There are some standard ways in which you can tell if a piece of jewelry is of high value or worth chump change. Now unless you are a professional who evaluates valuables every day, you would not need that information. That is true except for the times, when you would need to assess the true value of your own jewelry. Most of us own a few pieces of old and unused jewelry that were either passed to you by our predecessors or just happen to come upon them at a store. Not thinking it through, we have scooped it up and now they are just lying in a corner of our jewelry box waiting to be either sold or given away. For those pieces, you need to know the right way to assess their worth so you can decide what you want to do with them.
If you are looking at some of these junk jewelry pieces that you hardly used and will surely never use, then look for these little things to tell what they are worth.
Hallmark: The first thing that tells if an ornament is worth anything at all is a hallmark. If it has one, you are in luck. Precious jewelry that are curved from standard quality gold are hallmarked for quality assurance. These metals never lose their value no matter how old or tatty the piece has become. They fetch their value in their weight. So, if you see this little markings at the back, bottom or inside of your jewelry, know that it is worth a substantive amount. To know specifically how much it may earn you, check for the values in the hallmark. For gold 22K is the most precious in jewelry. Other lesser varieties are 18, 14 and 10K. In platinum, its 950, Platinum and Plat, in order of pricing. For silver, its .925, sterling silver and 800.
Weight: The next thing you need to work out the value of your jewelry is its weight. It goes without saying that the higher the weight of a jewelry, the most its value is. However, the weight can go up with the use of gemstones.
Prongs: Speaking of gemstones, the last thing you need to find out is the condition of the prongs. You want to find out if the prongs have gotten weak or if they are still strong. Jewelers are hardly interested in buying pieces that have treacherous gem settings.
