6 things about vintage gold jewellery

When we look at a piece of antique vintage jewellery which is gold coloured, how do we know if it is real gold or not? 

There can be a huge difference in value between a piece of gold coloured metal and a piece of real gold. For example : we have two vintage rings both gold in colour but one is just gold coloured metal and the other is 22 carat gold and they both weigh about 4 grams. The  gold coloured metal ring is probably worthless – completely without value. The 22 carat gold one is worth at least the “scrap” value of the gold which is about £17 a gram as I write this giving out ring a value of at least £68.

vintage gold jewellery

Here are 6 pointers to help you decide if your piece of vintage jewellery is gold or just gold coloured.

1. Hallmarks. You will need a magnifying glass or loup to read these. Refer to my article on hallmarking or look up the marks in a hallmark book. If the piece has genuine gold hallmarks then there is no doubt that it is gold. You can use the hallmarks to determine which strength or carat of gold your jewellery is. By the way many marks you find on a piece of antique or jewellery are not real hallmarks – some have been put there to deceive or are simply the makers brand mark

2. Other marks : Does your piece of jewellery read  “rolled gold”? or how about Gold filled, Gold plated or gold front and back? None of these are solid gold but all of them have some gold content. They have a thin gold layer on top of a base metal beneath. Rolled gold and Gold front and back items are still quite collectible.

3. Colour. Do not worry if your gold coloured item has a pinky colour or looks warmer in tone than modern jewellery. It might still be gold. Rose Gold has a little copper in the mix which gives the lovely colour. This was popular at the beginning to the last century. The colour does not help us to determine if it is gold or not

4. Visual clues: take your magnifying loup and look at the edges of your piece of vintage jewellery, especially at the places where it will rub. Are there any signs of wear and you can see through to the metal below. If so, sorry its not gold. Is there any greenish patches? if so then again its not gold. Overall does the gold look faded or dirty in places? Give the piece a light clean. Gold should clean up nice and shiny, if not its unlikely to be a real piece of gold jewellery.

5. Testing for gold.  Testing an unmarked piece of vintage jewellery to see if it is gold is done with acid. you can get a jewellery to do this for you or buy a testing kit yourself. I personally would not recommend testing it yourself unless you wish to become an expert and spend many hours learning how the acid reacts with the gold and base metals. Also the acid is very dangerous and you have to use it with the utmost care and in the correct conditions as detailed on the kit you buy.

6. Yellow Metal.  Yellow Metal is a term you often see in an auctioneers catalogue to describe a gold coloured piece of vintage jewellery. But is it gold? Well the answer to that is maybe. The auction houses are bound by law to describe something accurately. Unless the piece is hallmarked they cannot call it gold unless they can prove that it is. Providing proof ( eg testing) is too difficult and expensive for the amount of jewellery they handle and so they simply call it ” yellow metal” which no one can dispute.