Category shoots

How to photograph jewelry to sell

Published October 12, 2026 10 min read

To photograph jewelry to sell, shoot it by a window on a plain background, with your phone held steady and the flash off. Then take the photos a buyer would otherwise have to ask for: the stamp, the clasp, the size and every flaw. A buyer can't pick the piece up, so your photos have to do what their hands would.

Most jewelry photography guides are written for makers and shops photographing new stock. A used or vintage piece you didn't make needs the same setup, a different shot list, and a lighter hand with the editing.

What do you need to photograph jewelry at home?

A window or a lamp with something white over it, a plain background, a steady phone and a soft cloth. That is the whole kit.

1. Wipe the piece with a soft clothPhone cameras pick up dust, marks and fingerprints you may not notice by eye. The cloth takes off dust and prints. Scratches stay, and they get their own photo.
2. Use soft light, and turn the flash offPut the piece by a window out of direct sun, or aim a lamp through white paper or a sheer curtain. Use one kind of light, not daylight mixed with bulbs. Skip the flash and overhead lighting too. The window light setup has the layout.
3. Steady the phoneUse a tripod. Without one, rest the phone on a flat surface and use the shutter timer, so your finger doesn't shake it.
4. Move closer instead of zooming, then tap to focusDigital zoom costs picture quality, so move the phone in, and tap the stone, clasp or stamp so the phone focuses there. The phone camera settings that matter cover the rest.
5. Prop what won't standMuseum putty or dental wax will hold it up. Keep the putty out of the frame and there is nothing to edit out afterwards.

This setup advice is drawn from GIA, Kernowcraft, Metalsmith Society, GemFind, Orbitvu and Gem Gossip.

What background is best for photographing jewelry?

Try white and a darker one on the same piece, and keep whichever makes the edges and stones easiest to read. eBay's help page says white is generally best, but for shiny items like jewelry "a darker background may work better". Light-toned pieces often look better on dark.

To run the test, shoot the piece on white paper and on a mid-gray or dark card, then shrink both photos to thumbnail size. The main photo sits next to the title in search results, so that is where the background has to work.

How do you stop glare and reflections on jewelry?

Put soft light to one side, bounce a little of it back onto the shadow side with white card, and keep yourself and the camera out of the metal's reflection.

• Put paper or a sheer curtain between the lamp and the piece. Diffused light often works well on highly polished metal, and white foam board fills the shadows.
• Angle white paper or board so the piece reflects the card instead of you, or cut a lens-sized hole in white poster board to hide the camera and tripod too. Wear plain white: bright clothing reflects onto the metal.

Which jewelry photos do buyers need?

The mark, the clasp, the size and the condition: the four things hands would check.

Start with the stamp. Photograph it the way it reads. If you can read 925 on a ring, write "stamped 925". If a clasp shows 14k, write "marked 14k". If the mark is worn or unreadable, photograph it that way and describe it as worn or unreadable. Don't fill in what you can't read.

The same honesty covers the rest of the description. Don't make claims about a stone you can't identify. State plated, flashed or filled metal as such, for example gold-plated silver. The jewelry policy lists the gold, silver and platinum stamps.

Photograph the mark, then write what it says.

How many photos does a piece of jewelry need?

It depends on the piece. These are rules of thumb, ours and not measured figures:

• Minimum set, for a low-priced piece: four photos. The whole piece face-on, the stamp, the clasp or closure, and the piece beside a ruler. Add a close and a wide photo for any flaw.
• Full set, for anything older, marked, or priced high enough that buyers will ask questions: every row of the table above, so six to eight photos plus the flaws.

Even the full set is well under the 24 pictures a listing can hold.

Here is the photo order for a ring stamped 925 with one scratch on the band. It is a plan to copy, not a report of a real listing:

1. The whole ring, face-on. This is the photo that appears next to the title in search.
2. The side, to show how high the setting sits.
3. The inside of the band, with the stamp readable.
4. The ring beside a ruler.
5. The scratch, close.
6. The scratch, wide, so the buyer sees where on the band it is.

