I Ruined My VCA 5 Motif Bracelet in Black Onyx! | Must Watch Before Purchasing
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Hi Everyone,
If you’ve been following me you may have noticed that my VCA 5 motif black onyx bracelet has been missing from my rotation. That’s because all 5 stones were completely ruined and I had to get them all replaced! I wanted to share my story in hopes that the same thing won’t happen to you. Must watch if you are considering getting a black onyx piece!
Xoxo Kim
Instagram @kklvoescc
Email: kklvscc@gmail.com
#vancleefarpels #vancleef #vancleefandarpels
** To clarify, I did do household chores with my bracelet on, but I did not dunk my bracelet in any chemicals or dirty water. When I did dishes, I basically had it in contact with running water while rinsing off dishes before it was placed in dishwasher. When cleaning, only my hands were in contact with cleaners, not my wrist, and when I did gardening my gloved hands were in contact with dirt not the bracelet. But I did wear it to do these activities. 😅
Sorry to hear that happened to your bracelet. I’ve had mine for two years and I wear it 24/7. In the shower, lotions, sun screen, wear it in the pool, in the ocean, sleep with it, have it stacked with my other bracelets and it’s perfect. It could be that you just got a faulty one unfortunately 😣
Thanks for commenting on your experience!!! This is exactly what I heard from so many people so when mine got ruined I was just shocked. Hopefully this was a faulty one and the stones I have now will stay perfect for years to come! 🖤🖤🖤🖤 PS. I would love to see pictures of yours if possible just to compare. No worries if you prefer not to share. My IG is kklvoescc and email is kklvscc@gmail.com.
sure I can definitely send you some pictures. Your instagram handle is not poping up though.
@@alenalovesbeautyHere is the link. instagram.com/kklvoescc?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&
This is why I got the guilloche yellow gold. it is scratch prone for sure, but at the end of day it’s still gold whereas all the others are just “stones”, and I don’t need to worry about getting mine under water and lotioned
From the comments it looks like many people have had similar carefree experience with their Onyx pieces too. I just wasn’t that lucky. But having gone through this i agree with you that the best options for truly carefree use are the gold pieces!! Enjoy your guilloche! It’s one of the most stunning pieces in their line! 💛💛💛💛💛
As the story progressed I was thinking that they better not charge her for this! VCA always tries their best to make it right. My vca SA still texts me for my bday and holidays even though I haven’t bought anything from her in almost 3 yrs. The best customer service!
Lol! My SA tried SO hard but every step just took forever! We were both in agony. But they definitely made up for it by waiving the fees for me. And he was super sweet to package everything up like I was getting a brand new item. 🖤🖤🖤
Omg, I’m so happy to hear they fix everything with very good price. You really deserve after back forth so many times. I wear onyx earrings 24/7, but now I need to be careful. Good experience to know. Thank you so much for sharing darling💕
Thanks Irene! So many people say there was no issue so it might be safe for earrings but I would definitely check once in a while to make sure. 🖤🖤🖤
Oh that’s why I wonder what happened to your onyx Alhambra bracelet. I’m so glad they replaced all the stones for you. Thanks for sharing this. Very helpful. 🖤
Yeah, I wish they could figure out what went wrong but no one knows. 🤷♀️ Thanks so much for watching babe! 🖤🖤🖤
Thank you for sharing your story! We hear/read so many reviews as well on how sturdy onyx is. So glad they were able to replace at no charge! 🙌
Right? I was so stunned when I saw it! I have only come upon one person who ever mentioned this happening in a Facebook group and everyone else doesn’t seem to have any issues. But I’m glad I got my happy ending. Thanks for watching girls! 🖤🖤🖤
