If you think that to enter the jewelry store having a certain sum of money and the desire to buy real jewelry is enough to actually get one, you’re so far from being right! It is indeed hard to pick the real high-end jewelry, as the right choice requires quite a lot of knowledge. Here we’ll discuss the main features that need to be considered while choosing jewelry.
Let’s start with the gold jewelry and its criteria. Most people, even those who are not acquainted with jewelry subtleties, know that usually the gold item contains a hallmark with the short important information about it. So, what can this hallmark tell us about the item? If the jewelry is made of real gold, the hallmark should mark its purity. What does this mean?
The gold used in the jewelry is not 100% pure, as in this case the piece would be too soft and damage susceptible. That’s why the jewelry is made generally of the alloys with different gold presence. The hallmark may show either the 3-digit number or the karats that have the percentage equivalent of gold in the metal. The higher the percentage of gold in the alloy, the more expensive the jewelry. The standard marks are the following:
- 9K or 375 – 37.5% of gold
- 10K or 416 – 41.67%
- 12K or 500 – 50%
- 14K or 585 – 58.33%
- 18K or 750 – 75%
- 22K or 917 – 91.67%
- 24K or 999 – 99.99%
You may get the idea that if 24k has the highest percentage of gold, it’s the real gold and thus, the best jewelry to buy. Actually, everything that’s in this list is considered to be real gold. And, as we’ve already mentioned, the more gold in the item, the softer it gets, which means that it’s not the best option if you want your jewelry piece to last long. The most popular and practical choice is the jewelry of 14k – 18k gold.
You could say: “OK, I got it. Now I know how to select jewelry.” No, there’s more! We haven’t even finished with the hallmarks yet. There’s a chance you’ll see some letters on the mark, and here is where we’ve got the not so real gold jewelry. There are different stamps that hint the jewelry is actually not made of gold but has some sort of plating or coating.
GF or 1/20 14K mark is stamped on the gold filled jewelry coated with gold alloy that contains not less than 5% of the whole jewelry’s metal weight.
RG, RGP or 1/40 14K means the jewelry is rolled gold plated with the 2.5% amount of gold alloy.
GP/GEP or HGP/HGE marks the items that are gold plated/gold electroplated or heavy gold plated/electroplated.
Vermeil or .925 It is the sterling silver jewelry plated with gold alloy.
There’s also jewelry made of real gold but with another nuance: the item can be made hollow. The jewelry can be of two types – solid and hollow. The solid piece is what it sounds like, fully made of gold. But the hollow jewelry is empty inside, which spares the material, making the item lighter and cheaper. This results in loss of durability and higher risks of deformation and damage of such a piece. So, you’d better know what you get for your money.
Now, you understand that it is hard to find real jewelry, unless you’re shopping in jewelry store NYC. And even so, not every NYC jewelry store will give 100% sure guarantee the gold jewelry you get is really what it looks like.
And what if I tell you that the specification of choosing jewelry with diamonds is even harder. Diamonds have standards of their own, and they are way stricter than those of gold. The quality of the diamond is determined by the 4 criteria, also known in the industry as the 4C standard. The name stands for the first letters of those criteria: carat weight, clarity, color and cut. Though each of these diamond features is important, it’s only the unity of the 4 that really affects the price and value of the stone.
You may get confused with the carat weight, as it seems we’ve already talked about it. But we discussed the karats that mark the purity of gold, while the carats are used to denote the weight of the diamond, where 1 carat is 200 mg.
The clarity of the diamond is measured according to the strict scale
FL, IF – Flawless and internally flawless. They are the stones that have no inclusions visible under 10x magnification.
VVS1, VVS2 – Very, very slightly included diamonds that do have inclusions, but they are hard to see even under 10x magnification.
VS1, VS2 – Very slightly included. Diamonds with minor inclusions that are visible under 10x magnification.
SI1, SI2 – Slightly included. The gems with inclusions that are visible under 10x magnification but not to the unaided eye.
I1, I2, I3 – Included. The inclusions in the stone are obvious under 10x magnification and can affect the brilliance and transparency of the diamond.
The color of the diamond has a very specific scale of its own. It is marked from D to Z, where D-F are the diamonds that are known as colorless and are the most valuable; G-J mark the near-colorless stones; K-M gems posses a faint slightly visible tint; N-R are the diamonds that are called “very light”, where the tint is noticeable; S-Z diamonds are “light” with yellow or brown very noticeable tint. Every letter in the scale has a very clear and strict criteria and makes a great difference to the price of the diamond.
There’s also the colored diamonds that are known in the industry as “fancy”. Those are the real black diamonds, red, green and blue stones. They don’t belong to the scale as they are rare and thus, more expensive.
And the fourth diamond quality is the cut. The cut of the diamond depends on the skill of the jeweler and his ability to arrange the facets for the best interaction of the stone with light. There are types of the cut that often define the shape of the stone, and the most popular cuts are Princess, Cushion, Round, Pear, Asscher… The very important criterion of the cut is how much of the raw stone it is able to preserve.
That’s pretty much all you need to know in order to choose the high-end jewelry right and be sure it’s real. This really is hard, but if you find a good jewelry store, they’ll make it ways easier for you. If the store, no matter if it’s brick-and-mortar or on-line, has a good reputation and is ready to confirm the quality of their jewelry with all the papers and certificates required, then you don’t really need to remember everything that’s been written here above.
But it would be reckless of you not to double-check. No matter how hard it is to find real jewelry, it’s definitely worth it. All the efforts and expenses are the price you have to pay for the real high-end beauty and joy set in metal and diamonds.
Also read: What to Do with Inherited Jewellery
