Basic Tips to Buy Antique Jewellery

Buying antique jewellery can be one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences, as the range and variations of antique jewellery worldwide is quite simply limitless in its variety.

From a very simple and sweet sterling silver antique brooch from the late Victorian era of the 1890's that can be purchased for as little as a few hundred dollars, right through to a platinum Art Deco diamond ring for several hundred of thousand dollars, the price and styles of antique jewellery is so vast and wide, that people can literally search for years for that right piece.

A great place to look for antique jewellery is simply by searching the internet, where one will easily come across several thousand sites including on-line auction sites selling and dealing in antique jewellery.

This is a great way to educate yourself, not just on diamonds and other gemstones, but styles, eras, designs, methods and metals used in making the jewellery.

However nothing will beat actually beat going into an antique store and picking up and holding a piece of antique jewellery in your hand, knowing that you are quite literally holding a piece of history.

One of the first things to look out for when buying a piece of jewellery is the condition that it is in. Turn the piece over, whether it is a ring, brooch, necklace etc, and look for signs of wear such as the band wearing thin. This does not always mean a problem, as often the band can be repaired or even replaced.

Other signs to look out for is the use of lead solder. Commonly used to repair jewellery right up to the 1970's and sometimes even today, it can be easily seen as having a slight grey look to it.

Again this is not a major problem, but just check to make sure that it is still strong enough to be worn everyday.

Don't be too concerned with ring size, as nearly all antique rings can be re-sized to fit your finger. The care here however, is to find a jeweller that knows how to correctly re-size an antique ring.

Care should always be taken in retaining any hallmarks that the ring may have. Most countries hallmark the ring on the inside of the band. This does not just mean the carat of gold used, but in the case of rings made in the United Kingdom, the marks will not only have the carat of gold, but also the county and the year that it was made.

France and some other European countries would (and still do) stamp their ring on the outside of the band, so extra care must be taken that this is never removed when the ring is made larger or smaller.

This is of course only the tip of buying antique jewellery, as there is so much more to learn.