Brought home an $8000 violin and found out it’s fake - Updated

Update:

My daughter had a jam session this afternoon and her instructor was able to play and listen to both the violins we have on trial. She was blown away by the one I didn’t mention in this thread (a 1903 F. Lincoln Johnson) that is a paltry $2700. The Derazey was too risky for her taste with multiple repairs and no makers mark. We didn’t get into my theories on it’s origin. My daughter is was very happy with both violins and now favors the cheaper violin because her instructor was so emphatic.

I still want to have the counterfeit conversation when I bring the violin back to the shop to see what they say.





Turns out my offspring is good at something, unlike me, and needed to step up her violin game. She played every violin in Nashville save intermediate and beginner. She whittled it down to 2, both of which we have on 2-week trials. The one she is leaning towards is a 170 year old French rig with an $8000 price tag.

One of the labels inside caught my eye and sent me down a rabbit hole researching the history of the maker. A couple red flags popped up and over several hours I’ve pieced together several facts that leave me almost positive that this violin was not made by Derezay and that in the 1880s an American luthier took a broken violin and made it look like a Mirecourt Duiffopruggar. Luckily, he stamped it and I was able to take it from there and figure out the rest with the help of Google images.

Here’s my conundrum: I’m pissed at the shop that it came from for either being really shitty and knowingly trying to pass this thing off on me, or being so incompetent that a relative novice can spot a fake before they can....but it sounds better than violins 5x the price.

My daughter wants the violin, but I know myself and I cannot not be an a-hole when I let them know that I know it’s a fake. How do I get this violin for $350 without getting kicked out of the store first?