How Not to Buy Vintage Collectible Jewelry, Including Gold and Sterling Silver

So you'd like to get started in collecting vintage jewelry, but you're not sure where to start? Beginning your collection by shopping at vintage stores, yard sales, and flea markets is an excellent way to get started collecting vintage jewelry. You'll get to see what's out there, and you'll soon discover your own personal jewelry style. But be warned: It's easy to pay way too much for collectible jewelry. Whether you see a beautiful vintage jewelry item that you just have to have or you're a magpie like me, easily attracted to anything shiny, it's much too easy to get suckered into paying big bucks for something that might turn out to be not so valuable. If you like to shop at flea markets, yard sales, and thrift stores to find unique and interesting jewelry items, keep these pointers in mind as you shop.

First, and this one's vitally important,if it seems to good to be true, walk away. Everyone's out to make a buck, even that cute little old lady selling her vintage jewelry at a yard sale, and if the price on something seems phenomenal, it's probably a scam. For instance, you're never going to find a real gold ring for 50 cents in a bargain bin. Sure, you might hear tales about that one person who got lucky, but I don't believe it. You might buy that $50 necklace in the old timey gift box just because the seller tells you that she wore it to the Kennedy's inaugurational ball, but if you take it home and check it out under a light, you might just find that it's a cheapy plastic necklace from a department store thrown into an old box. If you love it, buy it, but don't expect to find out that a discount ring is worth a fortune, because it's probably not.

Next, make sure you know your stuff. If you are just shopping for whatever's beautiful and catches your eye, check out the prices on jewelry in your local retail outlets before hitting up the discount emporiums. It's not unusual to pay more for a necklace at an antique shop just because it's vintage than for a similar piece at a department store sale. If you're hoping to buy something that you'll resell later at your own sale, it's, again, important to know the going rates. Before you go shopping for jewelry, give yourself a top dollar limit and stick to your guns. I usually give myself a $20 limit when I'm shopping for jewelry, (total spent, not per item!) and only once have I ever found something at such a stellar price that I needed to go over my limit.

Believe me, based on years of thrift shopping experience, it's not easy to find something at an affordable price that you can resell at a profit. Yes, it happens, if you have a good idea, but it's hit or miss, which more misses than hits in most cases. I usually break about even, and I'm kind of a pro, so don't go into this expecting to make a million bucks. Ain't gonna happen. It's better if you are buying jewelry because you love it, not because you're hoping to turn a profit.

Learn what's common and what's unique. This is harder to pinpoint except by getting out there and seeing what's available, but after a few shopping trips, you'll start to recognize common items (like Trifari white flower pins) and less common items (an Aurora Borealis necklace with no flaws or missing stones). You'll see what's always expensive (anything with rhinestones) and what's usually more affordable (anything gold-plated). You might see the same style necklace at every shop, but then after a few weeks come across something that's unlike any jewelry you've seen before. For me, collecting the unique pieces is what I'm all about, but you might enjoying have a large collection with a theme (like flowers perhaps).

Know the basics. You want to buy vintage jewelry, but if you don't know anything about vintage jewelry, it's going to be easy for you to get suckered. Research the maker's marks and find some companies that make jewelry that you like. Some common names that you'll come across are Sarah Coventry, Trifari, and Avon. Each company has different marks that indicate different time periods, so if you want to focus on 1950's jewelry, make sure you know what marks indicate that era. Not all jewelry is marked, but signed pieces usually fetch a higher resale amount.

Also, you'll need to know how to identify sterling silver and gold jewelry. Sterling silver in the U.S. is usually marked with 925; however, not all sterling silver is marked, especially that made my independent artists, so just because a piece isn't marked, don't rule it out. Two simple tests will help you determine if an item is silver: 1 - use a magnet against the item. If it's magnetic, it's not sterling silver. Most junk jewelry is magnetic. 2 - hold an unlit match against the jewelry item. Take another match, light it, then press it to the match on the jewelry. If it leaves a black mark that won't rub away, you've got real silver. If not, it's a fake. Worried that this will bring too much attention to you as you try to shop? Any reputable seller will allow you to verify silver content, and neither of these methods will damage the item. If the seller gives you a hard time about it, walk away and buy from someone else.

Identifying gold is trickier. Usually an item will be marked with 14K or 18K, indicating the karat of the gold. However, if an item says 18KP, you know that it's gold plated. If you are unsure, examine the quality of the workmanship. Gold is expensive, so someone working with gold will be well aware of this fact and take extra time to ensure a quality product. If it doesn't look like someone took a long time to create the work, it's probably not real gold. Still, there's no surefire method for you to try while you thrift store, so when in doubt, decide how much you like the item, whether or not it's gold. If you like it anyway and the price is right, buy it and take it to a reputable jewelry for appraisal. Chances are good that it's not real gold, but you never know, you might just be the lucky one.

Still determined to continue your quest to buy the most beautiful vintage jewelry out there? One final tip is to buy in bulk lots whenever possible, preferably from estate sales where the jewelry hasn't already been picked over by a dealer. You might, and probably will, end up with a lot of junk, but those few treasures mixed in may very well make it worth it. Today, I picked up a bulk lot of mixed jewelry for $30. The bag weighed about 5 lbs, and when I sorted it, I found a LOT of crappy stuff that will be impossible to sell for anything more than 25 cents an item, if I'm lucky, but within the lot I found a vintage owl pendant, which have been steadily popular for the last year and will likely sell between $5 - $10, a ring marked 18K which I will be taking to be appraised tomorrow morning, and a Trifari demi parure set just like this one: http://www.cooljools.com/IMAGES3/TrifariWhiteFlowersDiamondsSet.htm. The seller of this item has it marked for $455, but I'd be thrilled to make back my $30! Was it worth it? Heck yeah!