How to identify precious metals in unmarked jewelry?

Brizors · Jan 7, 2015

Just like the title says, I am wondering what the best method/resources are for identifying silver/gold in jewelry that are not stamped/labeled with anything. I understand there are test kits, although I live by a ton of jewelry stores. Do jewelry stores typically identify jewelry at no cost?

For example I found an unmarked earring with good weight to it that have clear cut crystals in it, silver colored parts, and gold colored parts. The earring is not magnetic. The gold part scratches off with my fingernail to reveal silver color, so I know this is not gold, or maybe it is gold plating? I can see under a magnifying glass that the crystals have scratches on them so they are probably not diamonds, or maybe they are but really low karat? As for the silver colored part, it doesn't seem to scratch off, it's not attracted to neodymium magnets, no black marks seem to rub off on white cloth and it doesn't seem to melt ice much faster(if at all) than some other random metals I tried it on(that test just seems ridiculous) .

I'll post a pic of the earring tomorrow in better light, although I am looking more for advice on how to tell what things are, rather than what this particular earring is, or how I can reliably do so. As you can tell I was following some gimmicky "how to" websites in determining what it could be earlier, but the methods just seemed inconclusive to me after I tried them and I got a bit fed up. I figured it would be much more lucrative to ask here since I know you guys have some experience or the proper methods.

Cfmct · Jan 7, 2015

Best is to purchase a gold testing kit... most of us who find a lot of jewelry have one as well as a scale to weigh the finds... some jewelers may test it for you... don't tell them you may want to sell it because some may try to tell you its a lower carat or isn't good at all... lots of lowlifes out there looking to make money off an unsuspecting person...

Brizors · Jan 7, 2015

Cfmct said:
Best is to purchase a gold testing kit... most of us who find a lot of jewelry have one as well as a scale to weigh the finds... some jewelers may test it for you... don't tell them you may want to sell it because some may try to tell you its a lower carat or isn't good at all... lots of lowlifes out there looking to make money off an unsuspecting person...

Appreciate the great tips! I actually have a pretty good scale that measures to the hundredths of a gram reliably, although I don't know what any sort of weight reading would mean per any item of jewelry in regards to what metal it may or may not be, so I'll have to read up on that.

Great point on not mentioning an intent to sell to a jeweler. I was actually thinking of what I might say in that situation and I thought I'd probably mention it's for a jewelry collection of mine.

I'll look into some testing kits for gold and silver!

Also I'm going to upload pics in a bit, just because.

ohiochris · Jan 9, 2015

Put a picture of it on here and call it gold , thats what some do :lol:

Paper · Jan 9, 2015

I can tell you right now that that earring is not silver.

GroundSweeper · Jan 10, 2015

That's a good question. I think the test kit is the way to go. I found a nice buttery gold ring last year. Was awkward at the jeweler. They wouldn't tell me the karat unless I was selling, and then told me it was 18k or higher, and offered me $70.00 for it (4.1g) I still have it. No test kit yet but I'm not a beach hunter. My other golds are marked.

Brizors · Jan 10, 2015

I think I'll invest in a gold and a silver test kit then. Also, I think I found a silver ring today, my first ring as well.

Cherry Picker · Jan 10, 2015

Best way to spot precious metals jewelry without a mark is looking at the design. For example, a gold chain, and most silver, will not have an open links. In other words all the chain links will be solid no breaks. Snaps and connectors will also generally be good quality and more than a simple snap. Find a out of the way spot and scrape it to look for plating. Do the stones have an open back to let light in(real) or are they glued in(fake).

Looks nice!

Brizors · Jan 10, 2015

Detector said:
Best way to spot precious metals jewelry without a mark is looking at the design. For example, a gold chain, and most silver, will not have an open links. In other words all the chain links will be solid no breaks. Snaps and connectors will also generally be good quality and more than a simple snap. Find a out of the way spot and scrape it to look for plating. Do the stones have an open back to let light in(real) or are they glued in(fake).

Looks nice!

Thanks for the tips! Do you know whether these stones have an open back or are glued? I tried googling to be able to see the difference but it's proving to be difficult without knowing the terminology. Some of these stones aren't set as well as the rest and are sort of at an angle so you can see down the side/back of them, but I don't necessarily see any glue. I also don't see any sort of brackets/retainer holding them in either, so I'm not sure how else they could be held in besides glue, but I don't know a thing about jewelry.

ScubaDetective · Jan 10, 2015

ohiochris said:
Put a picture of it on here and call it gold , thats what some do

How RIGHT you are!! A good laugh at that one.

GroundSweeper · Jan 14, 2015

Brizors said:
I think I'll invest in a gold and a silver test kit then. Also, I think I found a silver ring today, my first ring as well.

