Buying fine jewelry and semi-precious jewelry should be exciting and fun. But unfortunately for jewelry lovers and businesses investing in jewelry collections, there may come a time when what you get is not the real deal. Fortunately, with a little education, it’s easy to spot a fake and distinguish it from quality jewelry.
Don’t waste time and money on pieces that don’t meet your standards of quality and originality – read our important tips on spotting counterfeit jewelry to protect yourself before you buy.
Signs of Fake Gold
Quality gold coins are often stamped, indicating their purity. Check the clasp on a necklace or bracelet, or the inside of a ring, to see if you can find a stamp. Sometimes fakes will have their own stamps, so while this may be a strong first step in determining what a piece is made of, it is not necessarily reliable in every case.
There is another simple trick that can help you quickly distinguish between real gold and low quality metals: all you need is a magnet. Real gold is not magnetic and will not stick to a magnet at all, while jewelry made from low quality metals will immediately jump to the magnet and stick.
Finally, the density of gold is easy to measure compared to cheaper metals. Gold is very dense, so it should sink when placed in a bowl of water. If your piece floats, then it is not dense enough to be true.
Distinguish real silver
Like gold, sterling silver is stamped to indicate its purity: true sterling silver will say .925 somewhere on the piece, indicating that it is composed of 92.5% silver. Some people are under the (false) impression that genuine silver does not tarnish, but this is not the case. A real piece of silver will polish quickly to its original luster, whereas a fake piece made of something like nickel or cobalt will never regain its original luster no matter how much you polish it.
There are many tests you can do to determine whether a piece is made of real silver (or gold, or platinum) or an imitation, and being able to perform an experiment for each type of metal is usually worth your time.
Diamond Tips
In most cases, imitation diamonds are made from materials that mimic the luster and polish of these stones: glass, plastic and other gems, including moissanite and cubic zirconia, are passed off as diamonds to unsuspecting buyers. Fortunately, there are many ways to tell if a diamond is real without necessarily involving taking your jewelry to a lab. Check the setting of the piece and consider the overall quality: Does the setting look professional and secure? Are there any markings on the piece that indicate which metal was used? In all likelihood, no one would set a diamond in a cheap metal, so consider the appearance of the stone and the setting when trying to assess quality.
Diamonds do not retain heat, so an easy way to know if a diamond in a piece of fine jewelry is authentic is to breathe on it: imitation stones or other materials will fog up, but the fog will immediately disappear from the surface of a real diamond. Diamonds are prized for their unparalleled brilliance and sparkle, so another way to judge a diamond is to examine the light it emits. Diamonds reflect both white light and colorful light very well: other stones, such as cubic zirconia or glass imitations, do not reflect nearly as much or as well as diamonds, and it is worth learning for yourself the difference between the reflective qualities of the two.
Gem
Imitation precious stones may be a good choice for fashion jewelry, but you should never wait to pay authentic prices for fake stones! A seemingly contradictory way to distinguish gemstones from imitations is to look for subtle imperfections in the stone. Genuine gemstones are the result of an uncontrolled, natural formation process, and as such will have very faint spots, differences in color, and other features that indicate they are not man-made. Fake gems, on the other hand, will appear perfect and will not have these imperfections.
Gems such as rubies and sapphires are known to be very hard, so you can perform a scratch test on any stone containing them. Scratch your fingernail on the surface of each stone: if it leaves a mark, you are dealing with an imitation. Another clue that a stone is man-made includes air bubbles under the surface; this is especially common in imitation emeralds.
Semi-precious stones
Imitations of semi-precious stones such as jade, amethyst, Turkish stones and other popular gemstones can also be found in fake jewelry, and while these do not cost as much as gemstones, you need to know how to spot the real deal.
One way to distinguish a real gemstone from a fake one is to look at the setting. Real stones can be set on a solid back, while fake stones can be set with foil on the back to make the fake stone look brighter. Another giveaway is the feel and density of the stone: a real gemstone will feel heavy and slightly cool to the touch (as opposed to plastic or other man-made materials that do not feel this way). Different types of tests apply to different types of stones, so be sure to familiarize yourself with them before you buy.
Differences in structure and detail design
When making a piece of jewelry, the overall quality is usually one of the easiest ways to spot a fake piece of jewelry without performing any tests. Are the findings and clasps in good order? Are there any scratches or areas where the metal seems to be worn? Is the weight right for the piece, or does it feel too light to be made of real metal and stone? While there is a lot of science and research that can determine if a piece is real or fake, many times your eyes and your intuition will also help you find out if a piece is authentic.
While fake jewelry is something that all buyers need to be aware of, a little education goes a long way. Learn what kind of materials you can expect in fashion and fine jewelry, and understand the basic characteristics of the major fine and fashion jewelry metals and stones. Once you have some basic knowledge of fine jewelry, your risk of making a bad purchase is greatly reduced.
