Super Talented or Reseller??!
9:31 PM Tuesday, August 11, 2009This is one seller from Bangkok/St Louis – nowhere in her profiles does she actually say she makes any of her items – frankly, if she could sew leather purses, make fine jewelry & sew clothes she would quite the woman.
zhenunleathers <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7157103">http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7157103</a>
strandedgems <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5437729&order=&section_id=&page=4">http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5437729&order=&section_id=&page=4</a>
madamejen <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5233802">http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5233802</a>
So, she's a metalsmith that works with 18k gold, silver and rhodium. She's a seamstress. Sews leather purses, and she's a geologist too by the looks of it. Yea, I got the impression she was the designer, not the creator. Still..how to prove it?
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Yea, there is not one mention of her making any of her pieces. She has no design background. Whatever. BIG faker and liar.
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Check out the Tulip ring. What jewelry maker would leave all those scratches in the gold?
She may design the purses but they are definitely mass produced.
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
I could see the pieces as being 'handmade' if she were putting loose stones into pre-made settings, but if she's trying to pass herself off as an actual goldsmith, I don't really feel it. Even the finest handmade pieces I've seen have an organic feel to them by virtue of the fact that it's almost impossible to create something by hand with absolutely no imperfections.
I've had the pleasure of working with some very talented goldsmiths, and while their work was exquisite and near perfection, every piece was absolutely unique. Even in a matched pair of earrings, one could be distinguished from the other if you looked very carefully. Here, all her prongs are exactly even, every line in the setting is an absolute perfect match with the next (and I personally don't know any goldsmiths who hand-make those particular styles of settings), each earring is a mirror image of its twin. I'm not feeling it.
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
I can't attest to any of the jewelry, but I found this about her handbags.
http://www.handbagdesigner101.com/designer/475/zhen_u.n._yuan_jennifer
To me, she is obviously the designer, and most likely the crafter/sewer.
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
I don't buy the handmade spiel at all. Either someone else is making pieces to her specs, or she is reselling, or "she" is "they".
Reseller IMHO
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM
Location: St. Louis AND Bangkok? What does that indicate to you? To me it indicates drop shipping reseller.
EtsyCallOut September 15, 2009 at 1:53 PM