#antiqueing

antique bracelet i just got!! unfortunately it was a little pricey but i couldn't find anything like it online so worth it, plus silver has gone up in price so makes sense anyway

the chain is jingleyyy uafjsgjdkdgxj

A somewhat distressing amount of uranium glass

An extremely distressing tricycle

A deer skull that I badly wanted but could not afford

Someone was apparently proud enough of bagging a two-point buck that they turned it into a trophy

Wexter

MOSOSAUR JAWS

And finally

Mine

Prehistoric wormy guys

And

Bunny

Inside of which is

Smaller bunny

I do! Not much, because it’s not my specialty, but definitely some.

1. The seller. When in doubt, look at their other listings. Do any seem obviously fake or too good to be true? Do they seem to have a weird number of extremely rare things for a random eBay seller? Google the username. Do any “buyer beware” warnings come up? (That last one saved me from getting scammed on fake Victorian earrings.)

Weirdly, a lot of fake antique jewelry comes out of eastern Europe. That’s not to say never buy anything from there; they do also have legit antiques dealers. But if you’re seeing other red flags already, that can be a factor.

2. Marks, materials, and findings. Many types of antique jewelry- especially earrings and brooches -can be dated by findings (hardware). Certain styles of earring wires or brooch catches were introduced at specific times- you usually wouldn’t see a Georgian brooch with a modern safety catch and short pin, for example. Some things have been around a LONG time, like French wires for earrings, and thus are less useful. And of course, hardware can break years later and get replaced. But sometime findings provide useful clues. There are plenty of helpful finding timelines around the Internet.

Ditto marks and materials. Were the materials in question popularly used during that period? If synthetic or otherwise man-made, did they even exist? If a maker’s mark is present or visible in the pictures- which sadly isn’t always the case -look it up. Does it correspond to that era?

(Fun fact: I once found the exact address of a shop in Providence, RI that sold an 1878 bracelet I have, from a patent the mark led me to. It’s long defunct, but still!)

3. Revivals. Look into periods when the style of the era was revived. Does the jewelry look more like a revival piece, or the real deal? Some very good reproductions are out there (most not initially made to deceive), so this isn’t foolproof. But I’ve found that, with a few exceptions, 1970s Victorian revival jewelry has marked differences from actual Victorian jewelry. To cite just one example.

4. Train your eye. Finally, do your research. Look at as many pieces from your target era and jewelry “genre” as you can, online or in person if possible. Once you know what the true antiques look like, you’ll be able to spot small differences more easily.