Wow, such important information, thanks for sharing! I always take my jewelry off at the end of the day or when I get home. Funny is that I briefly considered wearing my 10 motif onyx necklace yesterday, but since I was going to the movies later in the day, I knew I would be eating popcorn, and would end up inadvertently touching my necklace. The thought of greasy fingers on my new necklace was an instant NO 😬
You seem to be doing a great job keeping your pieces safe! I mean I used my bracelet carefree but honestly didn’t trash it or anything like that even though it kinda sounds like I did. 😅 I will definitely be more careful going forward. Enjoy your beautiful necklace! 🖤🖤🖤
Wow so glad they made it right for you babe! Your patience and their excellent customer service really paid off! ❤
Thanks Amy. It was agonizing for sure but they tried to help as best as they could and we got it resolved in the end! 🖤🖤🖤
Ooooo my goodness, you went through so much! The back & forth & back & forth… glad they absorbed it and you only had to pay minimal. LOL, thanks for featuring your crazy friend Chris who looks at gems via a loupe & microscope 😂😂😂🙏🏼🙌🏼 You’re absolutely right when you say it’s a fingerprint magnet. Yes, VCA has cleaning cloths but they don’t do solutions. I have a very large piece of Bulgari cleaning cloth which I use for cleaning the everyday pieces…. I tried to ask for one of those cleaning gloves that the VCA SAs wear but they won’t give it to me 😂…. And for Onyx, slightly warm water and cleaning cloth will do. If the oils are stubborn then use very gentle diluted dish soap. Or if you have the Cartier or Bulgari cleaning spritz, dilute that and it works too, wash off with slightly warm water - NOT hot water LOL 😂
I love this new length on you, fits so perfectly now.
My #1 wish is for a VCA Alhambra in imperial jade! 💚💚💚 (or diamonds….) 😅🥰♥️🙌🏼🙏🏼♥️💕 Great informative video Kim!!!
Thanks for all the great tips gemologist Chris! 😂😂😂 This was such an ordeal but happy it was eventually resolved. I only wish we knew what caused it. Did I care for it wrong? Were the stones on mine just weaker? In any case I do seem to be the minority but hoping people find the info helpful. I have to say even going through this I would still buy more! 😂😂😂
@@kklvoescc Every gem is unique, even every facet of it. So it is indeed hard to say which onyx motif was more porous or has issues with the polishing, etc… even the hardness of a gem depends on the natural micro cracks or fissures inside of it. Some people actually love it, the ageing process and the look of worn down! Hahah… so by this you know your gem is real! Heheh!! VCA onyx is not plastic or artificial composite, those are uniform in look, colour and sturdiness. So no, I don’t think you caused anything to happen to your bracelet 🥰🙌🏼 Natural process. The stone that personally I cannot wear is Malachite for bracelets or rings. It’ll only take just a few days before the fading or disintegration happens! It has the hardness of fluorite or calcite, which is super ‘soft’. Turquoise is just a level up from malachite. So no way I’d go for expensive turquoise or malachite pieces on my hands. Be confident in wearing your onyx bracelet, VCA is a good brand behind it so the aftercare is great. ♥️♥️♥️
Oooo… and regarding gems like Onyx, turquoise, malachite and even jade…. A lot of gem manufacturers do treatments such as impregnated, fillers, dyes, coatings, etc…. So it makes the gem appear ‘better’ or increases durability but lowering the value significantly (although in turquoise, impregnation or infusion with a sealer makes it stable) But not VCA, they kept the onyx as natural as possible. I’m on the camp of No Treatment if possible. I never liked treatments on most gems. Yup, natural ♥️
@@SundayRose99Great info Chris! You should do reaction video to mine and share all this wonderful info! 😂🖤🖤
@@kklvoescc omg what a great idea! I would love to do one ♥️
Thank you for sharing your experience. I wonder why this happened to the stones? What do you think happened? Did VCA or anyone else have any idea what the problem with the stones was or what caused this?
