Sunday, February 6, 2011

Review on Square Enix jewelry

It's related to cosplay, so why not?  Since I notice that I can't find any reviews on the official Square Enix line of Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts jewelry, I'll write my own.  ...this is similar to my mini-review on cosplay.com, but meh!


On the left, is the hideous Chinese bootleg made out of some kind of mystery metal (lead, anyone?) and on the right, is the authentic licensed product made out of sterling silver.  I own both of these (actually, I threw the fake one away upon seeing how crappy it was), so I'm speaking from experience.


 (Picture from Square Enix Online Shop)
Yuna's necklace is made out of .925 sterling silver with an aquamarine in the middle of the center flower.  The main pendant measures around an inch long and overall, the necklace is a little over 18.5in. in length.

 The back of it has the words "©SQUARE" "X2" "SILVER .925" imprinted on the back.  As I said earlier, the necklace is sterling silver, but it doesn't have a rhodium plating to keep it shiny so it'll need to be polished on a regular basis.

The fakes cost around $10 and under, but the authentic one would cost anywhere between $192-$215 or even higher now that they're out of circulation.  So if anyone tries to sell you an "authentic" one for $20-$40, it's a fake and very overpriced for a bootleg.  The fake one is very heavy and hangs very low (it's about 30in. long) and is very big--as in three times the size of the authentic one (see my first picture).  Another thing... the authentic ones come boxed:

My photo is kinda blurry, but it reads "FINAL FANTASY X-2" and "SILVER NECKLACE YUNA" on the front.

This is the side of the box.  It displays Square Enix's information and it has a holographic sticker that reads "SQUARE ENIX PRODUCT."

So now that you're in the know... DON'T GET SCAMMED!!  The bootlegs are good for cosplay, of course but for the love of nothingness... don't pay more than $10 for one!!


Another product I'm going to review... is a very rare product since I only know of one other person that owns it.  Rare because it could only be purchased from the Square Enix Japanese store, which is Kairi's necklace from the Kingdom Hearts series.

 (Picture from unknown source)
Like I said, it's very rare so there isn't a bootleg to compare it to.  The pendant is made out of a moonstone and .925 sterling silver (and it's stamped on the back).  The small tab in the back is also sterling silver and has ©Disney stamped on it.  The necklace cord is made out of black leather.

The size is adjustable so it'll fit a range of sizes, unlike Yuna's.  My only gripe about this item is that the black dye of the cord bleeds and bleeds badly.  After wearing it for a few hours with a white shirt, the back of my collar was gray!  I was pretty peeved by this and had it cleaned so I no longer have this problem.  If you're expecting a giant pendant... this necklace isn't for you as it's quite small (as Kairi's is in Kingdom Hearts II).  Like I said, it's a very rare piece and from my knowledge, it's no longer being produced and I have no idea where you'll be able to find it for sale.  To give you an idea on just how much this particular piece costs, it goes for about $230.

Square's jewelry is pretty damn expensive, but the quality is good (although I still believe you're just paying for the name).  Do I recommend these to cosplayers?  Hell no!  I however, did not buy these for solely for cosplay reasons.  I bought them because they're two of my most favorite characters and I love their jewelry.  For example, I wear my Yuna one whenever I'm wearing an outfit with a lower neckline and wear my Kairi sometimes (and with my Kairi cosplay).  Of course I take pretty damn good care of them and make sure nothing gets broken or scratched.

So yeah... they're not the smartest investment if you only wan them for cosplay purposes (unless you have money to burn and are super anal about the accuracy of your cosplays.  If you're a collector (like me), I think they're a good investment.  Hopefully someone will find this useful.

...I still want Serah/Snow's engagement necklace.  The handmade replicas just don't suit my fancy, nor do the gigantic clunky eBay replicas.

9 comments:

  1. Duuude. I want the Serah necklace or her earrings~ <3 It'd be so much love XD

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  2. That's a great necklace, the real one atleast, of yuna's. How much did you pay for the real one?

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  3. I paid around $200 for the Yuna one sometime in 2008 from the Square Enix website.

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  4. Awesome review! I love reviews like these for when it comes to buying! Can't wait to read more of your reviews in the future!

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  5. do like ; - ; i want so badlyyyy

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  6. Ughhh the boot leg versions are always so bad lol. Yuna's necklace is one of my favorites, and I love Serah's Necklace too <3

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  7. This is a great review! I want that Yuna necklace now, hnnngh ;-;

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  8. The Yunas necklace is gorgeous.
    My mother bought it for me because she said she always wanted me to have it because I grew up on final fantasy 'she played the games when I was little' and she said 'this necklace reminds me of you'.
    So yeah I love this necklace as not only beauty goes but mainly sentimental reasons.

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