How many of these would you say are real gold?

[mrudman]

I am looking into selling some old jewelry to get extra money for our trip, but before I look like a total dork and send them stuff that isn't even real gold, I was wondering if you could help me out to see if any of this stuff is the "real" stuff.

Plus, not sure they return stuff that's not gold... so want to make sure I'm not just mailing out jewelry I'm never going to get back.


In this first pic, starting at the top:

An Emka Geneve watch that was my grandma's...

Below that is an initial necklace, no marking on it at all... color of the "gold" is much golder than the other pieces.

3rd, is another initial necklace.... the chain is pretty thin... has "Avon" stamped on the clasp.

4th is a link chain.. no markings anywhere that I can see...

5th is a pendant and chain of my grandma's... "1928" is stamped on the hang tag by the clasp.

6th is a necklace with pendant.. the actual pendant seems to be real "cheap" looking... only marking I can see is a bulls-eye type stamp on the clasp.

Lastly in this pic is herringbone type necklace.. fairly certain this is gold, but no markings at all anywhere.

In this 2nd pic, starting at top....

What I'm fairly certain are cheap/fake pearls enclosed in "cages"... no markings that I can see anywhere..

Bracelet on right I'm fairly certain is from Spain... its a charm bracelet.. all charms missing except for 2... pretty intricately engraved, but no markings that I can see..

Now dividing pic in 1/2.. on left side is some of my grandma's old earrings.. have no clue whether these would be gold or not... no markings on any of them...

Then on right 1/2 of pic.. I have at the bottom 1/2 of one of those pendants that you would give the other person half of... no markings at all...

The anchor earrings were mine.. no clue whether they're gold or not... no markings...

To the right of the anchor earrings is a sapphire ring... this one does say its 14k gold, yeaa, lol.

To the right of that ring is a small opal ring.. says 10k,

The ring below that one seems to not be gold... its even corroding quite a bit, so assuming its not..

Below that are 2 very lightweight "charms"... no clue where they came from... no markings at all..

And lastly to the left of those charms is a thin gold bracelet... has 14k stamped on the inside, yeaa, lol...

If you've made it this far, thank you!! And any help you could give me with what thing might be gold and what definitely isn't would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!
Michelle

 

[luvmy3]

I believe that real gold has to carry a stamp, whether it be 10K 14K etc. I'm not sure about the older jewelry since I don't know when the stamping was required on gold jewelry.
I would take it to a local jeweler if you are unsure.

 

[mantaz]

Actually it does not have to carry a stamp. A jeweler can test it to see if it is gold or not. Some can tell by the color. The jeweler should be happy to help you.

 

[mrudman]

I was hoping to not have to go to a jeweler... haven't found any in my area that buy gold.... was planning on doing it by mail, through USGB or something like that... but not sure if its not gold, do they send it back to you, or just toss it?

 

[swea_pea1]

I'd say that the Avon and the 1928 are probably not gold, as those companies typically sell costume jewelry. I'd have no idea about the other stuff from just looking at a picture.

For the pieces that were your grandmother's - do you have any siblings or cousins that may be interested in them? When my mom died, I got pieces of her collection. There were some that weren't the "real thing" but were very sentimental to me. Just a thought.

You could always take them to a reputable jeweler to be appraised. They'll tell you whether they're real gold or not even if they're not looking to purchase them from you. Might give you a better idea what price you can expect when selling them elsewhere.

 

[briannesmom]

I went to a gold party a few weeks ago and the first thing they did was run a strong magnet over everything. If it sticks to the magnet it is not solid gold. It is a quick way to weed out gold plated and costume jewelry.

 

[cart-mom]

My family has been in the jewelry business for over thirty years and if there is no stamp on the jewelry, the best way to test it is what they call an acid test. It doesn't damage the jewelry, just shows what carat the gold is (if it is gold). If you send it in the mail you will not get anything back. I wouldn't trust that anyway. There are plenty of good, reputable jewelers that will test your stuff for you. They may charge a small fee if you bring in everything at one time. It's hard to tell by the pictures, but in person it is much easier to see what is real and what is costume.

Good luck!

 

[julezdisney]

.........run a strong magnet over everything. If it sticks to the magnet it is not solid gold. It is a quick way to weed out gold plated and costume jewelry.

I was gonna say the same thing!

 

[megthewonderful]

I sent something to Goldfellow that turned out not to be gold and I did get it back with my check in the mail. But, if it is something in anyway sentimental and you are not sure if it is gold, then I wouldn't send it.

 

[mrudman]

None of these items are sentimental, other than possibly the watch, but if its real gold, then it'd be worth it to me to sell it.

All the others I have no idea where they came from, or I don't remember them ever being worn...

Thanks for the tip on the magnet.. I'll try that on these.... also what is the acid test? Is that something that can be done at home, or is that only done in jewelry stores?

Thanks for all the help!
Michelle

 

[mrudman]

Ok, I took a magnet to everything, lol.... and looks like about 1/2 the jewelry might be the real deal.

Put everything that did not stick into a plastic baggie, and on our postal scale it weighs just about 3 1/2 ounces... but this is including the sapphire in the ring, the stones in couple pairs of earrings, and the watch hardware, etc.

So thinking maybe at least 2 ounces of gold without all that stuff....

When you look up the price of gold, what is it that they're quoting you?
For example, today monex.com says $908.00.. is that per pound?

Thanks!
Michelle