Babe, VCA is FINE JEWELRY... seriously... housework and gardening??? Hire a maid and a gardener maybe? hahaha I'm sorry but it's no wonder the stones were ruined. The stone itself is durable but it is FINE JEWELRY. It's not faulty item =(
Lol. You have a point! But I’d rather buy more jewelry with the money to hire a maid and a gardener. 😂 I’m pretty good with taking care of my items. I guess hearing so many say you can wear it 24/7 get lotion sunscreen on it and nothing bad will happen have me a false sense of security. I definitely won’t be as careless as I have been. 🖤🖤🖤
Oh my….all that back and forth must have been so exhausting! I’m glad you got it sorted in the end and only had to pay a small fee. Compared to my PSM where I paid GBP380 and waited 8 months! Thanks for sharing Kimmy. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! 🥰🌹🍹🎶🎵🎶
It was SO exhausting!! I’m sure if you walk in to a store to address all these issues it wouldn’t have been so hard but definitely trying to get it taken care of via phone and texting was not the best. But happy to have it back! 🖤🖤🖤
Thanks for sharing, that's a roller coaster ride for you. I will have many sleepless night if it happens to me. 🙏 it's finally back to you.
Yes! Roller coaster for sure! But I got my happy ending so I’m grateful for that. 🖤🖤🖤
Thank you for sharing and letting us all know about this issue
@@billiexluxury Thanks for watching! 🥰🥰🥰
I like that new travel case having the elastic now
@@billiexluxury It’s nice to hold your items in place. 💚
I am sorry to hear about your experience but I am glad they made it right. I have the guilloche and love it. I wear it everyday and the solid gold wears great. I have also heard great things about the hammered gold, though it’s not my favorite aesthetically. I also have the malachite but I only wear it in special occasions and wipe it down. I will say that I find them to have the best customer service.
Thanks for sharing! I am definitely eyeing the all gold pieces now that I know those are the only true everyday worry free options. Malachite would be too scary for me but it’s one of the most beautiful stones they have and I’m glad to hear you are taking great care of it. 💚💚💚
Oooh my god, I wore my VCA onyx + 5 motifs guilloché with my JUC and love since 4 years everyday even in shower and pool and NOTHING happened 😬 was a bad one probably because it’s sooo hard stone. Hugs from France
Thanks for sharing your experience! This is why I was so stunned when it happened to me! I did do chores with it on but I never got chemicals on it. Mostly just water and maybe an occasional soap sud. 😂 In any case, will be more careful going forward and hopefully the stones I have now won’t have the same issue. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
My dear I have the black onyx ring and it does also have spots close to the edge that cannot be properly wiped - it’s the only VCA stone piece I have left…. Actually they tell us in Hong Kong not to shower with the onyx. It’s why I only buy non stones from VCA now with the guilloche. Tx for the sharing … to be honest not a lot of ppl share their negative experiences on the stones - I never buy stones anymore unless they are expensive or lacquered over so that the stones don’t touch water. Also what an experience - sounds like the workshop is not that great. Yes they can adjust as much as you want in a certain order to make it as even as possible. The way they did it the first time was incorrect 😢. However it’s challenging for me to put on and take off as the clasp is a but fussy.
I was just stunned when I realized what had happened. And granted I did OK all the steps my SA took but it just took so long! I think if you have a store to walk in to it wouldn’t have been this painful but alas, i don’t live near one. I will also have think hard before adding another stone piece. 🖤🖤🖤
@@kklvoescc Yes, generally I don't support stone pieces unless you are okay that it could break or be high maintenance down the road. I do have one stone piece from Cartier but I noticed that it was heavily lacquered on top so that my be protecting it. I only have one black onyx ring left because I think it's pretty and wont' sell for much but I can already see the haze along the ridges and I can't even clean it as it's too hard to get to and there's also a small diamond in the centre which makes it even harder to clearn!
Wow, what an ordeal!! I'm so glad it was all resolved in the end. Thank you for sharing!
