Used Jewelry Is a Much Better Deal Retail jewelry stores are dime a dozen these days. They entice you with advertisements with sparkly diamonds and shop windows peppered with gems of all colors, it can be hard to resist the lure of a brand new piece of jewelry. In fact, the idea of buying used jewelry is often overlooked in today’s society. It is much more alluring to buy used once you consider the facts. Some people only want to buy [...]

Visual Surface Inspection The first thing I do when a piece of jewelry comes in is, I look at it. You didn't expect that, did you? Right off the bat, you can eliminate most of the jewelry out there. If you see bubbling on the metal, or copper/brass wearing through, that would be signs of plating. If it seems normal, I look for a stamp that tells me what kind of metal it might be. A loupe is handy [...]