The internet is full of offers to buy vintage jewelry. But when is pre-owned jewelry really worth its weight in gold? When is a beautiful stone actually a diamond and not a synthetic zirconia? When buying vintage jewelry from PreJou, our experts take care of these questions for you. In addition to our staff's many years of experience, we have various technical devices that help us assess pre-owned fine jewelry, and we transparently compile all the important features in our product description.

We are happy to give you some helpful tips and pointers that can help you assess and categorize vintage jewelry. You can use the following features as a guide:

1. The price of pre-owned jewelry

Especially in the area of pre-owned jewelry, you always have a good tool at hand: the current market prices for the precious metal used and the weight specification. Let's take an example: you are looking at vintage jewelry made of 14-karat yellow gold on the internet. 14-karat yellow gold is also called 585 gold, which means that 58.5% of the jewelry piece is made of fine gold. Let's assume the retailer states in their product description that the jewelry piece weighs 8 grams, so now you know that this vintage jewelry consists of 4.68 grams of pure gold (58.5% of 8 grams). Now you can first check the current gold prices as a cross-reference and thus already know the pure material value of the fine jewelry you are interested in.

But what does that mean now? If the price the seller asks for the pre-owned jewelry is below the price you calculated, then unfortunately the offer is too good to be true. No one would sell vintage jewelry below its material value. On the contrary, you can expect that the price for pre-owned jewelry will also be considerably above the material value. After all, you are not buying a gold bar. The offered vintage jewelry was created through a lot of (hand) labor, and valuable gemstones or diamonds may have also been incorporated. Is the pre-owned jewelry even from a well-known brand such as, for example, Cartier or Tiffany? Then this also has a significant influence on the price.

2. The fineness stamps on pre-owned fine jewelry

If you do not find any stamps on the product photos with information about the alloy (e.g. 8,14, 18 or 22ct or 333, 585, 750 or 916) and no information is also provided in the product description? This could be an indication that it is not solid gold vintage jewelry at all, but is only "gold-plated" and consists of silver in the core, for example. By the way, a stamp with the number 800 or 925 indicates silver. At PreJou, all offered jewelry pieces have a fineness stamp.

 3. The quality of the photos and a detailed description of the pre-owned jewelry

Pay attention to the quality of the photos. If the vintage jewelry is shown from many perspectives and the fineness stamps and clasps are clearly and closely visible, this is a good sign. The seller is obviously making an effort to inform you as best as possible.

Does the seller not provide any information about what type of stone was used? This could be an indication that it consists of synthetic stones and not valuable diamonds, brilliants, or gemstones.

Are there no weight specifications? Then it is difficult for you to judge whether the vintage jewelry is solid or perhaps hollow or even filled.

On all these points, we recommend: Whenever you are missing details and information, ask the seller. In most cases, you will receive a serious answer and will know afterwards which materials were used and whether they justify the price.

But please note: You are interested in vintage jewelry. Especially when it comes to the assessment and description of stones, this is also a challenge for very experienced sellers and goldsmiths, because the stones are in a "set" condition. They are therefore incorporated into the pre-owned jewelry. The smaller a stone is, the more difficult it is to assess it in a set condition, because it does not receive as much light and cannot be examined from all sides. The information about the color and purity of stones can therefore, especially if they are small, differ from the assessment that the stone would receive in an unset condition.

 4. The clasps on pre-owned fine jewelry

Look at the clasps on the product photos more closely. The heavier the vintage jewelry is and the hgher the gold content and price are, the larger and more stable the clasps of the pre-owned jewelry must also be. It is also important that the loops are cleanly soldered and the carabiners close completely.

Quite often, you will even find an additional safety clasp on high-priced and heavy vintage jewelry. This is often a side clasp that is placed over a small pin, so that you would not lose the vintage jewelry should it accidentally open.