It took so long! But they tried to help me the best they could every step of the way and I’m happy with the final outcome. 🖤🖤🖤
Wow what a marathon! I’m glad you got such a great outcome!
Thanks Dayle. It was grueling but I’m glad to have it back! 🖤🖤🖤
Onyx is durable relatively compared to other stones mainly because of its hardness. But it does absorb liquid so submerging it in water could degrade or shrink it. It’s best to avoid water altogether. The only pieces of jewelry I would wear 24/7 is all 18k gold pieces.
This is what I found out. I was told it doesn’t shrink but it is a porous stones. Lesson learned! I will be keeping much better care of it now.🖤🖤🖤
Very informative, thank you. I have the mother of pearl 5 motifs and I know I have to clean it every time I take it off because otherwise, it looks dirty. But as you said, Mop is much more fragile.
Yes! It is much more important to clean and wipe MOP. I have the sweet mop bracelet and that one has definitely shrunk since I first got it. 🙈 But I’m not as worried about it as it’s much smaller and less noticeable. I’m pretty sure I will have to replace the mop in the future but it’s only one motif so price is doable. I don’t think I would’ve been as careless had I had the mop 5 motif. As long as you take care it should stay beautiful for a long time! Enjoy your beautiful bracelet! 🤍🤍🤍
What a disheartening ordeal!!! But such a great outcome 🎉
@@billiexluxury I’m glad it worked out in the end. 🥰
How exactly did you clean and polish your onyx? You went into great detail with everything except for this piece of info. The haziness appears to be a bad reaction from the chemicals because it's damage to the surface of the stones. If like your friend suggested, water or other chemicals got into the stones through the rouge edges, it wouldn't cause haziness to the surface of the stones, your stones would just get damaged internally and begin to crack.
Honestly it was never in contact with chemicals. I did do chores with it on but when I say I did dishes, it was basically rinsing dishes under the faucet and placing in dishwasher. When I cleaned the house, my wrists were not in contact with the cleaning products, just my hands. Gardening, again, my hands may have touched dirt but my wrists most definitely did not. In any case, I will definitely be more careful moving forward. As for cleaning onyx, I use the cleaning cloth VCA gave me. Lukewarm water is also ok which I wipe down right after. If that doesn’t do it, I use
very gentle diluted dish soap, go over with soft jewelry cleaning brush and then rinse and wipe down immediately afterwards. All methods my SA said was safe but definitely use your own judgement as this is my experience only. Hope this helps! 🖤🖤🖤
Also, the haziness was underneath the surface. The surface was super shiny and clear but when I tilted it I could see the cloudiness which looked like it was inside the stone if that makes sense.
Omg, what a disaster of an experience! 😩 Everything should have been free after such an ordeal. With that said, I’m glad it all worked out and that your bracelet is finally back and looking gorgeous! 😍🖤
To be fair to them, I did approve the corrections every step of the way. It’s just that it took so long and there were some miscommunication issues along the way. In the end I got my happy ending so I am content with that. Thanks so much for watching! 🥰🥰🥰
@kklvoescc I hear you... but with such an issue as to the stones going cloudy, they had to know it wasn't due to anything you did. They should have owned the defect and proceeded accordingly. I too am so happy that you got your happy ending. 🥰🥰🥰
Did you read up on this stone? It's pretty soft actually, and shouldn't be exposed to water regularly.
Omg I’m so sorry this happened to you! I’ve truly never heard of this happening to onxy before. I’ve had my necklace for several years and worn it all the time and never had an issue. I agree though it is a finger print magnet which is annoying. Sorry you had this experience! It truly makes me wonder if it was faulty stones?! Happy holidays and thanks for sharing! ❤❤❤
Edited to add: I don’t know enough about stones to know, but it sounds like this one was defective maybe??