Congrats on the silver ring. I can see "925" stamped on the inside. Silver it be!

Theo112 · Jan 14, 2015

GroundSweeper said:
Congrats on the silver ring. I can see "925" stamped on the inside. Silver it be!

Another way is to learn your markings. .925 means silver... Congrats on your first ring and some precious metal. Way to go, keep it up.

Brizors · Jan 14, 2015

Thanks guys.

I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement.

Dirtfishn350 · Jan 17, 2015

Found a gold earring in a Walmart parking lot awhile back. On the wire that goes through the ear, its marked 14K & some other hallmarks. It amazes me that they can engrave on something that small :shock:

Could only see it through my little microscope. Great investment by the way, acid test kit is another must have!

SageGrouse · Jan 17, 2015

The teardrop shaped earring is costume jewelery. Sorry, but it is.

Here are some clues for you for identifying costume jewelery.
1. Stones are glued in rather than set. You can tell this by looking at the front of the gem. If the bezel (that's the metal part around the stone) is just a cup, with the stone "stuck" into it, it's glued. If the bezel, instead, comes over the front edges of the stone, and appears to be the article holding the stone in place, it's more likely to be real. Sometimes, instead of a bezel, the stone is held with prongs. Pieces of metal that fold over the stone. If the pronfs just look like flat triangular pieces, bent around the stone, again, it's probably costume. If the prongs are actually molded into the bezel instead of being stamped metal, the quality may be higher.

If a stone setting has a little window or hole *behind the stone* then it is probably higher quality Think of a donut with the stone in the "hole" Light passes through the front and through the back. If, instead, the stone sits in a cup of metal with a solid back, and light can only go in one way, then ti is less likely to be real. That is with clear stones.

If the stone has any paint on the back, like a gold shade or silver... it is fake.

Here are the types of stones you might find.
Clear. These are generally glass, cubic zirconium, Rhinestones etc. They are mimicking diamonds. Once you actually see a real diamond, the "fire" you see will be unmistakeable! CZ or cubic zirconium, and lab-created diamonds will fool you, but they are usually used in higher quality jewelry as well.
And yes, CZ CAN be found mounted in silver, gold and even platinum!

Colored stones. These are generally translucent (light passes through them) and are generallt glass or colored CZ. If it has paint, it's glass. if not, it could be CZ or real, depending on the setting.

Colored stones NON-translucent: These will usually be a cabochon cut. Some are darned hard to tell from the real thing.

Cuts.
Faceted. The stone, when looked at from the top, is round, square, teardrop, oblong or other shape, almost always bilaterally symmetrical. Fromt he side the stone has a top, sloping edges, a wide part and a bottom that tapers down to a point generally in the center of the gem as you look through it.
Facets are little planes or angles cut into the gem to reflect light back through the top (flat part) or "table" of the stone.

Stones you will likely see faceted: Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, topazes, any and all clear stones. Very VERY few opaque (light won't pass through it) stones, as faceting is for the play of light inside the stone. real or fake.

Baroque:
Any "natural shaped" stone, can be irregular or symmetrical but generally flat on the bottom and curved on the top.

Stones you are likely to see Baroque: Pearls, agates, amber, marble, jade, a LOT of baroque settings are actually plastic! Tap the stone lightly against your front teeth. If it *clicks* it's either real or glass. If it just *thuds* it's plastic or amber.

Cabochon:
Flat on the bottom, curved into a dome on top. Looks very much like the letter 'D' on its side.

Stones you will find cut cabochon: Pearl, agates, amber, jade, turquoise, marble, opaque OR clear stones, generally ANY valuable stone that is clear will be facet-cut, not cabochoned.

Carved: Flat on the back with a carved top. Cameos, tie slides, belt buckles are likely to be carved. Types of stones same as cabochon or baroque.

As for identifying stones, if stones aRE real, they are generally:
Red: Ruby, carnelian, garnet.
Orange: Amber, topaz, some citrine, carnelian
Yellow: Citrine, some topazes, canary diamond.
Yellow-green: Citrine, aventurine, olivene
Light green: Tourmaline, jade (opaque), aventurine
Dark Green: Emerald, Tourmaline, bloodstone (opaque with red flecks) jade, marble, turquoise.
Green-blue Aquamarine, Turquoise, jade, some sapphires
blue (light or dark): Aquamarine (light) topaz (light) sapphire, Turquoise, lapis-lazuli (opaque with silver flecks) alexandrite, some amethysts.
Violet to purple: Alexandrite, amethyst.
Brown: Carnelian, agate, topaz.
Black: Agate, onyx, jet, black diamond.
White (opaque) jade, ivory, marble, agate.
clear (colorless) diamond, CZ, some topazes, quartz crystal, rutilated quartz (with gold lines running through it) opal.
Fiery multicolored: Opal, pearl, mother-of-pearl, certain other stones.

