Right V, all the pawn shop noted was someone walk in to try to sell something. I just stood back and waited while the shop examined and came up with a price. I'd already told the guy that I'd pay him more than whatever the pawn shop offered as long as the stuff was real gold.

There were some diamonds and gems on the jewelry too, but I assumed the pawn shop was going to offer zero towards any of that and the price they offered to pay the guy was well below melt for the precious metal alone. I later had the stuff examined more carefully and all the gems turned out to be genuine too.

These were not chains. I still have all that stuff I got that day. Did I or anyone I know ever wear any of it?

AccountInQuestion I've been around and owned watches and jewelry all my life. I have friends and family in the business. I may not be as good as a professional at judging whether something is genuine, but I'm not that far off either. Yes all those pros test something to make sure, but they already have a good idea just by looking whether something is what it appears to be.