CRYSTAL DETECTIVE
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO "CRYSTAL DETECTIVE"
Guide prices are available throughout the web shop, so that all items whether in/out of stock show a price. It will be easy to see which items are available and which are currently out of stock.
For out of stock items, you can use our "Crystal Detective" feature to ask us to search for the item/s you need. Crystal Detective requests are held for one month if there has been no progress. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of Crystal Detective, we can often be searching for several items at any one time, and therefore it is not possible to give you regular progress reports.
To register your interest in acquiring a particular item or items, just complete the form at the bottom of this page. Thank you.
PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS FORM TO OFFER US COLLECTIONS.
WE WILL RESPOND TO YOUR QUERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE OFFICE IS CLOSED DURING THE EVENING, AT WEEKENDS AND ON BANK HOLIDAYS.
We only conduct searches for figurines, we do not search for watches, accessories or jewellery (except the Paradise range - and these are difficult to locate), nor can we provide valuations for these products.
The impossible list does vary occasionally, but here's a brief look at the sort of things which feature regularly!
Crystalline cake stand / Adrienne angel - These items are very popular and extremely hard to find, to the point that we now have to admit defeat and ask that people no longer request them as they just don't come up in collections.
Crystalline candleholders (particularly medium size), Crystalline bowls are also becoming problematic to locate at a reasonable price.
It is a similar story for the Limited Edition Disney Cinderella and Belle figurines, and sadly the colour versions of Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet plus Donald and Daisy Duck are becoming virtually impossible to find.
Virtually all the colour Disney pieces are changing hands for way more than they are actually worth in our view, and collectors are being ripped off by some very ruthless and speculative sellers.
New to the "impossible list" - items from the recent Nativity Scene, ie Ox, Donkey, Sheep, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Shepherd.
Kris Bear Spring Flowers is also on the impossible list, we do not believe many were made, production was ceased early without warning and of course, the few that did sold were exclusively available from Swarovski website, and nowhere else, so again, a very difficult piece to source.
While we have heard about the existence of such things as Black Diamond, Golden Shadow and frosted items such as Missy Mo and Shady/Y2B sheep, plus a frosted Soulmate Panther, various silver crystal items in frosted crystal and some in Golden Shadow, we are not convinced by these "prototypes" and would not be willing to enter into any transactions for these items.
These items are neither documented nor acknowledged by Swarovski and therefore we do not wish to handle these items unless and until Swarovski verify their authenticity. We believe they are what is known, in polite terms, as "third party manipulations", that is, they started life as a genuine Swarovski piece and were then ruined by a DIY process.
If you order more of one item than we have in stock, the cart will reduce to the available number. If you are looking for multiples in excess of those available, it is worth asking via the Crystal Detective feature to see if we have further supplies, as we don't always put the full complement of stock into the stock numbers on the website, in order to help us avoid double-selling a product, for example via phone or Ebay, Amazon and the website.
Please remember that our website shows our best prices and as such they are non-negotiable, so please do not use the Crystal Detective facility to attempt to "make an offer". We will simply delete your e-mail without responding.
Please be realistic about the items that you request via the Crystal Detective system. For large or obscure items (that we would have difficulty reselling if you were to change your mind) we now require a deposit, as we have been let down badly by people using the Crystal Detective feature, who either ignore the response when we tell them the item is found and available, or they try to negotiate on price, having already agreed a price ahead of us finding the item.
We always make it clear that you are not obliged to buy the item, but equally, would grateful if you change your mind, find the item yourself, or no longer require it - for whatever reason - to tell us straightaway so we can stop searching.
Sadly, the introduction of a deposit on larger or rare items means everyone has to suffer because of a few people who are spoiling the system for others. However, it should ensure that people who had no intention of purchasing are weeded out and only the genuine ones will ask for things, leaving us more time to search for the items for those people, and not spending time looking for things for people who just wanted to see if we could find it, but didn't really want it!
We are limiting all Crystal Detective searches to a one month search period. If we don't find the item within that period, we will discontinue the search, unless the item is incredibly rare and would be likely to take longer to seek out than most items. With this new policy in place, this will help us to focus our efforts on the newest requests, rather than spending time still following up older ones, which more often than not, are the ones where people simply ignore our e-mails.
Many thanks for your understanding with this. It sounds like a lot of rules and regulations, but sadly the system has been abused by too many people in the past, and we want to concentrate on those who really do want us to locate things for them, so that we can provide a better, faster service to genuine collectors. By keeping to the genuine searches only, we can spend more time searching for those pieces for genuine clients, and waste less time on those who either didn't want the piece or will ignore the fact that we've found it for them!