Short, sourced answers on telling real jewelry from fake.https://spotatreasure.com/https://spotatreasure.com/blog/ceramic-scratch-test-gold/https://spotatreasure.com/blog/ceramic-scratch-test-gold/Skip it. The streak on the tile is metal scraped off your piece, because unglazed porcelain is 6.5 to 7 on the hardness scale and gold is 2.5. A gold streak doesn't prove solid gold either, since a plated piece leaves gold until the plating wears through. A magnet, a scale with a glass of water, or an XRF reading tell you more and leave no mark.Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://spotatreasure.com/blog/does-real-gold-sink/https://spotatreasure.com/blog/does-real-gold-sink/Yes, and so does almost every fake. Brass is 8.4 times heavier than the same amount of water, so it drops to the bottom of the glass just like gold. The water test only tells you a piece is heavier than water. To catch brass, weigh the piece in and out of water on a jewelry scale. 14K yellow gold comes out near 13, and brass near 8.4.Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://spotatreasure.com/blog/date-jewelry-by-clasp/https://spotatreasure.com/blog/date-jewelry-by-clasp/A clasp gives you the earliest date a piece could be from, never the exact year. A plain C-shaped catch with a long pin and a tube hinge usually means Victorian or older. A safety catch that turns to lock came in the early 1900s. Screw-back earrings were patented in 1894. A lobster claw means the 1970s or later, or a replacement.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://spotatreasure.com/blog/does-925-mean-real-silver/https://spotatreasure.com/blog/does-925-mean-real-silver/Not always. 925 means the maker says the piece is sterling silver, 92.5% silver. But a stamping punch costs about ten dollars, and anyone can hit it onto brass. So take the stamp as a good sign, then look for a maker's mark next to it, compare the stamp's wear with the rest of the piece, check the spots that rub for a second color, and try a strong magnet.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://spotatreasure.com/blog/gold-filled-vs-gold-plated/https://spotatreasure.com/blog/gold-filled-vs-gold-plated/Go by the letters. 14K GF means gold-filled: a thin layer of real 14-karat gold bonded over brass, roughly five percent gold by weight on a good day. GP, GEP, HGE, and RGP mean plating, which is thinner still. Only a karat mark with nothing after it, like 14K or 585, claims solid gold.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT