Fake perfume bottles, both old and new brands, are a major problem on the Internet. They are sometimes, knowingly or unknowingly, offered in online auctions alongside authentic perfume bottles. Some online fakes have been sold to trusting collectors for prices up to $1,000. Fakes are made in many ways. It’s more difficult to spot a fake bottle in an online photo than from a bottle you can actually touch, so be extra careful. After reading an article about fakes in Perfume Bottle Quarterly, published by the International Perfume Bottle Association (IPBA, and yes, we are members), we contacted the author and blogger Grace Hummel. Here are some ways perfume bottles have been copied or faked as seen recently in Internet ads:

  • Look out for engraved or etched fake René Lalique signatures. Signatures are being added on new perfume bottles made in the Czech Republic and India.
  • Patina (color) is added to fakes. Red is popular. A colored bottle usually sells for more than a clear one if both are original.
  • Old perfume bottles stripped of decoration and plain newer bottles are being used for fakes. The bottles may have added engraving colored with paint and a fake signature like the one on the genuine bottle.
  • Make sure the bottle is the correct shape. Check the shapes of original perfume bottles and stoppers and a fake bottle may or may not have added artwork or a paper label.
  • Be suspicious of a bottle with a water-damaged label. It may have been soaked off another bottle.

If you want to collect a specialized category like perfume bottles, you will avoid mistakes by joining a club, going to meetings and conventions, checking sources online, and reading bulletins, newsletters, and other sources of current information. It is difficult to identify an online fake, Check the reputation of any seller.

 

Photos are courtesy of Cleopatras Boudoir