15+ Times People Couldn’t Tell Whether They Found Jewelry or a Piece of Junk

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?”

• Precious metals don’t tarnish like this and genuine jewelry never has gems, that are glued in, like this item. © Automatic-Sea-8597 / Reddit
  

2. “Found in my mom’s stuff. Never worn, the only tag is ’made in Thailand’.”

• Low grade ruby; I had a gold-plated heart pendant as a kid with those same stones. © nofreepizza / Reddit
  

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.”

• Can’t tell from the pics, but it looks like the stone could be a Gold Vein in Quartz. Pretty cool! © DoingbusinessPR / Reddit

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?”

• It’s a heliotrope. I was looking for one for ages. © Responsible-Fox-1061 / Reddit

6. “Found it in my grandma’s jewelry box. Cool or junk?”

• It’s an Albertina watch chain. They are hugely popular now. Looks like silver. © lidder444 / Reddit
  

7. “Vintage 10k gold ring I found dumpster diving tonight. It even fits me. I wonder what type of stone it is.”

• Synthetic ruby — very common back in the days 1940/50’s. © leformerchef / Reddit
  

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.”

• The stone looks like it has doubling and there is no fire, so probably not a diamond. © Any-Breadfruit9196 / Reddit
  

10. “Found this ring in an old jewelry box.”

• 10ct gold centurion signet in Onyx, a lovely ring. Worth a decent amount judging from the size. © Fluffy_Seaweed2413 / Reddit
  

11. “Found this watch on the side of the road, trying to figure out if it is gold?”

• It’s plated. © lilyofthevalley0407 / Reddit
  

12. “Does anyone know what kind of metal ring this is? Just says ‘14K’ on the inside. Looks more silvery in person.”

• Going by your description, it’s probably 14k white gold. © lidder444 / Reddit
  

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?”

• Sterling silver and huge amethyst, no doubt if it’s real. © WhoisHorizon / Reddit

15. “Found in storage auction, tested and it’s silver.”

• This is costume jewelry. © Thed3athoficarus / Reddit

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.”

• 14k should mean 14-karat gold. 3/4 TW should be 3/4 carat — 0.75 carat — total weight in diamonds. © Hangnail_puller / Reddit

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?”

• It is 100% platinum. © wellaintthissome / Reddit
  

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?