Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Fine Jewelry Identification: A Complete Guide
Fine jewelry identification comes down to two questions asked in order: what metal is this actually made of, and who made it — and getting the first question right matters more than almost anything else, since it’s the difference between jewelry with genuine intrinsic value…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Gold Jewelry Marks and Hallmarks: A Complete Guide
Reading the marks stamped into a piece of gold jewelry is the fastest, most reliable way to confirm genuine gold content, understand its purity, and distinguish solid gold from gold-filled or gold-plated pieces that only look similar at a glance. The Karat System American gold…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Sterling Silver Jewelry Marks: A Complete Guide
Sterling silver jewelry uses the same core purity standard and marks as sterling tableware, but jewelry brings its own maker’s mark conventions and a few jewelry-specific complications worth understanding separately. The Same 92.5% Standard Sterling silver jewelry is 92.5% pure silver, marked “STERLING” or “925”…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Platinum vs. White Gold: How to Tell Them Apart
Platinum and white gold look similar enough to the untrained eye that they’re genuinely easy to confuse, but they’re fundamentally different metals with different marks, different weight, and different long-term care requirements. What White Gold Actually Is White gold is actually gold — naturally yellow…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Gold Jewelry Fakes and Alterations: What to Watch For
A counterfeit karat stamp gets most of the attention in gold-buying warnings, but it’s not actually the most common way buyers get misled. Far more often, the stamp itself is completely genuine — it’s the description around it that’s wrong. A piece stamped GF, GP,…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Vintage Costume Jewelry Identification: A Complete Guide
Costume jewelry uses non-precious materials — base metals, glass rhinestones, early plastics, enamel — to imitate the look of fine jewelry at a fraction of the price, and identifying genuine, well-made vintage pieces comes down to construction quality, signatures, and materials rather than any metal…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Costume Jewelry Marks and Signatures: A Complete Guide
Whether a piece of costume jewelry is signed or unsigned is one of the single biggest factors in how easy it is to research and, often, how much it’s worth — an attributed piece from a recognized maker draws meaningfully more collector interest than an…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Most Valuable Vintage Costume Jewelry
Despite having no melt value at all, top-tier vintage costume jewelry can command genuinely serious money — understanding what makes these specific pieces exceptional helps calibrate expectations for everything else in a collection. Miriam Haskell’s Hand-Wired Construction Miriam Haskell pieces are prized specifically for their…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Costume Jewelry vs. Fine Jewelry: How Value Really Differs
The fundamental difference between costume and fine jewelry value isn’t just about materials — it’s about what actually sets the price floor, and understanding that difference changes how you should think about value in each category. Fine Jewelry Has a Value Floor Genuine gold, silver,…
Written by: Vintage Jewelry Editorial Team
Posted on: July 11, 2026
Trifari Jewelry: A Collector’s Guide
Trifari is one of the most recognized names in American costume jewelry, founded by Gustavo Trifari and later joined by Leo Krussman and Carl Fishel, and its reputation for genuine design sophistication set it apart from most of its mass-market competitors. The Crown Mark Trifari’s…