The Look for Less: J.Crew Bubble Necklace

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August 15, 2012

J.Crew's ubiquitous bubble necklace is $150 at jcrew.com. It's been around for years and seems to get more popular each season, especially with the recent surge towards bright colors in the fashion world. It might feel played out to some but I think it's a classic.

Bubble necklace

I know many of you own this necklace or the dupe and have featured it on your blogs (looking at you, TAGG!), but this look for less is worth repeating. Here at TBB, I've been hunting for this particular "look for less" design since 2009! And it has come to my attention that not everyone is aware that eBay now sells the best knockoffs of this popular style (3 readers asked me this question in the past week).

Just head to eBay.com and search for "JCrew Bubble Necklace

." The average starting price is around $15.

You can also find bubble necklace look-a-likes on Etsy.com (Blue Bird is stocked with bubble necklaces) as well as a few other jewelry boutiques such as Mimi's The Look for Less, JewelIQ (similar, smaller style), and Pop of Chic (similar, smaller style).

If you know of another place to score a bubble necklace copy for less, let us know in the comments. Also if you've purchased a dupe on eBay, I'd love to know what you paid, if you can recommend a specific seller, and if the quality was good - in the market for one myself! (I have two quasi-bubble necklaces but didn't look at the measurements and they turned out to be much smaller than the actual J.Crew style.)

Comments (28)

Posted in: J.Crew, The Look for Less

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Comments

I have a faux-crew ebay bubble necklace - it's the coral colorway, and I had have had two J.Crew sales associates compliment me on it, and a friend of a friend who works for J.Crew corporate told me it looked great - no one knew it's a fake. I bought it for $12.50 (including shipping) from one of the many Hong Kong based sellers. The seller I bought it from doesn't have a store anymore, but I think they're all the same.

#1 Ashley on 2012-08-15 18:17 (Reply)

Woohoo, thanks for the shout out! You know I love my bubble necklace. I really want three more, yikes. I can't decide between white, fuchsia and navy; think all would be awesome for fall. What color are you eyeing?

Erika of Girly Things by E just got one via ebay and seems happy; plus she ordered from the US so it shipped same day. A major perk.

#2 alyson (Homepage) on 2012-08-15 18:35 (Reply)

Check out J.Crew outlet stores as I just went to one in LA this past weekend and saw these necklaces for around $25 (don't quote me on that!). The colors they had were black, coral, a bright yellow and maybe some others.

#3 J on 2012-08-15 18:35 (Reply)

Thanks for the ebay info. I want one in every color. I had no idea ebay had these for such an awesome price.

#4 rachel on 2012-08-15 18:45 (Reply)

Love these! Your blog is so good!! Check out mine!

http://lavieenliz.com

#5 Liz (Homepage) on 2012-08-15 20:30 (Reply)

I have 3 that I've purchased off ebay from three separate sellers: turquoise (my favorite), cobalt blue and fuschia. All 3 are great and I've had no problem with them or the sellers (although it took 1 month for them to arrive). Lately I've been seeing a purple one that looks interesting.

#6 Jeanette on 2012-08-15 20:37 (Reply)

Baublebar.com has some in great colors. I think they might be a little smaller than the original. I just ordered one off Etsy from "JGirlsJewels." Only like $24 with shipping and looks good!

#7 Rachel on 2012-08-15 20:55 (Reply)

Hey how funny you made this post...

I just got my 5th about a week or 2 ago and have been instagramming them like crazy (check em out! @snackyjackie) I am already eyeballing my 6th and 7th... I really want green and maybe turq. Purple I've seen and while purple is my fave I don't know if I like the silver accent over the gold.

I've got black, red, navy, light pink and fuschia. My least fave is the fuschia. Fave is a toss-up.

All were purchased $15 or less with free shipping. The quickest time I've received has been a week from a seller known as smilelife (?). I was really pleased with that wait vs a month!

