Patience, With a Side of Envy

To find the needle in the haystack, sometimes you just need a big butt, lots of sitting, and even more patience.

Today is about white metals, which might be silver, platinum, white gold, palladium, or just steel, aluminum, titanium, or (horrors!) "pot" metal, which is a mixture of tin, zinc, and/or whatever is lying around the factory that day.  It's not always easy to tell what you're holding - platinum and palladium are very similar to each other (and the buffs and scratches don't ease out with wearing), and white gold looks exactly like silver with a bit of tarnish on it (unless they're both rhodium plated, in which case they're interchangeable).  Quality of work will help distinguish them much of the time, as will a magnet (at least in finding stainless steel) but mostly we rely on marks.

That's not always a good thing.  Though spurious white gold marks are not nearly as numerous as their yellow counterparts, I've run into two - one on a pair of shell earrings from a post in 2009, and one ... well, we shall see.

Let's get to it.

Which one's gold, which is silver, and which is something else?  Difficult, isn't it?  Two have tool marks inside, two are a bit yellowy, all look pretty much the same.  Will turning them over help?

Maybe, maybe not.  Even looking closely with my loupe, I saw only one mark (on the middle one - go ahead and look), but I "knew" it was sterling anyway (by the westernness of the design and the antiquing).  Why the quote marks?  Because I have seen at least one pair of white gold earrings with this type of design and antiquing.

The ring on the left I really thought was unmarked white gold, but it tested low (though not as low as silver usually does).  Non-magnetic, too.  One day I'll find out how palladium tests so I can compare it.  That leaves the ring on the right.  Yep, white gold.  And it is marked - the first picture shows the hammered look to it, and if you look closely you will see some divets are smaller than others.  A full rear look, and some long-distance viewing (not up close) will allow you to see the Dremel-tool-like writing inside.  It's a man's ring, and I think it's wedding band ... mostly because I also have the two female counterparts of the wedding set (sans diamond, alas, since the empty prongs say it was probably about 2 carats).

By the way, I bought them in a thrift shop, and the only reason I even looked into the box in which they resided was that someone else asked to see one of the other rings, causing DragonBunny to rear her ugly head and crane her neck to see what had caught the woman's interest.  The lady put the scruffy, tin ring she'd looked at back, but, as is my habit, I looked at every single one in the box, through my magnifying glass.  Nothing.  But as I reached out to put this one back I saw the "14K" resolve itself in the dots like some insano Magic Eye poster.  My breath caught.  Nah, I thought, but for the price I was willing to take a chance.  In the sunlight on my way to my tutorials, I could see the yellow glow of the ring - white gold is still gold, just alloyed with white metals instead of heavy on the copper - and also the rest of the signature, "by Jurus" (a Baltimore jewelry designer who's been around since the 60's - thanks to a stoplight and my smart phone).  Once home, I tested it, almost swallowed my tongue, and then raced back the next day for the other two pieces.

Really.

Okay, what about an easier one?

Two, two, two tests for one!  Both are fairly traditional designs for either silver or white gold.  And the picture on the right even has some tarnish to help you along.

Okay, so you spotted it - left to right (both pictures) sterling, gold, gold, sterling.  Yet in both cases, the person who priced this jewelry priced them as silver or even as white metal.  And yes, both are clearly marked.  Seriously, I look at everything.

Okay, one more.

So, both are marked.  Which one's silver, and which one's white gold?

If you guessed that, in order, you're half right.  The first one is, indeed, sterling, but the second is only marked "14K."  Funny thing is, almost every metal on the planet but gold will give me a rash if I wear it on a hot day.  This one didn't.  And it's really, really silky feeling.  And it laid just right.  I've no idea what it's actually made of, but I'd like to find more of it.

So, what's the upshot?  Simple:  white gold is often mistaken for sterling, either because the sorters assume or they just get in a hurry (they're not lazy, trust me) and miss the mark.  That means look at everything.  It's time consuming and needle-in-a-haystack slow, because there's just not as much of the white stuff compared to its yellow bretheran, but there are some awesome deals to be had.

Oh, and don't skip the Cheetos-orange stuff in your studies, either - remember that 22ct pendant!

