About Trinket File
Trinket File is a guide site for jewellery and accessories. We write for people standing at a counter, scrolling a second-hand listing or looking at an old piece in a drawer, trying to work out what it is made of, whether it is made well, and what it will be like to own.
What we cover
Every guide starts from a material, a joint or a measurement rather than from a brand. The questions we keep returning to:
- How do you judge construction — solder, settings, clasps, hinges and chain links — before you buy?
- What do the numbers and symbols on a piece actually mean, and what do they leave unanswered?
- Which metals and stones suit daily wear, and which ones need to be treated carefully?
- What is worth inspecting in a second-hand piece, and what should you ask the seller?
- What can a workshop realistically resize, repair or restore, and what can it not?
- How do you clean, store and wear a piece without causing damage?
- What should you check on a watch strap or another small accessory before it costs you the thing it holds?
How we research
We work from published material: assay office and hallmarking guidance, material and plating specifications, care recommendations published by trade bodies and manufacturers, and the practical experience of people who repair jewellery and watches for a living. Where something cannot be verified — a longevity claim in marketing copy, an unverifiable promise about future value — we say so instead of repeating it.
We are not a testing laboratory, and we do not own every piece we write about. When a judgement needs equipment or training we do not have, we say who does have it: a jeweller with a workshop, a gemmologist, an assay office, a watchmaker.
We are also not appraisers. We do not tell you what a piece is worth, whether it is a good investment, or what you should pay for it, and we treat anyone who does so from photographs with caution. If you need a valuation for insurance, probate or a sale, that is a job for a qualified appraiser who can examine the piece in person.
Corrections
Standards change, manufacturers revise materials quietly, and we get things wrong. If you find a statement on this site that no longer matches reality, tell us through the contact page and the correction will be made. Where a correction changes the substance of a guide we will say that it has been amended rather than editing silently.
Funding
Trinket File is funded by advertising and by affiliate links to retailers. If you buy through an affiliate link, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
That funding does not decide what a guide says. Affiliate links never determine whether we recommend a material, a construction method or a way of working, and a guide is not written around a link. We do not publish sponsored reviews, and we do not accept payment in exchange for coverage. If a recommendation and a commission ever conflict, the recommendation wins.
Contact
Questions, corrections and requests for guides we have not written yet can be sent through the contact page. We read everything, though we cannot always reply quickly.