Cynthia the heirloom jewelry passed down from grandmother sounds wonderful! This is what we love about our antique jewelry.
Apart from the sentimental store of value which is priceless and the antique store of value which is another store of value, gold and silver jewelry are ASSETS without counterparty risk. True, the value of gold and silver fluctuates with metals prices and liquidity. But your payment does not depend on someone else's credit quality. Your payment is in your pocket.
Some people may be still be offended and remind you we are not talking about gold bullion, but art, however, the price paid varied in proportion to the gold content and the price of gold grandmother paid and so will the price you buy and sell gold or silver jewelry today, therefore you should know as much about investing in gold as you can, especially in view of the fiscal collapse.
The jewelry could be from many genres, possibly fine antique jewelry, handmade jewelry, designer costume, costume which is collectible. The point is, it is difficult to tell which direction to research the jewelry marks without a photo as there are hundreds of arrow marks on jewelry.
What direction is the arrow pointing, has the arrow got feathers or not, is the arrow in a shield etc. ? A photo is worth a thousand words...
About the large stone you mention, the stone of course, should be tested to determine if it is diamond. Your local jeweler can test the stone.
There are a couple of ways to test for diamond at home without buying expensive diamond testing equipment. However these tests are not conclusive.
1. Breath on the stone and if it causes it to "fog" this means that the stone is probably NOT a diamond.
2. Draw a line with a pen, on a piece of white paper. Place the stone, table side down (top) on the line. If the stone is a diamond the line will not be visible.
The metal should be tested to determine metal content. The metal could be gold, gold plate, gold filled, rolled gold plate. It might even be PLATINUM, which is more expensive than gold and heavier. Platinum is a beautiful, white colored metal with a greyish caste.
Thank you for writing into us...
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