Said the real-and-fake antiques dealer. "People believe what they want to believe."
Lawsuit for $1.2 million brought by a man named Butt, who learned his Faberge egg wasn't real at an Antiques Roadshow event.
January 31, 2013
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26 comments:
Caveat emptor....
"People believe what they want to believe."
Gosh, sort of like how Urkel got into office. Urkel, authenticity. The two just don't go hand in hand. Things that make you go hmm...
Ha! Guess the yolk's on him.
It certainly does look like they were appraised as 'Faberge' in the documents linked in the Article. But, where do those appraisal documents come from? The seller, or an after-sale appraisal commisioned by the buyer?
Perhaps the phrase " real-and-fake antiques dealer" gave it away?
and why do I think a guy with a name like Safdieh is funneling his ill-gotten gains to Al Qaeda or the Dinner Jacket?
I guess Dave was the Butt of the yolk.
(had to...)
Not the first time he's been sued over fake Faberge.
http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/PDFS/2011/2011_30687.pdf
Might have been a good idea to get an appraisal before dropping that kind of coin.
That was a genuine imitation Faberge egg. What's the complaint?
Really, and bipedal person is very upstanding. And Satan has a crystal clear reputation, too. Doesn't say much about the quality of the reputation.
If your antiques dealer shares the same name as that bailbondsman down on the corner, don't buy Faberge eggs from him.
Not to blame the victim here, but aren't genuine Faberge eggs supposed to be, like anything else that is gem-encrusted and made in limited qualities, very expensive? Doesn't $165K for five of them sound like an incredibly low price? Didn't that tip the buyer off?
Sounds just like those people who bid on "genuine" Hermes scarves and LV bags on eBay, only to scream when they realize they have a fake. Really? The $50 price tag didn't suggest that something might be wrong?
Did the NY Post mimeograph that photo?
He's the Butt of the yolk.
The very first Fabregé egg made was fairly simple, and imitated a real egg: a white enamel shell that opened to reveal a yolk made of yellow gold.
and why do I think a guy with a name like Safdieh is funneling his ill-gotten gains to Al Qaeda or the Dinner Jacket?
Ronald Safdieh Contribution List in 2004 to the RNC.....but then, that could be a cover.
He's got egg on his face
He should have had the guys at Pawn Stars check it out first.
Kimberly, exactly my first reaction.
There are only about 57 of these known, and most of them are in museums. If a Fabregé egg in a private collection ever came up for sale, one would expect it to be at an auction, like Sothby's, and to attract heavy bidding.
Mr. Butt is a butthead.
Forked over $1.65 mill and didn't take it to an appraiser first? Duh.
When he bought his car, did he test drive it first for just take the dealer's word?
He may have a case if he's got a witness. I had a similar sitch where the issue was whether an expensive rug was sold as "Persian" or "Persian design". Both parties were ESL so that was a super fun.
Caveat emptor, people. Especially with expensive purchases. US consumers are too reliant on the assumption that government regulations will protect them in their consumer transactions. Cold reality is that the gov doesn't give a shit about individual consumers; it's all done for the plaintiff's bar.
If your name is "Butt" and you're in from Ohio acting stupid throwing money around NYC buying stereotypical rich guy stuff, then you're probably not going to win.
You can't cheat an honest man
His reputation is so "crystal clear" is invisible.
Howard said...
You can't cheat an honest man
1/31/13, 4:19 PM
Exactly what I was thinking, the first rule of the con. (YouTube has full episodes of the TV show Hustle.)
"Blogger Colonel Angus said...
He should have had the guys at Pawn Stars check it out first."
I was thinking the same thing. A woman brought in an ugly (I thought) broach that was her grandmothers and had been sitting in a drawer for years. Rick looked at the broach and asked what she wanted for it. She said "About $1200. He looked at it again and groaned. He said "It's tough being an honest man" and told her it was a Faberge broach and offered her $15,000.
Then she tried to bargain for more ! I was annoyed with her.
The only TV series I watch.
Reminds me of the time Jimmy James bought the "original sword" from the movie Sound of Music.
Back in '04 the Forbes collection was going to auction. Malcolm Forbes had wanted to put them back in circulation after he died so others could experience the joy he felt when collecting them. If I remember correctly, he didn't want then going to a museum. Before the auction a private Russian business man made the family an offer they couldn't refuse. All I'm saying is that there could be eggs on the market. But not at bargain prices.
Sometime back I read about an artist who drew pictures of pound notes but with himself as the central figure. They tried to prosecute him for forgery, but since his forged notes were more valuable than the real notes, the case fell apart.....I have a philosophical question: if you could fabricate a perfect forgery of a Faberge egg in such a way that it fooled all the experts, wouldn't that forgery be worth more than the real Faberge egg. There are, after all, many Faberge eggs, but only one perfect forgery.
"Crystal clear"? So we can see right through it?
$165,000
What else did that guy buy?
The necklace of Marie Antoinette, I guess.
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