Many of us have heard the saying “All that glitters is not gold.” This proverb is used for objects that are not what they seem. It can happen that a vintage necklace stored in a jewelry box with family heirlooms is only a piece of cheap jewelry, while a lackluster ring found during a walk can turn out to be a brilliant.
We at Bright Side found the photos of internet users who try to find out what they ended up having in their hands — a true gem or a piece of junk.
1. “Found this on a beach today. Any chance it’s real jewelry?”
2. “Found in my mom’s stuff. Never worn, the only tag is ’made in Thailand’.”
3. “Found this pretty cool ring that the jeweler got from an estate sale. It has a 14k-p stamp, making me think it’s from the ’80s.”
4. “Found in the dirt while removing my grass and weeds to make a vegetable garden. It looks really old? Is it an antique?”
- It’s a nice find, but not worth a crazy lot. It’s definitely gold vermeil electroplating over sterling silver. The stones are attractive and may or may not be genuine semiprecious stones. © marshview / Reddit
5. “Bought this at a flea market, anyone knows which kind of stone this is?”
6. “Found it in my grandma’s jewelry box. Cool or junk?”
7. “Vintage 10k gold ring I found dumpster diving tonight. It even fits me. I wonder what type of stone it is.”
8. “Found this in an estate sale.”
- This company was a costume jewelry company that existed from 1971-1979. Their jewelry is considered quite collectible. © Akieboy / Reddit
9. “Found this ring inside our toilet piping during renovations. It could have been in there for over 30 yrs.”
10. “Found this ring in an old jewelry box.”
11. “Found this watch on the side of the road, trying to figure out if it is gold?”
12. “Does anyone know what kind of metal ring this is? Just says ‘14K’ on the inside. Looks more silvery in person.”
13. “Parents found this ring while gardening about 10 years ago. Looks and feels cheap.”
- This is gorgeous. It’s handmade, most of it looks to be actual gold except for the wire in the middle which is bronze (where some of the green corroded bits are coming from). The glass is handmade as well, and I would not be at all surprised if this was Roman style. © two_constellations / Reddit
14. “We found this in a jewelry box of my great aunt. Before it’s tested, any idea what it is or if it’s real?”
15. “Found in storage auction, tested and it’s silver.”
16. “This was my great grandmother’s ring. It’s over 100 years old. Can anybody possibly tell me if the ruby is real?”
- My thought is synthetic ruby, purely because the side diamonds are in illusion settings to look larger than they are. A natural ruby of that size and quality would typically be set with larger diamonds. © EmphasisSoggy1797 / Reddit
17. “I found this in the dirt in the front yard of my Victorian house, 100+ year-old house. It has ’14k, 3/4 TW’ written in it.”
18. “I found this band 6-ish years ago and forgot I had it in my jewelry box. Can anyone tell me about this ring?”
19. “Just found this in the garden. Can anyone give me any info on it?”
- I hate to rain on your excitement, but it looks like cheap jewelry. The stones are certainly glass, and silver doesn’t pit like that even if it’s sitting in dirt. © printcastmetalworks / Reddit
Have you ever come across cool things, the value of which you were unable to identify?