The cable bracelet's twist has a specific pitch, and a counterfeit almost never matches it.
Founded 1980New York4 weighted checks
David Yurman's signature is the cable — a helix of twisted precious metal that forms the body of most of the house's designs. The twist has a specific pitch and a consistent tightness, and it is machined rather than cast, which is exactly what a counterfeit gets wrong.
Because the pieces sit at an accessible fine-jewellery price point, counterfeits are numerous. They are usually caught on the cable's pitch, on the hallmarks, and on a metal test.
The house signs its work and hallmarks the metal content, and its serials are recorded on higher pieces.
Pieces carry a D.Y. or DAVID YURMAN signature struck into the metal alongside the content hallmark — 925 for sterling, 585 or 750 for gold. Strikes are crisp and level.
There is no public serial lookup. A metal test at any jeweller costs almost nothing and settles the hallmark question directly, which is the most efficient check available on this house's work.
Ordered by how much each one settles. The decisive checks are the ones worth your first five minutes; the supporting ones only matter once those are clean.
The twisted cable has a specific pitch and a consistent tightness along its whole length, machined rather than cast. Counterfeits vary the pitch, loosen it, or cast the twist as a moulded shape — which reads as soft rather than defined under a loupe.
D.Y. or DAVID YURMAN struck crisply and level, alongside the metal content mark. Shallow or laser-etched marks are failures, and a metal test settles the hallmark for a few dollars.
The cable's end caps fit flush with no gap and no visible adhesive, and stones are set securely. Gaps, glue or rattling stones are construction failures.
Solid sterling or gold with the density those metals have. A piece that feels light for its size is hollow or plated.
Each of these is checked differently. The ones with their own page have enough that is specific to them to be worth reading separately.
Lovenhall DiamondThe checks tell you how it was made. The instrument tells you what it appears to be, and roughly what its kind fetches.