How can you be tricked in jewelry stores

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Cheating in jewelry stores is common. But if you are aware of the tricks used by sellers, you can choose a quality product at a reasonable price.

During the crisis, the demand for jewelry decreases, because they are not an essential item. In the hopes of attracting buyers, jewelry stores offer items for sale at very low prices. But miracles do not happen.

The price of raw gold over the past 10 years, even if it decreased for a certain period, still came out in plus. Therefore, all advertising promises about "rings for 999 rubles" are just gimmicks.

You can be misled about the true value of jewelry in several ways.

What tricks do shops go for

1. Cheap alloy instead of more valuable

The most common gold standard is 585th. This figure means that there are 585 grams of pure gold in one kilogram of the alloy from which the jewelry is made. There can also be found jewelry of the 750th test, they are more expensive.

In stores, you can find products that will also have other tests, for example 375 or 500. Such gold is less valuable, it has a lot of impurities. He has worse performance. It is not surprising that such jewelry is cheaper.

The problem is that stores often do not focus on differences in metal quality, and most buyers are sure that they are buying a 585th sample.

2. Samples not on all parts of the product

According to the law, if the decoration consists of several elements, the test must be on each one. Of course, if all these parts are made of precious metals. But nothing prevents the jeweler from combining small gold details and banal stainless steel in one product. Such decoration will cost less, and the demand for it will be higher.

If you see that there is only a sample on a part of the product, it is very similar to the desire to inflate its value in the eyes of buyers. You need to be especially careful with bracelets. Often, only a chain is made of precious metal, and beads and pendants are made of cheap alloys.

3. Discrepancy between the carat and the real composition of the alloy

Of course, big jewelry stores don't do such things. Rather, it is a gimmick used by market traders and small shops. For example, this situation is typical for Turkish gold, which is loved because of its low price.

Products not manufactured in Russia are on sale. On them are not the usual samples, but impressions according to the European standard, in carats. It is difficult for a buyer to find his way out of habit. Although a professional with the naked eye will see a discrepancy between the real quality of the alloy and the declared sample.

It comes to the ridiculous: the products indicate the highest fineness of 24 carats, which corresponds to 99% pure gold in the composition, but in fact, the jewelry shines treacherously in red, giving out the share of copper in the alloy ligature of at least 25%.

To make it easier for you to navigate, here is the ratio of the two metric systems:

• 24 carats - 999th fine;
• 23 carats - 958th fineness;
• 18 carats - 750th fineness;
• 14 carat - 585th fineness;
• 12 carats - 500th fine;
• 9 carats - 375th fineness.

4. Lightweight products under the guise of full-weight

Another common gimmick in jewelry stores is selling a lightweight piece as a full-fledged piece of jewelry. It may look like this. Let's say a gold pendant is taken, a large and heavy cubic zirconia is inserted into a precious metal frame - a semi-precious stone. The information on the product indicates the total weight of the stone and its metal frame, and this weight looks quite significant for a piece of jewelry.

In fact, very little metal is used in the product, and the bulk of the weight falls on synthetic stone. Variants are also possible when, to save metal, hollow ornaments are made or convex on only one side. At the same time, they look like full-weight products, and they are cheaper to produce.

5. Combination of precious and non-precious stones in one product

The most offensive trick. For example, you buy a diamond ring as indicated on the label. And there really are diamonds. In that placer of stones, which is strewn with your ring, there are as many as three diamonds: the smallest and most inconspicuous. The rest is cubic zirconia, much cheaper stones.

Synthetic stones can also be used instead of natural ones. We are not talking about plastic or glass imitations. Synthetic stones are grown in a special way that mimics the natural process of stone formation. At the end, the resulting product has a structure similar to the natural one, and can be even more saturated and beautiful in color.

Only a professional gemologist can distinguish an artificial stone. Reputable firms will definitely indicate on the label if the stone in the product is unnatural. Look for labels like "synthetic ruby" or "grown emerald".

How to choose a quality piece of jewelry

Fortunately, most of the tricks are easy to spot. It is enough to buy jewelry in large stores that care about their reputation, and read the product tag before rejoicing at a too low price. With due care, you will see a mention that not only diamonds, but also semi-precious stones are used in the ring, and the real weight of gold is small, and the fineness is not so flawless.

By filtering out low-quality jewelry, you will understand that the cost of truly valuable jewelry is not that low. Because good gold cannot be cheap.

The only sensible way to save money on jewelry is to buy used jewelry. But choose only those places where you will be provided with a certificate for decoration and will take responsibility for the compliance of all the declared characteristics with the real qualities of the product.