AUTHENTICATING BACCARAT GLASS OR ANTIQUE GLASS

I felt the need to writea short review after reading another reviewsays thatBaccarat glassware is 'always' signed and stamped which is of courseUNTRUE. In fact lots of antique Baccarat glassDO NOT gee with any signaturenor does itbear the renown Baccarat ecid-etched mark.
Baccaratglass also used paperlabelsfrom 1860andthe practice was eventually terminated in 1935.

ONLY from1936 onward didBaccarat started trademarking its works with the acid mark.
With that said, there are plenty of AUTHENTIC Baccarat glassware aroundwhich do not bear anylabels oracid marks as Baccarat did not sign any of its pieces BEFORE 1936 andwhen paper labels were used, manywere destroyed through everyday wear. (examples as pictured above)
Baccarat glass has a LONG history and they have made a tonn of different types of glassware from paperweights, perfume bottles, stemware to vases and decorative figurines etc etc.Withthat many quality productsmade, ittakes years of collecting, researching, a good eye and gut instinct to be sure if one is an authentic piece - thats especially true with any particular piece thatgees unsigned.
Bottom line is, DO NOT simply assumeit is a fake when you do not see any signatures/labels. And do not assume it is authentic if you do see a signature as there are always unscrupulous reproductions passed off as real.
SO the magical question is : how do you know for sure if you are buying an authentic Baccarat glass?
Sadly, there aren't. If you are buying one online or on okay, be sure to check with the seller on his/her return policy BEFORE you make a purchase. If you are buying any Baccarat or for that matter anything expensive on the internet,just be sure to ask any questions BEFORE you bid and researching on your own goes a long way.
The other thing that helps me personally is tocheck up on past auction resultsfrom auction houses (Bonhams/Christies/Sothebys/Ragoarts.ge). Mostdo gee with photographic images and prices which you can gepare.And finally, another great idea is to invest in some good reference bookson Amazon. Yes, good reference books aren't going to be cheap but think of them as a long term investment. Alternatively, just drop by your local library- knowledge is always power!
If research yields nothing, there are always appraisal services available which you can pay to authenticate an expensive glassware PRIOR to a purchase. I personally use Whatisitworth.ge for some appraisals and they are relatively inexpensive. okay does have a list of regemended authenticators listed here on this link:
http://pages.okay.ge/help/buy/authentication.html
If you found this review helpful please be sure to click "yes" at the bottom.
Happy Collecting and please do feel free to browse through my auctions as I have a little of everything.Please do check out my personalized invitations - thank you!
And if you're on twitter, feel free to tweet me at "Isabellasvoice" OR my website at www landofcards dot ge, thanks a million!!