How Do I Know?

How do I know if the items I find are actually antiques? Learn the general factors that make it obvious an item is from another time.

1.       Condition: does it look old?

The condition of an item when I first find it is a reasonable indicator of its age, but not a perfect one. The level of tarnishing on the metal – or even patina on extremely old pieces – as well as the level of scratching on the metal shows that a piece has clearly been worn. However whether this is because it is old, or if it has just had a hard life, is sometimes difficult to say. Rings or earring posts can be bent out of shape, claws can be damaged, and stones can be chipped; every piece has a story, and its condition is a decent indicator of how much it has gone through in its time.

2.       Handmade, or too perfect?

Modern jewellery fabrication methods, especially for mass-produced retail jewellery, focus on perfection and uniformity – every piece must look exactly the same. As such, processes such as filigree and difficult stone settings, which in the past have been done completely by hand, are completed with technological assistance. A sign that jewellery is old, is if those small details like filigree are not perfect. Of course, there are still jewellers that make their pieces by hand, but these technological advances still exist for them, allowing a more ‘perfect’ finished product.

3.       Stones: Natural vs. created, fashionable?

The stones in antique or vintage jewellery are a great indicator of its age. Through time, certain stones have gone in and out of fashion. For example, garnets are no longer a particularly popular stone in today’s retail jewellery stores, but this wasn’t always the case. Seed pearls reached the peak of their popularity in the Victorian era, but they’re almost non-existent in popular jewellery today. Also, lab-created stones - or at least the crystal clear version of them we know today - only became widely used in the late 20th century, so jewellery before that typically contained natural stones, characterised by inclusions and imperfections.

4.       Design eras – styles through time

Much like fashion, the popular styles of jewellery have changed through time. Many people will recognise art-deco style jewellery from the early 1900s by its bold geometric patterns, filigree and colourful stones, while motifs such as buckles and vines set with jet and seed pearls is indicative of the Victorian period. Knowing what was popular and when is a great indicator of a piece’s age.

5.       Hallmarks

It is not uncommon for antique jewellery to have multiple stamps, or hallmarks, on it that point to the object’s provenance. In Australia, it is less likely for older pieces to have multiple stamps; simply the purity mark, determining the carat of the metal. Antique pieces from Europe however, will have the purity mark, a date stamp, a manufacturer’s mark (usually an initial of the company) and a town mark – for example gold jewellery made in Birmingham is stamped with an anchor. The presence of these hallmarks (or lack thereof) is a good way of determining a piece’s age.

6.       Metal types

Finally, other types of metal, rather than the common yellow gold, have been prevalent throughout history. Namely, platinum jewellery is no longer common, so jewellery hallmarked with PLAT is likely old and rather valuable, due to the metal’s rarity. Sterling silver has had periods of extreme popularity, being more so than gold, with it being the preferred metal for setting precious stones in contrast to modern popular jewellery.

A combination of all of these factors goes into evaluating whether or not a piece is a genuine antique, or worthy of the title ‘vintage’.