It is a sad fact that you realy do have to be on your toes when buying jewelry in this day and age. The scams run the gamut from stone switching to the the selling of fake gold jewelry with a legitimate looking stamp on it. If you have a piece that has an expensive stone on it then you should have it legitimized documented and only have it cleaned or worked on in a reputable establishment.

Trying to save a few bucks by having the work done at a back alley pawn shop can turn out to be an expensive mistake. It is now possible to buy diamonds that are laser engraved, so this is something to bear in mind when you are making your original purchase.

Fake plated gold jewelry that has a 14K or 18K stamp is not hard to come by and can easily be bought online. This means that you should always be aware if you are buying gold jewelry from any other source other than a legitimate dealer. Any and all designer jewelry is now being counterfeited, so never assume that just because a piece is stamped with a legitimate looking stamp that it is so.

That is unless you are making your purchase from a legitimate dealer. There are even fake Rolex watches that people will hawk on the streets as the legitimate article and they do look real at first glance. A fake Rolex watch will have a second hand that "ticks" while a real Rolex watches second hand "sweeps".

Always be skeptical if a stranger approaches you with an "unbelievable" deal on a piece of jewelry. Inevitably it will almost always come in a counterfeit legitimate looking jewelry box and may even still have the "price tag" on it. The con artists that hawk this stuff are skilled at their craft, so beware.