Oh and I just purchased 1 from New York & Company, a burgundy one that's a mini version and I like it. It's not as HEAVY and I like the color a lot. So I guess you could say I have 5.5 faux crews?

But yeah, they are all soooo heavy! Do you find that your neck hurts after wearing them all day???

5 1/2 faux crews here....
#fauxcrewcrew

#8 SnackyJackie (Homepage) on 2012-08-15 21:57 (Reply)

Frock Candy sells them for $24. I have the one in yellow and I love it. I think the quality is great! I got mine online at www.frockcandy.com.

#9 Mallory (Homepage) on 2012-08-15 23:16 (Reply)

I'm also obsessed. I own the turquoise, cobalt, black, light pink, and gray ones. I really like the new hot pink and navy blue I've seen recently, but I have stopped myself from buying anymore. Also, I've bid on them and won them for as low as $11.50 shipped. I've found that some are better quality than others, but all have exceeded my expectations. The gold platting on them does fade over time (mostly where they rest on the back of the neck). I received so many compliments on them; they add character to outfits. They do take two weeks to up to one month to arrive from China.

#10 Erin A on 2012-08-15 23:47 (Reply)

I forgot to mention that I was successful with seller: http://myworld.ebay.com/kscccc/

#11 Erin A on 2012-08-15 23:57 (Reply)

I purchased a turquoise one 2 years ago from Basil The Cat on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/basilthecat). I had never seen/heard of the J.Crew necklace but fell absolutely in love with the necklace in her shop. Her bubble necklaces are pricier than the ones on eBay ($48-53, shipped), but she was wonderful to work with (I wanted a few changes to the original design), the necklace very well made, completed and shipped quickly. I get TONS of compliments whenever I wear it. I think I will be getting a coral or red one this year for my birthday (next month!)

#12 blkrox on 2012-08-16 01:05 (Reply)

I was going to recommend baublebar.com, too. I haven't ordered their version of this necklace, but their quality is usually pretty good and very good customer service. Plus free shipping!!!!

#13 ajdematteo on 2012-08-16 09:12 (Reply)

I have two! One is an original from J. Crew. It was a friend of mine's and it broke (go figure!) so I told her I'd take it and fix it, but she just bought a new one instead (Must be nice to have that kind of money) Then I just got a grey knock off from Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Jcrew-J-CREW-Summer-Bubble-Bib-Statement-Party-Summer-Necklace-Newest-Colors-/160860475200?_trksid=p4340.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D1368991760120672499%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1016%26rk%3D1%26

I have found some with a little cheaper shipping, or the same price, with free shipping, so it's worth it to shop around for a better price. But mine was good quality, and has held up nicely, even with packing it away and traveling with it. It would definitely be nice to find one a little more light weight, I'm actually wearing my black one today, and it just bounces around when I walk. Kind of annoying! But I will definitely purchase more colors for fall

#14 Marcy (Homepage) on 2012-08-16 10:11 (Reply)

I bought a bubble necklace from loveshop80 on eBay back in April and absolutely love it! I've worn it into J. Crew and they've complimented me on it...that's the ultimate! It was $14.50 with free shipping. I will definitely buy another one.

#15 Lauren on 2012-08-16 11:07 (Reply)

Thanks for all the feedback, ladies!

Here's another source for bubble necklaces, they emailed me this morning:

http://www.ilycouture.com/category_s/1814.htm

#16 The Budget Babe on 2012-08-16 12:14 (Reply)

I'm giving a bubble necklace away (from JEWELIQ - looks identical to the one from J Crew) at my blog here in case you're interested:

http://shamelesslyoverdressed.blogspot.com/2012/07/giveaway-win-your-favorite-piece-from_29.html

#17 Shamelessly Overdressed (Homepage) on 2012-08-16 17:22 (Reply)

My friend bought one on eBay for $13 with free shipping from Hong Kong which she absolutely loves. We happened to stop by the JCrew outlet in Waterloo, NY last weekend and they did indeed have them in the store. I saw red, orange and yellow. They were $85 though. Im pretty sure she would have bought all three colors had they been $25. Sound like you've got the better JCrew outlet near you!

