ALWAYS make sure when selling your jewelry and other precious metal items you are dealing with a Licensed Precious Metal Dealer. When contacting or visiting a potential buyer it is always a good idea to ask for their State of Texas Certificate of Registration with the Office of Consumer Credit. Any honest Gold and Silver Buyer will be more than happy to supply that information. When your items are being tested and weighed, it is also a very good idea to verify the weights on the scales. If they are unwilling to let you see the weight, then proceed with caution. Precious Metals dealers are obligated to register and have their scales inspected and verified by the Texas Department of Agriculture as well. Lone Star Gold and Silver Buyers in Amarillo,Texas value our integrity and honesty and will always be transparent, fair and honest with our customers.
Below are some tips regarding purchasing gold jewelry and things you need to look for to make sure you are buying genuine gold or silver jewelry. Lots of counterfeits and fakes are being sold these days. We want our customers to be as educated as possible!
When you buy gold jewelry, look for the karat quality mark. The karat mark should tell you how much pure gold is in the piece.
Pure gold or "Fine Gold"– 24 karat (24K) gold – is soft, so it’s often mixed with other metals to increase its hardness and durability. The total of pure gold and other metal adds up to 24, so:
Near the karat quality mark, you should see the name or the U.S. registered trademark of the company that will stand behind the mark. The trademark may be in the form of a name, a symbol, or initials. If you’re considering a piece of gold jewelry but don’t see a trademark along with the karat mark, don’t buy it. Please note that counterfeits may also have these markings. You can't just rely on the markings!
“Solid Gold” refers to any gold item where the inside of the item is not hollow. The karat mark still will denote the proportion of gold to other metal.
Gold Plated Jewelry can be plated with gold by mechanical plating, electroplating, and other processes. Eventually, gold plating wears away. How soon depends on how often the item is worn and how thick the plating is.
Vermeil, a special type of gold plated product, consists of a base of sterling silver that is coated or plated with gold.
Gold Flashed or Gold Washed: The terms “gold flashed” and “gold washed” describe products that have an extremely thin electroplating of gold (less than .175 microns). This will wear away faster than gold plate, gold filled, or gold electroplate.
Silver Jewelry: The words ”sterling silver” describe a product that contains 92.5% pure silver. Silver products sometimes may be marked 925, which means that 925 parts per thousand are pure silver. Generally speaking "Fine Silver" or "Pure Silver" usually only applies to Silver Bullion. In these cases it is customary to see ".999" or "Fine Silver. Very uncommon to have "Fine Silver" Jewelry, but it does exist. Just remember, even though a piece of jewelry is marked 925 or Sterling, it can still be a counterfeit!
Some jewelry described as ”silver plate” has a layer of silver applied to a base metal. EP, falls into this category and means "electro plated"
”Coin silver” is used for compounds that contain 90% pure silver.
According to the law, quality-marked silver also must bear the name or a U.S. registered trademark of the company or person that will stand behind the mark. Please keep in mind these are U.S. laws, and jewelry manufactured outside of the U.S. may not be subject to these laws.
In conclusion without a professional testing method it is quite easy to be a victim to fake or counterfeit jewelry. The counterfeiters are using Brass and polishing it to look and feel like gold. Your #1 Defense, is purchasing from LICENSED, WELL KNOWN sellers. And remember, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is!
Below are some tips regarding purchasing gold jewelry and things you need to look for to make sure you are buying genuine gold or silver jewelry. Lots of counterfeits and fakes are being sold these days. We want our customers to be as educated as possible!
When you buy gold jewelry, look for the karat quality mark. The karat mark should tell you how much pure gold is in the piece.
Pure gold or "Fine Gold"– 24 karat (24K) gold – is soft, so it’s often mixed with other metals to increase its hardness and durability. The total of pure gold and other metal adds up to 24, so:
- 18K gold is 18 parts gold mixed throughout with 6 parts other metal
- 14K gold is 14 parts gold mixed throughout with 10 parts other metal
Near the karat quality mark, you should see the name or the U.S. registered trademark of the company that will stand behind the mark. The trademark may be in the form of a name, a symbol, or initials. If you’re considering a piece of gold jewelry but don’t see a trademark along with the karat mark, don’t buy it. Please note that counterfeits may also have these markings. You can't just rely on the markings!
“Solid Gold” refers to any gold item where the inside of the item is not hollow. The karat mark still will denote the proportion of gold to other metal.
Gold Plated Jewelry can be plated with gold by mechanical plating, electroplating, and other processes. Eventually, gold plating wears away. How soon depends on how often the item is worn and how thick the plating is.
- ”Gold filled,” “gold overlay,” and “rolled gold plate (RGP)” describe jewelry that has a layer of at least 10 karat gold mechanically applied to a base metal. These items should be marked with the term or abbreviation and the karat quality of the gold used (for example, 14K gold overlay or 12K RGP).
- If the layer of gold is less than 1/20 of the weight of the metal in the entire item, any marking should state the fraction of karat gold (for example, 1/40 14K gold overlay).
- “Gold electroplate” describes jewelry that has a layer (at least .175 microns) of at least 10 karat gold applied on a base metal by an electrolytic process.
Vermeil, a special type of gold plated product, consists of a base of sterling silver that is coated or plated with gold.
Gold Flashed or Gold Washed: The terms “gold flashed” and “gold washed” describe products that have an extremely thin electroplating of gold (less than .175 microns). This will wear away faster than gold plate, gold filled, or gold electroplate.
Silver Jewelry: The words ”sterling silver” describe a product that contains 92.5% pure silver. Silver products sometimes may be marked 925, which means that 925 parts per thousand are pure silver. Generally speaking "Fine Silver" or "Pure Silver" usually only applies to Silver Bullion. In these cases it is customary to see ".999" or "Fine Silver. Very uncommon to have "Fine Silver" Jewelry, but it does exist. Just remember, even though a piece of jewelry is marked 925 or Sterling, it can still be a counterfeit!
Some jewelry described as ”silver plate” has a layer of silver applied to a base metal. EP, falls into this category and means "electro plated"
”Coin silver” is used for compounds that contain 90% pure silver.
According to the law, quality-marked silver also must bear the name or a U.S. registered trademark of the company or person that will stand behind the mark. Please keep in mind these are U.S. laws, and jewelry manufactured outside of the U.S. may not be subject to these laws.
In conclusion without a professional testing method it is quite easy to be a victim to fake or counterfeit jewelry. The counterfeiters are using Brass and polishing it to look and feel like gold. Your #1 Defense, is purchasing from LICENSED, WELL KNOWN sellers. And remember, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is!
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