Hope this helps.

SageGrouse

Brizors · Jan 18, 2015

SageGrouse said:
The teardrop shaped earring is costume jewelery. Sorry, but it is.

Here are some clues for you for identifying costume jewelery.
1. Stones are glued in rather than set. You can tell this by looking at the front of the gem. If the bezel (that's the metal part around the stone) is just a cup, with the stone "stuck" into it, it's glued. If the bezel, instead, comes over the front edges of the stone, and appears to be the article holding the stone in place, it's more likely to be real. Sometimes, instead of a bezel, the stone is held with prongs. Pieces of metal that fold over the stone. If the pronfs just look like flat triangular pieces, bent around the stone, again, it's probably costume. If the prongs are actually molded into the bezel instead of being stamped metal, the quality may be higher.

If a stone setting has a little window or hole *behind the stone* then it is probably higher quality Think of a donut with the stone in the "hole" Light passes through the front and through the back. If, instead, the stone sits in a cup of metal with a solid back, and light can only go in one way, then ti is less likely to be real. That is with clear stones.

If the stone has any paint on the back, like a gold shade or silver... it is fake.

Here are the types of stones you might find.
Clear. These are generally glass, cubic zirconium, Rhinestones etc. They are mimicking diamonds. Once you actually see a real diamond, the "fire" you see will be unmistakeable! CZ or cubic zirconium, and lab-created diamonds will fool you, but they are usually used in higher quality jewelry as well.
And yes, CZ CAN be found mounted in silver, gold and even platinum!

Colored stones. These are generally translucent (light passes through them) and are generallt glass or colored CZ. If it has paint, it's glass. if not, it could be CZ or real, depending on the setting.

Colored stones NON-translucent: These will usually be a cabochon cut. Some are darned hard to tell from the real thing.

Cuts.
Faceted. The stone, when looked at from the top, is round, square, teardrop, oblong or other shape, almost always bilaterally symmetrical. Fromt he side the stone has a top, sloping edges, a wide part and a bottom that tapers down to a point generally in the center of the gem as you look through it.
Facets are little planes or angles cut into the gem to reflect light back through the top (flat part) or "table" of the stone.

Stones you will likely see faceted: Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, topazes, any and all clear stones. Very VERY few opaque (light won't pass through it) stones, as faceting is for the play of light inside the stone. real or fake.

Baroque:
Any "natural shaped" stone, can be irregular or symmetrical but generally flat on the bottom and curved on the top.

Stones you are likely to see Baroque: Pearls, agates, amber, marble, jade, a LOT of baroque settings are actually plastic! Tap the stone lightly against your front teeth. If it *clicks* it's either real or glass. If it just *thuds* it's plastic or amber.

Cabochon:
Flat on the bottom, curved into a dome on top. Looks very much like the letter 'D' on its side.

Stones you will find cut cabochon: Pearl, agates, amber, jade, turquoise, marble, opaque OR clear stones, generally ANY valuable stone that is clear will be facet-cut, not cabochoned.

Carved: Flat on the back with a carved top. Cameos, tie slides, belt buckles are likely to be carved. Types of stones same as cabochon or baroque.

As for identifying stones, if stones aRE real, they are generally:
Red: Ruby, carnelian, garnet.
Orange: Amber, topaz, some citrine, carnelian
Yellow: Citrine, some topazes, canary diamond.
Yellow-green: Citrine, aventurine, olivene
Light green: Tourmaline, jade (opaque), aventurine
Dark Green: Emerald, Tourmaline, bloodstone (opaque with red flecks) jade, marble, turquoise.
Green-blue Aquamarine, Turquoise, jade, some sapphires
blue (light or dark): Aquamarine (light) topaz (light) sapphire, Turquoise, lapis-lazuli (opaque with silver flecks) alexandrite, some amethysts.
Violet to purple: Alexandrite, amethyst.
Brown: Carnelian, agate, topaz.
Black: Agate, onyx, jet, black diamond.
White (opaque) jade, ivory, marble, agate.
clear (colorless) diamond, CZ, some topazes, quartz crystal, rutilated quartz (with gold lines running through it) opal.
Fiery multicolored: Opal, pearl, mother-of-pearl, certain other stones.

Hope this helps.

SageGrouse

I can't thank you enough for putting the time in to tell me this. This is immensely helpful to me and I appreciate it very much!

How to identify precious metals in unmarked jewelry?

Brizors

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Cfmct

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ohiochris

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Paper

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