One last thing.  I've been talking about doing a storage container auction for quite some time.  Since shows like Storage Wars and Auction Hunters have created a feeding frenzy among the normals, I will probably wait for the furor to die down a bit before actually doing it, but check out the "Cash It ... " blog link down and left.  Dave did it and blogged about his finds.  (One reason I won't jump right in.)

I love this life.  Happy Hunting!!

Needles, the Third

So, I had a run of ten days, ten glorious days in which I found something precious at almost every, single place I stopped my car.  Now it's been four days of nothing, a great sucking hole without even a decent piece of Taxco silver.  I was psyched last week - exhausted, but psyched.  And I decided I had to stop the group photos, if only because it looked so much like bragging.

Okay, maybe it was a tiny bit of crowing ... a soupcon of whooping ... a smidge of nanny-nanny-boo-boo ... But after my bout with Lutheran/Catholic hybrid guilt (which, like mirrors and candles, just magnifies it) I decided to spend the next few weeks doing the teaching thing exclusively.  Until I have another amazing week and cave to my baser, more gloaty id.

This week is about pins.

One of these things is not like the others.  Actually, each of these things is unlike the others (one has cultered pearls, one is single, one is hearts - ha!  I have eyes, too!) but my question is more about what it's made of.  Hard to tell, for the most part.  Okay, the single circle has really (really) deep grooves and it looks an awful lot like the circle pins I see at least twice a day, every day, everywhere I go.  But the others aren't too far off the pattern, right?  Right.  Plus, not one has a mark that's visible to the naked eye (or even one covered with a loupe, as mine was ... it's very well-hidden).

Tell you what - rank them.  What're they worth, least to most?  (No peeking!)  Got it?  Scroll down.

Ha!  That didn't help did it?  Not much, anyway.  Two of them have the telltale mark of my electronic gold tester.  However, only one passed.

Yep, the hearts.

Funny story about that one - it was in a basket in my favorite charity shop, nestled amongst pins very much like the other two for weeks and weeks, with a $3 (or $4?) price tag on it.  I must've picked it up a dozen times, and put it back, too.  Until one day, when they were in the process of moving and so discounting everything 25%, I picked it up and saw something on the back of one of the hearts.  Like the face of Jesus in a piece of wheat toast, I saw something that looked an awful lot like "14K" - blurry but it didn't scratch off with a fingernail.  And (I sneaked) it bent easily.  I decided I could handle $2.25 (or $3?), blessedly forgetting I'd picked it up and looked so often already.

When I went to meet the Lug for dinner, the "mark" flecked off.  I almost cried.  So while I waited in my car, I shrugged and folded it almost in half.  Then I looked for the inevitable cracked bits of plating.

Nothing.

Long story short(-er) I found the mark, hidden and faint under the pin clasp (really under it), but there.  I tested it, to make sure, but it was another of those "woot-woot!" days.

Don't pass something by just because you've seen it a million times.  Touch it.  Heft it.  Don't bend it unless you buy it - I did find out last weekend that plated stuff cracks really easily ... and visibly - but if you have an ice cube, it should test it just as well.

What?  You don't know that trick?  Gold is superconductive, so it gives up its heat faster than any other jewelry metal.  A piece of ice starts to melt almost immediately on a gold surface.  Make sure you're not holding it, though.  Or it's not summer.

Okay, so it's a great trick to use in winter.  Or in really, really strong air conditioning.  But it's still a great trick!

Next time, it's all about my favorite mismarked stuff - yep, the silvery stuff.

Nanny, nanny, boo-boo!

The Tiny Part

I bought a new car on Friday, and the Big Lug and I decided to take a long drive on Sunday, just to - you know - try it out.  Not only is the car the best of the 6 I had it narrowed to but the hunting wasn't bad either.  In fact, I've been on a tear; since last Thursday, there wasn't a yard sale or thrift shop or consignment store I hit that didn't have a good (at least) piece of gold or silver.  Until about an hour ago, anyway, which is why I'm not going to get pictures up this week - I'm exhausted.  I think I'm actually shopped out!