Right?! So many people seem to have had a great experience even when wearing 24/7. I thought about whether it’s a defect but could all 5 stones have been defective? In any case, definitely going to be more careful in the future. Thanks so much for sharing your experience! 🖤🖤🖤
Thank you for sharing this!!!! Especially because we love the onyx for its black color and for it to be cloudy at certain angles is awful! Do you think if you wore it in the shower/when you washed your hands and some water got on the stones but you dry them off with a cloth, this would have happened??
I think had I wiped it down a lot more frequently it may not have happened. But who knows. 🤷♀️ I now always wear rubber gloves when I am doing chores and make sure to wipe it down frequently. Definitely not as carefree for me which is a bummer as I loved using it freely.
Hi Kim sorry this happened to you. I don’t have the onyx yet as that is my next one I would like, but I four other bracelets and haven’t had any issues. Definitely I would have worried as well after seeing the white shadow on the stones 😮. One thing I would like to mention is that they do not do it just how customers want, they still do it in pairs but now they count two links as one. I enlarged two of my four because I stacked them and that’s how they wrote it for the repair department. I am glad you were taken care and that everything got resolved in the end. May I ask what is the name of the SA in that boutique? I am in Florida, but bought five pieces already from that boutique 😉 btw, in the US you can still get the hard cases too 😉
Thanks for sharing all this information! It is so helpful to share! I think “2 chain links” has always been considered “1 link” to them and that’s how they took the info from me 2 years ago when I got it first adjusted. At the time I had 2 links removed. But they used to do their adjustments in 2links, 4 links, 6 links and so forth. The way they “incorrectly” adjusted mine this time was by reducing ONE additional “link” making it ultimately reduced by 3 links which was never an option before. But I’ve seen in other forums that they actually will now do that odd number link adjustment now. In any case the wording is confusing so I think my SA clarified by asking me what cm length I ultimately wanted it to be. As for my SA’s name, I prefer not to say as I don’t know how he would feel about me disclosing it. Hope you understand. Sounds like you have an amazing collection! Black Onyx is definitely a must have for me, just will be more careful moving forward! 🥰🥰🥰
@@kklvoesccno worries about SA’s name although we have chatted through IG in the past and you helped me with another person ;). Anyway, in my case this is what happened, this year I bought the Guilloché 5 motif and wanted to extend it 4 links, they did 8 and that’s how I got it back. I do this, because I stack several together and want them all in different sizes. Then, my recently bought hammer one, again I wanted the same size as the guilloché and instead they actually did do 4 links instead of 8 this time lol. Yes my SA did ask me if I wanted am specific amount in inches, and I did tell him how many, yet they still did it differently 😂
@@je-suis_TatiI don’t know why they make it so confusing! 😂 I usually don’t mind sharing SA info but didn’t feel comfortable doing it publicly here since I have not gotten approval from him. Plus he got assigned to help me with this but this was probably as much of a headache to him as it was for me so I’d rather he not know about my channel. 😅😂🥰
Thanks for sharing this! I have the onyx too and didn't know this could happen. I am so glad they replaced the stones for free. How do you get it on so easy? I have to use a paperclip and it still takes me forever lol. Good to know about the sizing too, I have seen them do it like the first time they did yours so I have been wary to size mine because it looks uneven. I will ask my SA, I need mine sized too. Glad it all worked out! And have a Happy Thanksgiving! For some reason I alway thought you were in Canada, don't know why! Xoxo
I had no idea either! I mean I used it carefree but I didn’t trash it or anything of the sort. Anyway I have never heard of this talked about before so I thought it was worth sharing. My hubby is Canadian and we go there very frequently so I may have mentioned Canada in my videos. 😂 And I do have very good hand eye coordination. You just need to use gravity. Let the bracelet hang on your wrist so that it drops down and hook! 😅 Happy Thanksgiving! 🍁🍽️🦃
@@kklvoescc For sure worth sharing! Your hand eye coordination is much better than mine lol! Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing!! Now I know what CAN happen to my bracelet! Ill be extremely careful around items that can damage it! ❤
Exactly!!! It doesn’t seem to happen to everyone but knowing it can, would you take that risk? So happy you found this helpful! 🖤🖤🖤
@@kklvoescc ❤️❤️❤️☺️
Can someone help me please. I received my bracelet today. I bought it online. All of my stones looks like what she is talking about. The SA online said they will do a inspection before mailing it out to me. I am so sad because it looks like
Smudged I tried to clean it lightly but it’s not doing anything. I was hope it was a sticker protector since they are sending to me please help me
Aww delighted it worked out in the end ❤
Thanks Viv! I’m happy to have it back in perfect condition! 🖤🖤
Hi kim, That sucks but glad managed to get repaired.
