Garage Sale $10 jewelry lot

[insontis]

Today I hit a local garage sale about 30 minutes after its start time. Directed myself straight to the jewelry, as usual. Found a basket full of plastic bags that were $0.50 each. Each bag contained a few pieces of jewelry, but a lot seemed to be costume. Rather than nit pick and debate between each bag, I decided to put in a $10 offer despite there probably being less than 20 bags. After digging through the lot a few times since I've been home, I've been able to find about 40-50 grams of sterling.Some of which looks to be Native American-like with turquoise stones. There are also a bunch of interesting pieces that so far I have no reason to believe they are worth a lot. One such piece is a pewter? ring with a blue and red accent stones? See photo. It is unmarked and does not test as silver. Another piece is a ring marked 10K GTR. I acid tested the ring and it reacts strangely slow to the acid and not like genuine gold. The large silver ring with the large clear stone is counterfeit. The ring is stamped 925, but the ring is magnetic and it does not test as sterling.

Total weight of the sterling without the two large CZ earring pairs is over 40 grams. There are a bunch of other nicer costume pieces not pictured such as a 14K GF chain with flower pendant and more.












Any thoughts on unmarked sterling jewelry with turquoise? Is there anyway to identify it as Native American or not without hallmarks? The hallmark on the sterling/turquoise ring is pictured. And what of the "pewter" ring.. does it seem like common costume jewelry?

 

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[Omega]

Pretty sure the turquoise rings are native american Navajo. I have a bunch. They're cool , and sell well.

 

[Joe777Cool]

Double check the turquoise stuff, specifically the bracelet. To me it looks Mexican and a ton of Mexican jewelry is cheap alpaca sold to tourists and not worth much at all. Could be wrong - but I have seen many that look just like it that aren't silver.

 

[Omega]

Joe probably knows more about it than I do, Let me know what you find out, I have ~10 rings that look just like yours.

 

[Beachkid23]

The bracelet is real, all of it looks to be. That alpaca stuff never tarnishes and the bracelets that I have seen all are hinged with the shinny mother of pearl in it. But I can't give you a price. Maybe $55 bin or best offer? The 10k ring is nice too!

 

[vpnavy]

Nice buys. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Omega]

I really like that turquoise and coral ring. What size is it?

 

[2Minnesota]

Nice finds! The bracelet looks genuine to me. Alpaca stuff will tarnish but is very hard to shine after tarnishing and is made to appear silver.

 

[insontis]

Nice finds! The bracelet looks genuine to me. Alpaca stuff will tarnish but is very hard to shine after tarnishing and is made to appear silver.

The rings and bracelet tested Sterling with acid. The 10k ring dissolves a bit after a minute.. haven't seen that before and the metal itself looks strange. Going to get it electronically tested later.

 

[insontis]

I really like that turquoise and coral ring. What size is it?

Ill check when I get back to the house. Its fairly small, though. A little too tight for even my pinky. Not sure what it's made of and I don't believe its hallmarked.

 

[insontis]

The bracelet is real, all of it looks to be. That alpaca stuff never tarnishes and the bracelets that I have seen all are hinged with the shinny mother of pearl in it. But I can't give you a price. Maybe $55 bin or best offer? The 10k ring is nice too!

That much for just the bracelet? Nice! My favorite is the turquoise Sterling ring. The other turquoise ring I have is in bad condition, but in unsure what the metal is. Looks like a dull brass color. Not hallmarked.

 

[mugsisme]

Is the 10K ring real? I didn't know what GTR stood for. I googled it. I came up with JM Fox, whoever that is. Looks like some nice stuff. That ring looks like some of the stuff I've seen in some of the books on costume jewelry I've picked up. Good luck in selling them!

 

[insontis]

Is the 10K ring real? I didn't know what GTR stood for. I googled it. I came up with JM Fox, whoever that is. Looks like some nice stuff. That ring looks like some of the stuff I've seen in some of the books on costume jewelry I've picked up. Good luck in selling them!

The ring doesn't quite look like gold, doesn't quite feel heavy enough to be gold, and doesn't quite test right. I'm chalking it up to fake, but will be having it tested in about 30 minutes to be sure. I did trace gtr to that name.. and I think some other no longer existent jewelry something in Canada. If I'm lucky, its a lightweight designed ring that is just dirty or covered in something. I will be surprised if it is real, though.

I'm also bringing two other pieces with me that need testing and they are worth more in gold weight should they be genuine. One is a pair of hollow gold earrings that are marked 14k, but there appeared to be tarnish (that wiped off) emerging from a tiny hole in the earrings. The other is a box chain that is stamped "k14". Yes, in that order. Cleaned up great, shines excellently and looks like real gold, but that stamp...

We will see!

 

[insontis]

Just got back. Went to pawn shop with electronic tester. So here are the results:

The ring weighs 2.7 grams. The electronic tester states it is 10K gold. $47.85 in scrap.
The chain that was marked K14 weighs 2.6 grams. The electronic tester state it is 14K gold.$64.49 in scrap.
The earrings were uncertain. They are marked and he was unsure due to the electronic tester results. He couldn't place the electronic tester on the earrings easily due to their design. I'm not sure if a combination of that and the fact that they are hollow are the reason why his results were "uncertain". I'm going to scratch test them.

edit: scratch tested 14K. Didn't file them because I don't want to ruin the earrings. Uncertain electronic test + 14K stamped + 14K acid test passed = pretty concrete to me.

 

[mugsisme]

The other is a box chain that is stamped "k14". Yes, in that order. Cleaned up great, shines excellently and looks like real gold, but that stamp...

We will see!

YAY! Way to go!

I once passed on a pair of earrings marked K18. (I was spending over $100 in that store, and didn't want to blow $8 if they were garbage.) Anyhoo, my friend shows me the earrings ... they were real. lesson learned. K18, K14, who cares what order as long as it is real, right?

Congrats!