Gold-tone mystery jars

Gold tone is base metal finished to look like gold, and we call it that because it is that. Gold-Tone Glamour is €29 for 22 pieces: heavy 1970s and 1980s costume work, chunky chain, big clip earrings and the enamelled statement pieces of the period.

Why gold tone is worth buying deliberately

The best costume jewellery ever made is gold tone, because the era that made it was not pretending to sell you gold. Weight, articulation and enamel work from the period beat a thin modern gold-plated chain on every axis except the metal — and the metal was never the point of a statement piece.

What is not in here

No solid gold, no gold fill and no claims of either. If a hallmarked gold piece surfaces in a lot it does not go into a €29 jar; pretending otherwise is how the format got its reputation.

Wear and plating

Expect rubbed high points on some pieces — a soft edge where a bracelet met a wrist for a decade. That is wear and we keep it. Anything with the base metal showing through as a patch, or a broken clasp, is pulled before filling.