Silver is something that is often overlooked in thrift stores and flea markets. Shiny silver from well-known brands sells quickly, but you often find small, almost-black lumps at the bottom of bargain boxes. These unassuming little objects will usually come up beautifully once polished.
I can normally see and feel when something is silver (it can be hallmarked 925, 835, 830, 935, 960, or have a foreign stamp on it – for example, here are Egyptian hallmarks).
If the situation allows (you can’t do this everywhere obviously), I carry with me a magnet, polishing cloth, loupe, and scale.
- Non-precious metals are magnetic so if you run a magnet over gold or silver you can see if it is likely to be real or not. This is not foolproof because some metals, such as aluminium, and copper are not magnetic either. But it will remove the obvious fakes.
- I have a small jeweller’s loupe that I have had for years. This helps spot tiny or hidden hallmarks.
- You can also use a silver polishing cloth to polish a small corner of a tarnished item. Silver normally shines up rather nicely.
- I have a pocket scale that allows me to weigh items. I recently found a gorgeous 830 silver chain which weighed a whopping 161g. I had it shortened and sold the rest of the silver to pay for the alterations. Turns out the shop where I found it did not recognise UK hallmarks or know that 830 was real silver.
I have found that sales assistants in shops or market sellers are sometimes not very knowledgeable. Big brands often sell items that are gold-filled, rolled gold, silver/gold-plated brass. Salespeople can mistakenly tell you they are real silver or gold. For example, the brands Sophie by Sophie and Cornelia Webb sell both silver-plated brass and sterling silver pieces. It is not always easy to tell which is which unless you check with the website.
The stone moissanite can also be tricky because it tests as diamond on most diamond-testers. The sparkle is very different from a diamond, though. It is much flashier.