Originally Posted by
Digger_O'Dell
Awesome find! Couple rules of thumb regarding jewelry. If it's stamped with the plain Karat such as 14K, 18K, etc. it will be solid. If plated, it's usually marked as such if it has any markings at all, which plated stuff usually isn't other than maybe the makers mark or name. As for whether the stone is real, no matter if it's a diamond, ruby, or whatever-if it's not an opaque stone, then it will usually have an opening at the bottom to admit light to make it brighter when being shown off. Fake stones don't radiate light the same way, so the makers don't spend the extra money to create the hole as it's far cheaper to glue or crimp in the fake stones.
I will say this isn't 100% accurate, especially for those particular pieces that are made to be replicas of something more valuable or when trying to fool a customer. Same as those Rolax watches you can find. Hope this helps!