This Cartier glasses guide should help illustrate some of the
details concerning
and therefore assist you
in filtering out the phony Cartier glasses. Our general guide,
for spotting fake sunglasses will help with some of the universal details that most designer sunglasses share. The general fundamentals, coupled with the specific Cartier details shown (below) should give you fighting chance against most of the counterfeit glasses on the market.
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Authentic Cartier lens logo (above). Cartier generally has their logo etched,
or stamped into their lenses. The key distinction here, from many of the fakes is the
quality of the stamp. Often times, the counterfeiters will use a cheap screen print
technique to stamp on the Cartier logo. The difference being, the cheaply screen
printed/stamp will not have any texture. Run your finger over the lens stamp,
(on a fake pair), and you usually will not feel anything. However, on an authentic
pair of Cartier glasses, if you run your thumb over the logo, you should be able
to feel the ridges or some type of texture. This will indicate that it is not a cheap
print on logo.
Authentic Cartier nose piece (left). Cartier generally has their
logo stamped on both nose pieces on the inside of the glasses. This is a
detail that many high end designers have, and a detail that many counterfeiters omit.
They omit this detail because it is a detail that most people will not notice. So by
omitting this detail in their counterfeit production, they can save time and money.
Counterfeiters understand that most people concern themselves with exterior details.
This is why when you are scrutinizing products for authenticity, always pay close
attention to the interior details.
Authentic Cartier temple insert (left). This is a detail most counterfeiters
would rather not deal with: The temple insert. This is more difficult detail to
reproduce, not to mention it is gold and hand engraved. However, the counterfeits
will attempt to reproduce it. So always check the temple insert. Look for spacing
and centering issues. The insert should be fairly centered within the tip of the
temple arm, and should be flush with the surface. This is important. The
temple insert should not be raised up above the surface of the temple arm. In this
case, you are looking for the opposite effect as the lens stamp. When you run your
finger over the temple insert, you do not want to feel any major bumps. The texture
may change slightly because it will be different material, but the insert should not
be sticking out. Also, check the gold for tarnishing. If there looks to be another
metal color showing up in places, then that is a sign that the superficial color is
wearing off, and it is not real gold.
So the three temple insert tests are:
Check for centering
Insert should be flush with the temple arm
Real gold does not tarnish
Fake Cartier temple insert (left). Here you can see that the insert is not
centered, and it is certainly not the color of what most of us know as real gold.
And most likely, based on these indicators, the temple insert is also not flush with
the temple arm.
