Latest News & Insights
Welcome to the Vintage Quest Blog, explore our latest insights and stories.
Looking Ahead to August at Vintage Quest
We're looking forward to an exciting August packed with roadshow events, new locations and plenty of opportunities to meet both familiar and new faces!
How to Tell if Your Jewellery is Gold or Silver...
A handy guide to help identify gold and silver jewellery, understand hallmarks, and learn why it's always worth taking a closer look at your items.
What Items Should I Bring to a Vintage Quest Event?
We are always happy to appraise items. Bring your jewellery along even if you're not sure whether it is gold or silver, you might be surprised.
Looking Ahead to August at Vintage Quest
August is packed with Roadshows, new adventures and plenty happening behind the scenes.
This month, the team will be travelling to Devon, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and, of course, our home county of Lincolnshire!
We are excited to bring our jewellery roadshow events to even more communities, giving more people the chance to discover hidden value in their unused items.
We are always happy to appraise items. Bring your jewellery along even if you're not sure whether it is gold or silver, you might be surprised.
Busy Behind the Scenes
While the team is out meeting customers across the country, there's plenty happening behind the scenes too. We are already hard at work planning and booking venues for the busy run-up to Christmas. Meanwhile, the jewellery purchased at our recent events is being carefully processed, repaired and prepared wherever possible to enter back into the circular economy.
We Look Forward to Seeing You in August!
How to Tell if Your Jewellery is Gold or Silver...And Why Your Old Jewellery Box Could Be Worth More Than You Think!
At Vintage Quest, we regularly speak to people who are surprised to discover that jewellery they've owned for decades is made from precious metals – and sometimes, that it's worth significantly more than they had thought.
Here's a handy guide to help identify gold and silver jewellery, understand hallmarks, and learn why it's always worth taking a closer look at your items.
Start by Looking for Hallmarks
The easiest way to identify whether your jewellery is gold or silver is by finding the hallmark.
A hallmark is a series of tiny stamps applied to precious metal items that tells us what they are. In the UK, hallmarking is legally required on qualifying gold, silver, platinum and palladium jewellery.
Hallmarks are often found:
- Inside rings
- On the clasp of necklaces and bracelets
- On the back of pendants
- On the pin of brooches
- On earrings (although they can be very small)
By identifying the assay office mark, you can discover where the jewellery was officially tested and hallmarked, while the date letter can often pinpoint the exact year it was certified. Combined with the maker's mark and the gold purity stamp, these small symbols can tell you lots about an item's origins.
No Hallmark Doesn't Always Mean It's Not Valuable
You may, therefore, assume that jewellery without a hallmark is not gold or silver, however this is not always the case.
There are several reasons why a genuine gold or silver item might not have one:
- It was made before hallmarking regulations applied.
- It was manufactured overseas.
- The hallmark has worn away over decades of use.
- The item is too small to legally require a hallmark.
- Repairs or resizing have removed part of the stamp.
This is exactly why, at Vintage Quest, we don't rely on hallmarks alone. At our Jewellery Roadshow events, we use a professional XRF Analyser to accurately determine the metal composition of an item, without causing any damage.
The XRF machine can identify the percentage of gold, silver and other metals present, helping us gain a much clearer understanding of what a piece is made from—even when a hallmark is missing, worn away or difficult to interpret.
Before You Throw Anything Away...
You might be sitting on hidden treasure!
Many Vintage Quest customers are pleasantly surprised to learn that jewellery they've had for years is worth more than expected.
It's easy to overlook jewellery that's tangled, broken or no longer suits your style, but appearances can be deceiving. With the price of gold having risen significantly in recent years, vintage pieces have increased substantially in value, even if they're damaged or worn out. Broken chains, single earrings and worn-out rings may still be worth far more than you expect simply because of their precious metal content.
At Vintage Quest, our experienced appraisal team assesses a wide range of jewellery every day. From gold chains and silver bracelets to gemstone rings and inherited collections, we help people understand exactly what they have and what it may be worth.
You never know— hidden treasure could be sitting in your jewellery box.
What Items Should I Bring to a Vintage Quest Event?
We buy everything Gold & Silver!
We are always happy to appraise items. Bring your jewellery along even if you're not sure whether it is gold or silver, you might be surprised.
Gold & Silver: Bangles - Brooches - Bracelets - Cameo - Diamond Rings - Lockets -Pearl Jewellery - Links of London - Pandora - Charm Bracelets -Blue John Jewellery - Amber Jewellery - All Gemstone Jewellery - T-bars - Ingots
Contact Us
Get in touch to discuss your jewellery selling options.
Telephone: 07564 242485
Email: enquiries@vintagequest.co.uk
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