My parents have been visiting this week and that means we go shopping! My folks are avid antique collectors and mom has a special affinity for jewelry. And when I say jewelry I mean fine jewelry as opposed to costume pieces. What's the difference? Fine jewelry is made from precious metals usually gold, silver or platinum and has precious or semi precious stones, in other words - the real thing!
We found a few gold bracelets to add to each of our collections at very good prices. Antique and thrift stores are a great place to shop for jewelry but it helps to be informed. Gold pieces can have many different markings so here are some basic identifiers.
karat markings- usually 10 k, 14 k, or 18 k - Pure 24 karat gold is very soft so it gets mixed with other metals to strengthen it. The karat number represents how much of the gold is pure.
12 k g.f. - this means the piece is 12 karat gold filled. Gold filled is a thick sheet of gold wrapped around a wire and then formed into jewelry.
gold plate, gold washed or vermeil (pronounced ver-may) is a thin coat of gold applied often over sterling silver.
Can you tell the difference in this photo? The bottom bracelet is 12 k g.f. the next one is costume, the next 2 are 14 karat, the next one has opals set into gold plated sterling and the tiny one is 14k with little CZ's. All beautiful! I paid $4 for the costume piece by Sara Coventry and Mom paid only $40 for the opal bracelet.
One of the benefits of gold is it never loses it's luster or has to be polished. Of course, it can get dirty! Clean it with mild dish soap and a soft brush or cloth.
One of the benefits of gold is it never loses it's luster or has to be polished. Of course, it can get dirty! Clean it with mild dish soap and a soft brush or cloth.
Mom likes to mix and match her gold bracelets with sterling silver ones. Fun!
We also bought a few sterling bracelets. I'll share those next time!
I like to join these parties
Hi Karee--what beautiful bracelets you and your mom found :) Thanks so much for linking them up at Vintage Charm. We hope party with you again!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!
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