We at Heritage Estate Jewelry have over a decade of professional experience in assessing jewelry, and during this time, we’ve been frequently asked about the distinctions between fine jewelry and costume jewelry. Many of our customers want to know what makes a piece fall into one category or the other, and we love sharing our knowledge and insights from our time in the consignment industry.
In this article, we will go over a few features that distinguish fine jewelry pieces from other types of jewelry.
• Precious Metals – The first determining factor in whether a piece qualifies as fine jewelry is its metal content. Costume jewelry is made of base metals, such as brass or nickel, and may be covered in a thin coating of precious metals, like silver or gold. In contrast, fine jewelry is made of genuine precious metals, such as gold, silver, or platinum.
• Gemstones – Another factor which sets fine jewelry apart from costume jewelry is its choice of gemstones. The stones used in costume jewelry are typically glass rhinestones, not true gems. If gemstones are used in costume jewelry, they are usually semi-precious stones such as agate or quartz. Fine jewelry, on the other hand, features true precious gems, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and opals. The key distinguishing factor between precious and semi-precious gems is their rarity; amethyst used to be considered a precious stone until large deposits of it were discovered in South America, flooding the market and reducing its rarity ranking.
• Design – A third key feature of precious jewelry is its design. Fine jewelry is hand-crafted, and greater care is put into its design. Many fine jewelry pieces are custom-made to suit the buyer’s wishes, meaning that no duplicates exist.