if you look at enough of the actual import stuff and really study it, you can get a feel for the motifs they tend to use over and over.
it’s almost always either embellishments stuffed to the gills with no breathing room, or has awkward amounts of flat background with no embellishment or patination. it usually has a number of stereotypical Asian or Bali-looking flourishes that are hard to describe. wire curlicues with ball ends always stand out to me and make me look twice. heavy use of really sawtooth-edged leaves. flat dots in rows, stacks of small shot in pyramids or triangles. any of the above combined with open-back set stones, or combined with faceted stones.
Thank you for that explanation. I think when I have seen things with what you have described, I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it, but just usually have a gut reaction that something is off.
A fair amount of the Asian work also appears to have been made in a hurry. Look at some of the poor bezels on this bracelet - ends don’t meet evenly. Not the care & quality I’m used to seeing in NA jewelry.
yeah, that one claw on the right that is either about to fall out or is showing a lot of cuticle - wasn’t properly mounted, wasn’t properly cleaned, or is the wrong size for that spot, idk. it’s just off. for something of this much “oomph” you’d expect a much higher attention to finish work. it’s like… idk. not quite right. see example.
