Jewelry is expensive, especially if you are purchasing it from a renowned brand or a well-known distributor.
At times you can purchase a piece of jewelry that is so inexpensive it seems like a dream, but how can you really tell if what you just brought is authentic?
A fake piece of jewelry can easily stain, cause allergies, break up and sometimes you may end up spending the same as you would when purchasing the real deal.
With so many scammers on the web, you never know if the jewelry you are buying is either real or fake, but there are a few tips you can consider whenever buying jewelry to determine if the piece you are about to buy is real or not.
Jewelry experts like the ones at Windsor Fine Jewelry recommend that you exercise caution when purchasing jewelry, and do not simply buy a piece just because it was cheap.
Nowadays many jewelry retailers can end up stocked with a lot of fake jewelry, so let me provide you a few tips you can consider to ensure this doesn’t happen to you.
Is it a known seller or designer?
Buying a piece of jewelry from an unknown designer or a sketchy seller will almost always have you end up with fake jewelry.
Be sure you always check the reviews of the shop where you are about to buy and do a bit of research to determine whether they are good or not.
Whether you want to purchase used or new jewelry always is sure you are purchasing it from a respectable seller and not just any person you find on the street.
Is it too cheap or too good to be true?
Sadly, purchasing jewelry is very expensive which is the reason not everyone can afford it. At times you can stumble upon a seller that could be selling a piece for much less than it should be.
Jewelry isn’t cheap and if a seller is attempting to sell a piece much cheaper than its actual price, then be sure what you are getting will most likely be a fake.
There are many excellent websites where you can check the reviews of a jewelry store, like Facebook, Twitter, the store’s website, Trustpilot, etc.
Even if the piece they are selling you is authentic but still too cheap, then aside from being fake it can mean that it is stolen, so always exercise caution when purchasing a piece that seems too good to be true.
Check the brand:
Checking the brand of a piece of jewelry is one of the best ways to confirm its authenticity. Many renowned brands provide jewelry that comes with a hallmark.
Try to carefully check the brand and hallmark as even though they may look authentic from afar, there may be signs of incorrect spelling, unmatching layout or even a badly carved hallmark into the jewelry.
Nowadays there are a lot of fake jewelry pieces that are being sold at almost the same price as an authentic one, yet these pieces can be made of low-quality materials or have terrible craftsmanship that can cause them to easily break.
Make sure you get certified jewelry and its documentation:
Jewelry pieces that contain diamonds or other fine stones can come with their own certification, which helps in validating its authenticity.
A fake seller will never provide you a certification or can try to give you a fake document, so be sure to always ask for the certification of your jewelry.
Even if your jewelry doesn’t really require certification you can always request one, so that you have all its documentation to confirm that the piece is authentic.
Whenever you get the documentation to be sure to check all grammar is correct, the quality of the document and even if the print is done correctly as people could try to give you a fake just to sell you the fake piece they are offering.
Test the metal to verify its authenticity:
There are a few ways you can try testing the metal of any piece of jewelry, as certain low-quality metals can be easily identified if properly tested.
For gold or silver, you can try the magnet test. Neither gold or silver is magnetic so if your jewelry happens to react with a magnet then they are neither of those.
Diamond, on the other hand, can be tested by breathing directly into it because a real diamond doesn’t fog and a fake one does, so depending on the result would be its authenticity.
If by wearing gold or silver jewelry you end up with a rash or a green stain then most likely the piece you got isn’t either of those, as gold and silver don’t react to skin.
