Secure it first
Before anything is sorted, valued or shown to anyone, gather every piece of jewelry in the house into one box and put it somewhere only you can reach. Jewelry is small, valuable and portable, and it disappears from houses in the weeks after a death more often than families like to admit: to a helpful relative, a cleaner, a contractor, or a stranger who reads the obituary. Look beyond the jewelry box. Check coat pockets, the bathroom cabinet, dresser drawers, the sewing basket, old handbags, the safe, the freezer, and the small dishes on every nightstand and windowsill, because that is where a ring taken off to wash hands ends up.
Then make a list. A line per piece, a photograph of each, and a note of anything you already know about it. It takes an hour and it does three jobs: it lets you research pieces without handling them, it gives the family a record if anyone asks later what happened to a ring, and it is what you hand to an estate sale company or a jeweler so that what comes back matches what went out. Our guide to estate sale security covers the wider question of what to lock away.
Fine or costume: the first sort
Fine jewelry is made of precious metal, gold, platinum or silver, and often set with genuine stones. Costume jewelry is made of base metal, plated or not, with glass, plastic, crystal or imitation stones. The sort matters because the two go to different buyers by different routes, and because a fine piece treated as costume can be sold for a few dollars in a tray.
You can do most of this sort with a magnifying glass, a small magnet and a few minutes per piece:
- Look for marks. Inside ring bands, on clasps, on the back of pendants and brooches, on earring posts. Gold is usually marked 10K, 14K, 18K or with the European numbers 417, 585 or 750. Platinum reads PLAT, PT or 950. Silver reads 925, STERLING or, on older pieces, 800. A mark reading GF, GP, RGP, HGE or "1/20 12K" means gold-filled or plated over base metal, which is costume for pricing purposes, though older gold-filled pieces have some value.
- Use the magnet. Gold, platinum and silver are not magnetic. A piece the magnet pulls at is steel or iron underneath. A piece the magnet ignores is not necessarily precious, since brass and copper are not magnetic either, but a piece it grabs is not fine.
- Check the wear. Plating wears through at the edges and the high points, showing a different color beneath. Solid metal is the same color all the way through, including in a scratch.
- Weigh it in the hand. Gold and platinum are heavy for their size in a way base metal is not. Two rings the same size with very different weights are probably different metals.
- Look at the setting. Genuine stones are usually held by prongs or a bezel that a jeweler could open; glass stones in costume pieces are usually glued into cups. Fine settings are finished on the back as well as the front.
Unmarked is not the same as costume. Older pieces, handmade pieces and pieces made abroad are often unmarked and can be solid gold. If a piece passes the magnet, has real weight and shows no wear-through, put it in the "ask a jeweler" pile rather than the costume tray. Our guide to costume jewelry versus fine jewelry goes through the marks and tests in more detail.
Spotting gold and real stones
The tests above tell you what is probably gold. What they do not tell you is what the stones are, and a diamond ring is worth a great deal more than the same ring set with cubic zirconia. Some things you can observe yourself:
- Diamonds in older rings are often slightly imperfect, a little yellow or a little included, and are usually set in gold or platinum with a well-made mount. A large, perfectly clear, perfectly colorless stone in a thin or plated setting is more likely to be an imitation. Diamonds also scratch glass, but so do several imitations, so that test proves nothing.
- Pearls that are real feel slightly gritty when rubbed gently against a front tooth; imitation pearls feel smooth. Real pearls also vary slightly from one to the next along a strand.
- Colored stones are the hardest to judge by eye. A ruby, sapphire or emerald can be natural, synthetic (chemically real but grown in a lab, worth much less) or glass, and they can look identical. Do not guess.
None of this replaces a jeweler, and it does not need to. A jeweler with a tester can tell gold from plate and diamond from imitation in seconds, and most will look at a handful of pieces for a small fee or none. Take the "probably fine" pile to one, ask them to identify the metal and the stones, and ask what each piece would be worth as scrap and as a piece. Get that as a list you can keep. Then, if you like, take it to a second jeweler, because opinions and offers vary.
Do not clean, polish or test anything yourself
Acid test kits scratch and stain, ultrasonic cleaners loosen old stones, and polishing removes the finish that collectors of older pieces pay for. A jeweler tests without damage. Wipe with a soft cloth if you must, and leave the rest.
What costume jewelry is worth
Costume jewelry is not worthless, and in some houses it is worth more than the fine pieces. Signed pieces from the mid-twentieth-century makers have collectors who pay real money for good examples, especially complete sets, unusual designs, and pieces in the original box. Look on the back of a brooch or the clasp of a necklace for a maker's name stamped or on a small cartouche; a signed piece goes in its own pile.
Unsigned costume sells too, by the piece or by the tray, to dealers, to people who wear it, and to crafters who take it apart. It does best at an estate sale set out on a lit table or in a case, where buyers can pick through it, and companies that know the category sort it into signed pieces priced individually and a bulk tray. Broken pieces, single earrings and tangled chains go in a bag together and sell for a few dollars to somebody who will do the untangling. Almost nothing needs to be thrown away.
