How do you know that piece of jewelry you buy is authentic?

Jewelry sales jump during the holiday season, but are you getting what you’re paying for? We look at how can we tell if a piece of jewelry is authentic?

Whether you’re shopping for the bling or going for the gold, you might need more than just your eyes to figure out if it’s the real thing.

Judy’s Jewelry Antiques and Estate Jewelry owner, Sal Lanzieri, says that if you can’t tell the difference between real and fake, that’s OK because most people can’t.

“You can’t tell the difference, not unless you’re a trained jeweler or you have the machinery for it,” Lanzieri explained.

The best way to make sure you’re buying the real deal is to buy from a place you know and trust.

He said, “You have to go to your reputable jewelers and ask them if they have paperwork. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. They can get you an appraisal if you want one.”

Lanzieri has the machinery to tell you the difference between natural and lab-grown diamonds and the karat of gold you’re considering.

If you’re considering buying online, he has one more suggestion. “I do have people who buy stuff off there, customers. And they come in and meet them here, which is fine. ‘I bought something off of Facebook the guy is going to meet me here. And 99 percent of the time, when the person who is selling pulls up, they turn around and leave.”

Now, if you’re buying a gold bracelet, so it’ll be worth more later, Lanzieri says, don’t. Buy jewelry to wear, not for the investment. That’s what gold bars and silver coins are for.