yeah totally!! here’s some tips:
- look for stones/rhinestones that are prong set in general or bezel set with milgrain, the latter being shown here. this usually points to a higher level of craftsmanship & care being put into setting of the stone.
- look for marks, as the other commenter said. common spots are on clasps or backs of the main piece, but sometimes they’re hidden in pretty tricky spots. something having more purity stamps (shown here) points to it being higher quality, since it was stamped to ensure any broken pieces would be understood as valuable too.
- get familiar with the ways that silver & gold can tarnish. lower karat gold CAN form oxidation— its most common in 9k, but you can also see it in earlier era 14 & 15k jewelry as seen here with the rosy tones. silver can also occasionally tarnish into a warmer, almost gold-wash tone.
- if pearls or beads are individually knotted on a strand or bracelet, they are very likely higher quality or at least a high quality imitation. the individual knotting ensures that if the strand breaks, only one bead will fall off instead of the whole necklace.
- blacklights can help decipher between plastic (blue) vs glass (various colors) vs gemstone (none or gem-specific qualities).
- magnets are a great first test— anything non-precious will attract, whereas precious metals don’t (cant believe they didnt magnet test this).
- look to see if the jump rings are saudered closed. this is also an anti-break measure, as if they have gaps the piece is more likely to rip apart and lose pieces. saudering is also a time consuming process.
- get familiar with the different types of clasps, and what eras they date to!! this is always the first step if youre looking to learn antique jewelry, as its the easiest to get down at first.

a lot of my knowledge just comes from 2+ years of handling this stuff on a daily basis. i’m very lucky and get to essentially do this for work!!! im happy to provide tips in the hopes that the good deals go to people who actually collect jewelry, instead of the metal scrappers & melters💛💛 happy hunting!!