How to Judge Jewellery From a Product Photo
Buying jewellery online means judging it from photographs taken by the seller, under lighting the seller chose. That is less hopeless than it sounds - a photograph gives away quite a lot about the casting, if you know which parts to enlarge.
What a photo will tell you
1. Whether the mould was tired. Enlarge the smallest feature on the piece - a peacock crest, a face, the tip of a mango. On a fresh mould those details are separate and sharp. On a worn one they soften into the surrounding metal. This is the single most useful check and almost nobody does it.
2. Whether stone settings are even. Look at the rim of gold around each stone. It should be the same width all the way round, and the same from one stone to the next. Uneven rims mean a piece finished quickly.
3. Whether the stones sit level. A tilted stone in a photograph is a tilted stone in the box.
4. Where the care ran out. Look at the ends of a collar, the edge of an earring, the last link before the clasp. Those are finished last. If the quality drops there, it drops.
5. Whether the finish is matte or polished. Polished pieces show a bright highlight and reflections of the studio. Matte pieces show gradual shading. This decides how the piece will photograph for you later - see matte or glossy gold.
6. Whether the back is finished. If any photograph shows the reverse, look at it. On good work the back is tidy even though nobody sees it.
What a photo cannot tell you
Weight. This is the biggest gap between expectation and parcel. A photograph of a large earring looks the same whether the piece is light or heavy, and weight decides whether you can wear it for six hours. Ask.
Scale. A close-up flattens size. Look for a photograph on a model, or a stated measurement, before assuming.
Exact colour. Camera white balance shifts gold noticeably, and screens differ again. Antique gold photographs cooler than it looks in the hand more often than not.
The warning signs
- Only one photograph. A seller confident in the piece shows more than one angle.
- Every photograph from the same distance. Usually means there is no close-up worth showing.
- Heavy editing. Gold pushed warm, background pure white, highlights blown. The more processed the image, the less it tells you.
- Stock-looking imagery that does not match the described piece.
- A description that talks only about occasions, never about materials or construction.
What we do on this site
Every product page states the material - Zamak, a zinc alloy, gold-plated, with hand-set stones - along with country of origin, what is included, the MRP and the price with GST in it. Photographs are of the piece being sold.
We do not publish a plating thickness figure, because we hold no measurement we could stand behind, and a number invented for a listing is worse than no number. The same goes for metal-safety claims: we make none, because there are no test reports behind them. If you have a specific question about a specific piece, ask before ordering.
The check that beats all of this
Buy the cheapest piece from a seller you are considering first. A single pair of earrings tells you more about finishing, packing and honesty than an hour of reading will.
Shop this look
- Lakshmi Floral Rosette temple necklace set - rosettes are a good test of even setting.
- Wide kundan chandbali earrings - a large centre stone, easy to inspect.
- Antique gold South Indian jhumka, fan top.
More in real vs fake gold-plated jewellery and how to photograph jewellery on yourself.
The honest part
Everything here is gold-plated Zamak with hand-set kemp and kundan stones, cast and finished in our workshop in Kandivali East, Mumbai. It is imitation jewellery, not solid gold, and the product page says so rather than leaving it to be found out. Free shipping across India, GST in the price, and a manufacturing defect reported within 48 hours of delivery with a continuous unboxing video is repaired or replaced free.