So the story today, is different.  On our ride last Friday, we stopped at a Goodwill we like about an hour and a half away.  As I was digging through a little bin (finding a couple of grams of 14K!) a lady came up with several CD cases.  The clerk asked if she'd checked to make sure they were there.  She hadn't, and when she did she found only two in their boxes.  When the Lug came up with his CDs (and checked them - all there since his taste isn't as current) I handed him my finds, we paid, and left.  I was steaming.

"You have to be pretty desperate, or pretty rotten, to steal from a charity shop," I growled.

About ten miles, later I heard what I said.  After all, I'd seen at least one of the earrings' marks before I paid.  Wasn't I doing the same thing?

Hey, relax, I'll spare you the wrestling match I had with my conscience.  Truth is, I rarely see the marks before I buy, unless it's over a certain price, in which case I'm guessing on the weight or the veracity of the mark or ... okay, I'll spare you most of the wrestling.  What came out of it was simple, though:  I haven't been stealing, I decided, but I have been uncharistically squirrelly.

Not that kind of squirrelly, the kind that stockpiles all kinds of crap, and not only nuts (shut up!).  I remembered it's not theft but thanks that keep things moving.  I've been forgetting to contribute to the flow instead of dam it up.

I took a box to one place yesterday - including gold studs, nice purses, and jeans still in the package (hey, you want good stuff, you plant good stuff!).  And I'm putting an empty box into my new trunk to fill gradually, and empty frequently (having someone else carry it in, of course, since I'm still in physical therapy for my back).  Like corn, I will cultivate, harvest, then return some to the earth to keep the crop growing year after year after year (even with the mixed metaphors).

I meant to post yesterday. I really did.  But I was chasing something, the last big (maybe) thing ... that turned out to be amazing ... a real OMG thing ... which you will see next week ...

Good to have you back, Twinscapes!

The Weekend

It wasn't a bad weekend - no rain, plenty of places to go (including our 1st Saturday sale).  I have some great finds, including a gold watch with four diamonds (that needs work but was $15) and a pair of screwbacks that had a hidden 14K mark (which I saw so didn't argue about the $5 price), but most of what I found was practical or mistake.  And since I have to spend the day continuing a new-car search that I began online, I just don't have time to take pictures and post for something that was primarily coats, purses, and linens.  Even this is taking brain cells I need in order to get out of here soon.

Now get out and hunt!

And since I look at car hunting with the enthusiasm I reserve for root canals and foot surgery, think of me often ... and laugh.

Needles, Part 2

I love watches.  At first, I bought anything mechanical that appealed to me, for their "archetectural" beauty (I have one from the late 20's, very deco) or for their bling value (more than one plated watch has real diamonds in it) or both (the deco).  Then one day I found a gold watch in a thrift shop for $10, and I was hooked (mostly because I was through breaking out in a rash every summer from the base metal reaction ... okay, the gold, too).

One thing I didn't know until last year is that not every watch is marked on the outside.  I mean, I knew really old ones weren't always (found one in an antique mall) but things that looked contemporary, too?  I honestly thought everyone had to mark on the outside, that it was the law, or something.

Nope.  Take a look:

All of these are gold.  Not one is marked on the outside.  And not one was more than $20.  Hey, if it's not marked outside, it can't be gold, right?  With those crappy bands?  Where else would you mark a watch?

How about inside?  They are, in fact, marked, maker on the dial and carat inside the back cover.  Left to right, I bought a 14K Hamilton, 18K Omega, and two 14K Omegas, the last of which is (according to my watch guy) quite rare, if only because it has a green crystal and moveable lugs.

Not all Omega watches are marked only on the inside, and not all unmarked Omega watches are gold.  I carry a cheap-pen top (you know the kind, blue or black, non-click) to pry open the case without scratching or even gouging the gold (as was done with the 18K before I even got it).  If the cases won't open, don't push it, just buy it if it's cheap (surprisingly you can sell the parts for a few bucks on eBay) and take your chances.  That's what I did with the last beauty (there wasn't even a crown on the winder) and I didn't regret it.  In fact, she's my favorite these days.

I saw well over a thousand watches last year.  I found three gold that weren't priced as gold.  The way I see it, needles are kind of fun no matter how big the haystack.

It all depends on the needle, yes?