I was going to get that onyx than the gold one but i also watch the review that you cant shower or bring to the pool thats why i dont get the onyx, im glad i didn't. TFS
If you want a carefree piece you definitely want to go with an all gold piece. 🤎🤎🤎
Wow thats interesting because i agree i hear that about onyx also all the time! I wear my carnelian 24/7 and so far so good! Enjoy wearing your new bracelet❤❤❤
Yes! Even in the comments here people say they have worn it 24/7 gotten sunscreen and lotion on it and no issues. 😨 I guess I was unlucky. But I will just make sure to keep better care of it going forward. Thanks so much for watching! 🥰🥰🥰
@kklvoescc yes that was very unfortunate with your bracelet but she looks stunning now and at least they waived the payment and now it has a whole story to tell. Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
@@reshmi_beautyaroundtheworldTotally! Happy Thanksgiving to you too! 🦃🍽️🍁
@@kklvoescc ❤️🦃😊
So informative ! I never take my necklace off and it seems to be ok. So did you find out exactly what caused it? Glad everything sorted it out in the end and its beautiful!!
Nope! I really wanted to know too. Glad to hear your necklace is still perfect. 🖤🖤🖤
@kklvoescc still very helpful to learn about the repair process. Thanks for sharing
That's horrible what happened to your bracelet. I have a vintage VCA one motif lapis necklace that belonged to my mom, and it's still perfect. She got it when I was a kid from my dad. I've had it for 10 years after mom passed away. I hope I never have issues with it. I wear it quite often. (Jan Griffiths).
Luckily VCA can fix it if it does happen. But for a cost so I will be more careful going forward. 🖤🖤🖤
May I ask where you get your shirt and necklace from? Thank you
I got my shirt at Nordstrom a year or so ago. I’m pretty sure it’s Tahari but I’ll have to double check. And my necklace is a 1 carat diamond solitaire that my mother in law had made for me through her local jeweler. 🥰🥰🥰
Aww… what a stressful encounter! So glad they made it right. What did the SA herself say could be a possible cause for the stones getting foggy? Frankly, I haven’t yet acquired a taste for VCA (thank goodness, coz it’s an expensive taste), and now they even appear to be very high maintenance 😓
I wish they had an answer too so I could just avoid doing whatever made it happen. In any case I will definitely be a bit more careful going forward. 🖤🖤🖤
Onyx is not that expensive so $250 per stone is crazy!!
Actually I thought $250 per stone wasn’t that bad considering the bracelet itself is almost $5k. 😅However the thought of having to replace all 5 of them only after 2 years of use was what disappointed me so much!🥲
This is a VCA piece so you pay for the name as well 😉. I thought the same Kim, that it wasn’t that bad either but I am glad you didn’t have to pay for it!
@@je-suis_TatiDefinitely paying for the name. 😂 I was upset but willing to pay to replace the stones but super happy they comped me! 🖤🖤🖤
For such an expensive product, their packaging is not on par
Your voice is overlapping sometimes... is this intentional? I get distracted tbh. Love your content though!
Sorry about that! It’s my poor editing skills. 😅 Hopefully I will get better! Thanks for watching! 🖤🖤🖤