Jewelry

[itssuziblu]

What has happened to American West? I have a LOT of AW & CP jewelry, over years of collecting. The last few items I have received are HORRIBLY tarnished, BLACK! There is no way that a person should have put the item in a bag, box and sent it to anyone! Carolyn, please..
I know you know better! Trying to support a Made in USA company, trying to support the Native American community I saw and respected when I visited Arizona and New Mexico. QVC, you have a responsibility here, too! What has happened to "Quality?" Not only is this being returned, with FULL shipping refunded...I can't buy this line anymore. There are no jewelry lines @ QVC that aren't made in China, or junk. Such a shame.

[SharkE]

I suggest checking out Southwest Indian Foundation based in Gallup, New Mexico think it is.  I bought a watch in turquoise/silver for 150. Money goes to support Indians and towards educating children.

That watch I've had for yrs. and get asked about it all the time. It still works, but, I've ordered another one this one is spiny oyster/silver . In their catalog they have jewelry and lots of other stuff, also.

[Kachina624]

@itssuziblu   Tarnish is a naturally occurring process with silver that has been improperly stored for too long.  It can be easily fixed with a few swipes of a polishing cloth.  I'd never return anything simply because it was tarnished. 

More alarming to me is the deterioration of the quality of American West jewelry.  I have a large collection of older pieces and there's no comparison with what's being sold today. When I go through my jewelry box, I'm amazed at the difference. Yet even the tinny stuff currently being sold is not cheap and certainly not worth what is being charged. 

The Pollacks never claimed their jewelry is Indian made. They have a factory in Albuquerque and have some Indian designers design a few pieces but it's all made in the factory by whomever. 

[itssuziblu]

Thanks for the recommendation r/t the catalog. I know about polishing silver. This is beyond that...it's BLACK. So if it sat out for a long time, it should be the expectation to receive a lovely, pristine piece of UN-tarnished jewelry, if you are paying for what is presented as brand new. Sure, a polishing cloth helps with an older piece I may already have from years ago. I agree, the line, the weight of the items, etc...has way gone down from what it used to be. That's my point. For these prices, for the struggle that QVC is in, for the choices that we long term customers have..
Respecting your customers and not deliberately packing and shipping defective merchandise is NOT too much to ask.

[GoneButNotForgotten]

I've found that storing my silver tableware wrapped in aluminum foil retards tarnishing.

[AuntMame]

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More alarming to me is the deterioration of the quality of American West jewelry.  I have a large collection of older pieces and there's no comparison with what's being sold today. When I go through my jewelry box, I'm amazed at the difference. Yet even the tinny stuff currently being sold is not cheap and certainly not worth what is being charged. 

The Pollacks never claimed their jewelry is Indian made. They have a factory in Albuquerque and have some Indian designers design a few pieces but it's all made in the factory by whomever. 

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When they first started selling on QVC many years ago they ran a promotional video that showed American Indians making their jewelry, and talked about how they made an extra effort to hire Indians. So they definitely wanted to create that impression in the minds of buyers. 

Silverwise the jewelry is not what it was years ago. But that's probably due to the high cost of metals these days. The stones are pretty, though most come from overseas. Relios released a statement years ago that said because there was no longer much stone-cutting and polishing done in the U.S. they were going to be buying most of their stones from overseas. In some cases the names of the stones have been changed to make them more American-sounding. Botswana agate --> striped agate. That's marketing for you. 

You have to give them credit. They have endured in a very difficult market, and they seem to have a lot of happy customers and employees. Most jewelry companies fizzle out within 5-10 years. Consider all the QVC jewelry makers that have gone bankrupt. Black Hills Gold for instance, not only went bankrupt but raided all their employees' pensions in the process. And who can forget Joseph Esposito who turned to drug dealing to try to keep his business afloat. It's a rough business. 

[kaydee50]

Uh oh!  I just ordered a pair of earrings just to use my QVC coupon on something.  I hope they arrive in good condition!!! although they were only $20.

[wagirl]

I just bought 3 leather braid necklaces with silver findings,  on a great sale, that came just fine. Not a hard thing  to polish silver--if it is in storage of course it will tarnish---no big deal to me.

[itssuziblu]

I would not take the time to post something negative about a little tarnish. Ladies, it's BLACK, like tar. It's not the customers job to pay full price for a defective item presented as new. BECAUSE I love jewelry, and BECAUSE I have shopped this line for so long...THAT is what I was trying to call attention to. Especially to the QVC boards monitors. This development, of 3 bad pieces in a row...is NOT the norm for AW/CP. Do something to correct the situation. Not expect the consumer to clean an obviously old and tarnished item. Tarnish, BTW doesn't happen quickly. This was old junk they passed off as new. That is the problem!

[AuntMame]

The tarnish sounds dreadful, Itssuziblu, and beyond normal tarnish. You should contact the customer service at American West. They're usually pretty responsive. Take a picture of the piece if you haven't already polished it. The tarnish may have come from some bad alloy in the silver or poor storage. I doubt QVC would respond to any complaint, or even forward it on to American West, so that's why you should contact the company directly. 

I've bought a few pieces in the past year and haven't received any that are tarnished, but I've read complaints about products arriving with heavy tarnishing in the reviews.