Where each kind of piece should go
The right route depends on what the piece is, and the wrong route costs real money in either direction: a fine piece in a costume tray, or a costume piece sent to an auction house that will not take it.
| What you have | Where it usually does best | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Broken, single or dated gold with no stones | A jeweler or refiner, sold by weight | An offer below the metal's market price; get two |
| Fine pieces with good stones, or in wearable condition | A jeweler, a specialist dealer, or an auction house | More than scrap; a fee or commission on the way |
| Signed or period pieces, fine or costume | An auction house or a specialist dealer, or an estate sale company that knows the category | Collector prices that scrap value ignores |
| Watches by a known maker | A watch specialist or auction | Often worth far more than the family expects, even not running |
| Unsigned costume, in good condition | The estate sale, in a case | Steady sales by the piece and the tray |
| Broken costume, odd earrings, tangles | The estate sale, bagged | A few dollars a bag to a crafter or reseller |
Prices in every row depend on condition, maker and local demand. The guide to estate sales versus auctions explains when a piece justifies the auction route, and how to find out if something is valuable covers researching a particular piece before you decide.
Selling gold by weight
Gold with no other value, broken chains, single earrings, a dated ring nobody will wear, sells for its metal. The arithmetic is simple: the weight of the piece, multiplied by its purity (14K is 14/24 gold, 18K is 18/24), multiplied by the day's gold price, gives the melt value. A buyer will offer some percentage of that, because refining costs money and they need a margin. What the percentage is varies enormously from one buyer to the next, which is why you get more than one offer.
Have each piece weighed in front of you, ask what purity they are pricing it at and what percentage of melt they are paying, and write the numbers down. A buyer who will not say is a buyer to walk away from. Local jewelers and coin dealers usually pay more than a temporary "we buy gold" table at a hotel, and mail-in services carry the risk of a low offer after the gold has already left your hands. Remember, too, that stones have to come out before melting; ask what happens to them and whether they are being paid for.
How estate sale companies handle jewelry
A good company treats jewelry as the category that needs the most care in the house. Expect it to be counted against your list at the start, kept in a locked case with a member of staff behind it throughout the sale, sold in the first hours of the first day when the serious buyers are there, and counted again at the end. Fine pieces are priced individually after research; costume is sorted into signed, priced and bulk. Companies that run a digital line or hand out numbers will usually put the jewelry case just inside the door, because it is what the first people through are there for.
Many companies will also tell you when a piece is worth more than a house sale can bring and offer to send it to an auction house or a jeweler they work with. That can be the right call, but ask three things: what the outside buyer's commission or fee is, whether the estate sale company's own commission also applies to that piece, and whether you may sell it yourself instead. The answers belong in the contract, and the contract checklist shows where.
A few questions separate companies that know jewelry from those that do not. How do you research and price fine pieces? Who staffs the case? What happens to gold that does not sell, and at what price? Can I see how you listed jewelry in a previous sale? A company that answers easily and specifically has done this many times. The guide to questions to ask an estate sale company has the rest.
Keep the list, and compare it at settlement
The settlement statement should show each fine piece that sold and for how much, and the unsold pieces should come back to you against your list. If a piece is missing from both, ask immediately, in writing.
Keeping pieces, and dividing them
Jewelry is also the category families fight over, because it is personal, portable and often promised to someone in conversation years ago. Before anything is sold, give every family member a chance to say what they would like to keep, and have the significant pieces valued so that a sibling who takes the ring and one who takes the cash are treated the same. Rules about who may distribute an estate's property vary by state and this is not legal advice; an executor should check with the estate's attorney before giving anything away. Our guides to dividing personal property among siblings and what to keep are written for exactly this moment.
What to do next
Gather every piece, list and photograph it, and sort it with a magnet and a loupe. Take the probably-fine pile to a jeweler for identification and a written opinion, get a second one for anything significant, and decide by the table above where each kind of piece should go. Then describe the estate once and local estate sale companies will reach out to you, free. Ask each one how it handles jewelry before you ask anything else, and read the guide to choosing an estate sale company for what comes after.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if jewelry is real gold?
Look for a mark inside the band or on the clasp reading 10K, 14K, 18K, 417, 585 or 750, check that a magnet does not pull at it, and look for wear-through to a different color at the edges, which means plating. Unmarked pieces can still be solid gold. A jeweler can confirm it in seconds with a tester, without damaging the piece, and that is the reliable answer.
Should I sell estate jewelry at the estate sale or to a jeweler?
Both, for different pieces. Broken or dated gold with no other value usually does best sold by weight to a jeweler or refiner after two offers. Fine pieces with good stones, signed pieces and watches by a known maker often do better with a specialist or at auction. Unsigned costume and wearable everyday pieces do well at the estate sale in a staffed case.
Is costume jewelry worth anything?
Yes. Signed mid-century costume pieces have collectors and can sell for real money, especially complete sets and pieces in the original box. Unsigned costume sells by the piece and the tray to dealers, wearers and crafters, and even broken pieces sell by the bag. Very little of it needs to be thrown away.
How do estate sale companies price jewelry?
Fine pieces are researched individually, using metal weight, stones and recent sold prices for comparable pieces, and priced to sell within the sale. Costume is sorted into signed pieces priced on their own and bulk trays. Ask the company how it researches, who staffs the case, and whether it sends significant pieces to auction and on what terms.
What happens to jewelry that does not sell at an estate sale?
It should come back to you, checked against the list you made at the start. Some contracts let the company buy unsold gold at an agreed price or send it to a refiner on your behalf; make sure the price and the arrangement are in writing before the sale, and that the settlement statement shows each fine piece.