Dial & CaratMovements, metals and marks explained

Watches and jewelry

Authenticity

How to tell genuine from convincing.

1 guides

Gold-tone dress watch on a bracelet, silver guilloche dial with Roman numerals, power reserve arc and date window — A power reserve arc and curved date window show how much a dress dial can carry without looking busy.Photo: Joe Haupt from USA · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · Open source page

Yellow gold ring set with a polished marquise-cut pink stone, resting on a rolled white sheet

Authenticity

What the stamp inside a ring is legally allowed to mean

Gold filled, vermeil, sterling, 950 platinum and laboratory-grown all have fixed thresholds in the FTC Jewelry Guides. Here is each number and how to check it.

Updated 11/3/2026 · 12 min

Photo: Mauro Cateb · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons