AUTHENTIC • PRE-OWNED • LUXURY

With the market for counterfeit goods ever growing, it’s important for customers to shop with a trustworthy retailer that guarantees the authenticity of their items. STORE 5a has a zero-tolerance policy for counterfeit goods, and utilizes a two-step authentication process to ensure this.

First, each piece goes through our own highly trained authentication experts. These experts analyze many aspects of the piece including stitching, materials, stamping, date codes, hardware, and pattern.

After that, our pieces are evaluated by a third-party service who also carefully examines the piece to confirm that it is consistent with the genuine manufacturing standards for that brand.

Designer jewelry is authenticated with a similar process to handbags, scarfs, etc. Fonts, engravings, and materials are checked to ensure they match the known particulars of the designer. The craftsmanship and quality is also checked to ensure it is in line with the standards of that designer. The easiest ways to spot fakes is either use of inferior materials (lower karat gold and/or diamonds), or using fonts/stampings/engravings that are slightly different from authentic. Sometimes the difference between a knockoff and authentic could be just the spacing between letters in the designer name.

All non-designer jewelry is put through a process where the materials are checked. Metals are tested to ensure that they are a particular karat of gold and not a plating. Diamonds are tested using the latest equipment from GIA and DeBeers to differentiate between synthetic, lab grown, etc. Gemological tests are performed on any gemstones to determine their type and eliminate anything that is synthetic or treated.

A watch's authenticity is the most important factor considered when purchasing new items for our collection. Because of this, every piece we add to our collection goes through our in-house watchmaker's shop. Here our expert team assesses it's performance, completes any necessary services and verifies its authenticity. 

Afterward, the watch is sent to a Graduate Gemologist where everything is assessed to ensure that no aftermarket altercation has occurred and a secondary market value is established. Once completed, each watch is backed by our 2-year warranty, covering timekeeping issues and future water damage.