I have this amazing friend (I am not going to mention any names today), who loves thrifting and consignment shopping as much as I do! Another thing great about her is that she is extremely good when it comes to finding gems in the dirt, literally. A lot of times we don’t see anything special at the jewelry stand when we go thrifting, but she is extremely thorough and always finds something special. But once in a blue moon (well, actually more often than that) she scores! And scores big! Today when she came over, she had an awesome story to tell!

Last week as she was driving home, she got an urge to stop by one of her favorite consignment store locations (sorry, but I am not going to mention any stores either). And here is what she’s got:

 

Now all three of those necklaces came to $21. And I guess excitement and pure joy were written all over my friend’s face. When the cashier noticed that, she obviously asked – Find anything good today? – to which my friend said – Oh, definitely. Now that caught the cashier’s attention and she then asked my friend how much it was all worth. To which my friend replied – Ring me up first, please! Then I’ll tell you! The cashier thought it was all a joke, so when after everything was paid for my friend said that it would’ve cost around $500 on eBay, the face of the cashier definitely dropped!

So let’s break it down, compare and talk semi-precious stones:

1. The first necklace from the left – a sterling silver tube that is magnetically attached to the pendant. You can actually remove the pendant and just wear the necklace. My friend paid $7 for it, it costs $89.95 on eBay:

 

It’s a Joseph Esposito necklace, you can now find some of his jewelry on QVC.

2. The blue necklace is sterling silver and sodalite. Again, it was only $7, and here we have two off of eBay, one for $44.50 and one for $259

 

3. And finally prehnite and sterling silver necklace, which again was $7, can be also found on eBay for $220 and $309.99

 

I had to share this with you today, not because I want to brag about my friend’s finds, but because I want to help you all out there find something special and unique at a thrift store, and be proud of it! I also have nothing to do with the eBay sellers mentioned above, those links are just examples of prices available on the Internet.

Now the most important part – how do you know it’s a stone, and more over, how do you know it’s a semi-precious one?

1. Well, first of all a stone is always going to be heavier than plastic, it’s a given.

2. Second, if you put it against your skin (cheek or temple, ideally) you’ll feel the cold. Plastic warms up against your skin.

How do you tell what kind of stone it is? Here is when you are going to have to learn, there are tons of books on gemology, a lot of times they are bright and colorful and will make a great addition to your coffee table!

I hope this was an inspiring and useful post for you all, and remember thrifting is always a treasure hunt!

Xo,
Z