Thrifting is all about bargains, but this woman got a much better deal than she expected when she picked up a necklace for just CA$4.99—only to discover that it's in fact 14-Karat yellow gold. Nada Abdulkarim, 27, loves shopping for unique jewelry, but there's no need to head into any expensive jewelers to find it.
She's been searching in local thrift stores for many years, and earlier this month she spotted a gorgeous pearl and gold necklace, priced at only CA$4.99. It was too good an opportunity to miss, as Abdulkarim, from Ontario, Canada, told that she "had never seen" a piece like it before.
When she returned home and inspected the necklace in further detail, she was astonished to realize that it wasn't a cheap fake—it was real gold. "With every piece of jewelry I buy, I inspect it with my jeweler's loupe to see if I missed any stamping, as they can be hard to see with the naked eye," she said. "Upon further inspection, I noticed there was a 585 stamp on the necklace, which means it's made of 14K gold.
"Once I realized it was real gold, I started testing the pearls by doing the grit test, which involves lightly rubbing the pearl on your tooth. If it feels gritty, there's a high chance it's real; if it feels smooth, then it's fake. The pearls passed the test, so I knew I had a real gold and pearl necklace.
" Just to be sure, Abdulkarim took the necklace to a jewelers to get a second opinion. They came to the same conclusion and confirmed that it's real pearls and yello.