Six photos, and each one answers a question a buyer would otherwise have to send you.

If you have a tray of pieces, shoot in passes, not piece by piece. Set the light once, then take every stamp photo, then every clasp, then every ruler shot. Start each piece with a photo of a scrap of paper with its number on it, so you can sort the photos afterward.

How do you photograph a stamp so it can be read?

A stamp is tiny and cut into shiny metal, so it tends to go bright with glare or black with reflection. Polished metal mirrors whatever it faces: your lamp makes it bright, the dark room or your own shape makes it black. The fix is to change what the stamp is mirroring, not to zoom in. The steps below are our own method, not a sourced one:

1. Hold the piece so the stamp faces your soft light, the window or the lamp behind white paper.
2. Tilt the piece a little at a time and watch the phone screen. Stop when the letters and numbers stop being white or black patches and read as marks.
3. Move the phone in until the stamp fills most of the frame, then back off until it focuses, and tap the stamp. Phones struggle to focus when too close.
4. Zoom into the photo on your phone. If you can read the mark, move on. If you can't, tilt again.

If the phone won't focus any closer and the mark is still too small to read, a clip-on macro lens is the tool made for tiny details. Without one, photograph the mark as well as you can and describe it as worn or too small to read. A jeweler's loupe, the small magnifier jewelers use, also helps you read the mark in your hand before you shoot it.

How do you photograph rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings?

Use the shots above for every piece, then handle its awkward part: a ring has a setting height, a chain has a length, and earrings come in pairs.

How do you photograph a ring to sell?

Shoot it face-on, then from the side to show how high the setting sits, then from inside the band, where an engraving or mark may be. Put a ruler next to the ring in one photo, and follow the jewelry policy on accurate ring sizes.

How do you photograph a necklace or bracelet?

Lay it flat on a plain surface with the links straight and untangled, and shoot it full length beside a ruler. Write down the length you measured, because the jewelry policy asks for it to be accurate. Then shoot the clasp closed and open, a few links close up, and any link that is kinked, bent or repaired.

How do you photograph earrings?

Shoot the pair together, then one earring from the side, then the back of each and the post or hook, with a ruler or coin beside the pair.

How do you photograph stones and check the color?

Give any stone its own close photo, and show a chip, crack or loose setting the way you would show any flaw. For color, start with diffused light. In GIA's example, direct light darkened a stone and left hot spots on its facets. A little direct light can add sparkle, so shoot one of each and keep the one closest to the piece in your hand.

Then check the color. This is our own check, not a sourced method: hold the real piece next to your phone screen in the same room light. If the screen is off, fix the photo, not the description.

What about tangled chains, mixed lots and tarnish?

Untangle a chain before you shoot it. If it won't come free, photograph the knot close up and say so, like any other flaw.

For a mixed lot, take one group photo of everything in the box and nothing that isn't, because the photos have to match what the buyer receives. Give the pieces worth the most the minimum set each and leave the rest to the group photo.

Treat tarnish and patina as condition. Wipe the piece, photograph what is left close and wide, and mention it in the description. Shoot the piece in the state it will ship in: if you polish it, polish first and photograph after, or the photos show a piece the buyer never receives.

What should you not edit out of a jewelry photo?

Anything the piece has: scratches, dents, worn plating, a bent prong, a repaired link. As a rule of thumb, edit so the photo matches the piece (brightness, color balance, straightening), never so the piece looks better than it is. Advice written for new stock goes too far on a used piece:

A flaw you edit out is a flaw the buyer finds in the mail. Photographing flaws covers the close shot, the wide shot and scale.

Do this today: take the stamp, clasp and flaw photos of the next piece you plan to list before you take any others, and read the stamp on your phone screen before you move on. Those are the photos a buyer can't check in person.

Questions people ask about photographing jewelry

Keep reading

• How to add a video to an eBay listing

  Where the Add video button is, eBay's listing video limits, and what to put in the one clip.

• The listing photo checklist: what to shoot, in order

  The shots a listing needs, in order, and the question each one answers.