Top Jewellery deceptions

Deception is rife when it comes to Jewellery. Here are some of the top deceptions to look out for.

Titanium Steel - It is an intentionally misleading term popularized by the Chinese to boost sales. Titanium steel Jewellery does not contain titanium. Titanium is an expensive metal, with any piece of genuine titanium Jewellery costing $50 and up.

Zircon - Zircon is a natural semi precious gem and is fairly expensive. The name 'Zircon' is frequently misused in place of Cubic Zirconia, which is a much cheaper manufactured crystal. More often than not, it is used in ignorance by online retailers who are unaware there is a big difference in price and origin of the two.

Leather - You will often come across Jewellery being sold as leather, when tucked away somewhere on the page are the letters 'PU'. PU stands for Polyurethane, which is a plastic. You'll be getting genuine leather-look plastic.

925 Silver - This is probably the worst of the worst for deception. If you are paying $20 to $30 for a ring that says it is 925 Silver, it ain't solid silver! It is only plated with 925 silver. Solid silver just won't be that cheap! Be very careful with this one. It is shocking how often we see this deception used.

Pure Tungsten - Jewellery is not made from pure tungsten, it is made from Tungsten Carbide, an alloy of 50% Tungsten and 50% carbon. It has however become the norm that Tungsten Carbide is just called Tungsten.

Black Gold - OMG! What will they come out with next? Who in their right mind would want to pay the price of gold and it be black? It doesn't exist, but we've seen it used to sell Jewellery!

Please be careful out there. If prices/discounts/offers look too good to be true, you can bet they are!

See our FAQ - Materials page.

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