Is that antique, vintage or new? With the revived interest in vintage and antique jewelry, it’s getting more difficult to tell if a Philippine-made tamborin-style jewelry is antique.  When I first started my online shop, I had to rely on what the antique dealers told me.  They would either say, it’s an antique, at least a hundred years old or the vague answer, “Luma na yan” (meaning “That’s already old” ).  Um, okay.  I can’t really blame them, there are very few reference books on these things.  So how do you tell? The more seasoned sellers would say that antique tamborin beads are very smooth when you run your fingers through them. Same goes for the relicario (or reliquary pendant that usually accompany this tamborin style jewelry).  While this is probably true, I’ve seen some antique tamborins that are not really smooth.  Maybe they were hardly used by the previous owner or the wearer took really good care of the piece. Another way is to look at the finish.  This one refers to old gold-plated …