, real world value should be around $200. Being the skeptic I am, I'm guessing she bumped up her lowball offer on the hopes it might be a real Louis Vuitton. The lame missing "N" comment is a dead giveaway that she was trying to devalue it, hoping you would cave, and take the Benjamin. So glad to hear you didn't! Still can't tell you if the brand is authentic, but very nice score, even if it isn't!

^^^^ This...…..

Great find! Even if "only" a real gold, fake LV piece, still nice to have 2 bills worth of gold there...…

Glad it passed the acid and magnet tests. Let us know if you take it to an actual LV store and see what they say.

 

[beachclad]

I don't know anything about LV, but the lettering of "LOUIS VUITTON" looks too rough and shabby to be manufactured by such a luxurious brand. It screams Chinese to me. I did a quick Google search of real LV pieces and the lettering on rings and necklaces is much crisper and sharper.

The #1 sign of a counterfeit is in the little details: the stitching in clothing, the packaging in electronics, the lettering on pens and jewelry, etc.

It could be real gold though. There would still be a large enough profit margin for a counterfeiter to use real gold and piggyback of the LV brand.

 

[Livinlocal619]

^^^^ This...…..

Great find! Even if "only" a real gold, fake LV piece, still nice to have 2 bills worth of gold there...…

Glad it passed the acid and magnet tests. Let us know if you take it to an actual LV store and see what they say.

I agree, at least it's real gold. I plan on taking it to the Louis Vuitton store in the next couple weeks once I get a little more time from work. I actually haven't even been metal detecting since finding this.

 

[Livinlocal619]

that was one of the things I was thinking, that it still may be a counterfeit made out of real gold because of the large profit margin. But doing research, I am finding that Louis Vuitton made a lot of vintage bracelets with this type of clasp.

I still want to be hopeful that it's real, but at the same time I have my doubts.

I don't know anything about LV, but the lettering of "LOUIS VUITTON" looks too rough and shabby to be manufactured by such a luxurious brand. It screams Chinese to me. I did a quick Google search of real LV pieces and the lettering on rings and necklaces is much crisper and sharper.

The #1 sign of a counterfeit is in the little details: the stitching in clothing, the packaging in electronics, the lettering on pens and jewelry, etc.

It could be real gold though. There would still be a large enough profit margin for a counterfeiter to use real gold and piggyback of the LV brand.