#18 Nikki on 2012-08-17 17:10 (Reply)

I too am in love with the J. Crew Bubble Necklace. I purchased the black one from J. Crew a while back. I have since purchased the knockoff ones from Ebay sellers and NO, they are not the quality of the real J. Crew necklace, BUT for a fraction of the price, they are a great addtion to anyone's wardrobe, especially someone like myself who wants every color! They come from Hong Kong so it does take about a month and I have received a couple that were broken, but the sellers have sent me out replacements (waited ANOTHER month!) Still worth it if you don't want to fork over $150.

#19 Kimberly Kotsiras (Homepage) on 2012-08-19 17:50 (Reply)

Good to know! Have your faux-crew bubble necklaces started to discolor at all? I noticed the J.Crew originals are 18-karat gold-plated so I imagine that accounts for some of the price difference...

#20 The Budget Babe on 2012-08-19 22:24 (Reply)

I love the J. Crew bubble necklace! I don't have one myself, but I may get a knockoff version since I can't afford the real thing.

#21 Mags (Homepage) on 2012-08-21 23:27 (Reply)

Bought the yellow one today at a local boutique for 19.95. After chatting with the boutique owner she told me how she discovered that she ordered the necklaces from the same supplier as J. Crew when a couple of the necklaces that were shipped into her had the J.Crew label aleady attached. There is no difference in the necklaces at all! Glad I didn't pay the price J. Crew is asking.

#22 Laura (Homepage) on 2012-09-25 00:48 (Reply)

I found this post after receiving my eBay bubble necklace knock-off, which waaaaay smaller than the J. Crew necklace and is quite disappointing. To the author: Since posting this, have you had any success with finding an original sized knock-off? Thanks!

#23 Stephanie on 2012-09-28 13:25 (Reply)

I found a seller on Ebay from the US that ships the day you pay (myfashioncloset_and_more), so you get it in 3 days with free shipping. The necklaces seem the same size as the J.Crew one. But what I love about these particular necklaces is that they are of superior quality than the necklaces from China, the metal is thicker, the cabochons are smooth and not faceted, and the end caps that go above and bottom of each hanging bead are almost identical to the J.Crew one, and not those flower type. I own one from this Ebay seller and others from the typical China sellers as well, and you definitively can see the difference in quality; even the hanging beads are straight and not crooked. They are a bit more money, but still good price ($25-$60) I guess you are paying for quality.

#24 Carolina on 2012-09-29 14:51 (Reply)

They have these necklaces at www.shoppublik.com in black!

#25 Jen (Homepage) on 2012-10-10 00:30 (Reply)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KTIO56/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A2FPC6RARPN3I8

Found them on amazon for $14!!

#26 Bonny on 2013-01-05 20:36 (Reply)

I would also check GroopDealz.com. I just bought one for $7.95, and shipping was $3.95, I think. The only thing is after a certain amount of days it will no longer be offered. But I thought I would post it anyway. They do post great deals, and they may even bring the bubble necklace deal back. I'm excited about this deal because I almost bought one from J Crew Outlet for $25.

Also, check modernego.com. They have bubble necklaces, too. I don't think they've sold out of them yet, and I think they may offer free shipping for the bubble necklaces that have been marked down to $15.

I have also seen some at Charming Charlie. The smaller ones are $13, and the larger ones are about $20. The quality may not be as good as others though.

#27 Kristy on 2013-01-29 12:17 (Reply)

I got one at www.sizzbling.com. The selection is limited but the quality is good. Plus I found a 15% off coupon on Retailmenot. So all in all a good deal.

#28 Ella on 2014-04-24 19:41 (Reply)

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