With gold prices climbing to all time highs, it’s more important than ever to make sure that the jewelry you are buying is made of real gold. And this task can be even more complicated when evaluating white gold jewelry. Taking your gold jewelry to a local jewelry store is the best way to know your gold is legit. Luckily, there are several ways of checking yourself that the jewelry is solid gold.
The first method is by using acid. As a jeweler is testing your gold jewelry, they use very specific acids of certain strength, and the stronger the acid is, the better it’s able to dissolve away at the more purer alloys of gold. Since you aren’t able to measure something that accurately, you can merely use nitric acid. First make a minor scratch on the jewelry with a file in an area that will not be too noticed . Then using a dropper, apply a couple drops of nitric acid. If the jewelry is merely plated, the alloy inside will turn color or bubble as the acid dissolves it . If it’s real gold, there will be no chemical reaction . For gold chains, it’s often easier to test on the clasp at the end of the chain.
The second approach is by inspection . Simply hold it in your hand and feel the weight. If it feels heavy, there’s a good chance it’s gold or platinum. On the other hand, silver alloys weigh approximately 70% that of gold, so if it’s gold plated silver, it will be a noticeable difference. Tungsten is roughly the same weight of 14 karat gold , however tungsten is a darker gray metal.
The final method is to check the jewelry carefully while looking for stamps or hallmarks. By law, gold jewelry must be stamped with a karat grade, or a purity mark. Karat grades commonly used are 10K, 14K, 18K, etc. Purity is a 3-digit number calculated by the karat divided by 24, since pure gold is 24 karat gold . And then you just multiply by 100. So 14K is 14 divided by 24 times 100, which is 583 (or sometimes written as 585). Another example would be 18 karat gold which is 750.
Tips: Be cautious when buying gold jewelry from websites such as Craigslist. If you decide to purchase something from a stranger, ask them to meet you at a jewelry store. It’s safer, and you can ask the jeweler to check it if you have any doubts. Also look for a second stamp on the jewelry near the karat grade. This is from the actual producer of the jewelry, also called a hallmark. Higher end gold jewelry tend to have the manufacturers logo which would allow you to trace back the origin of the jewelry. Therefore you can feel more confident you’re buying an item that was stamped accurately.
Go to LuxeChains.com if you want to find out more about gold chains, then be sure to visit Joseph Robbi’s blog on diamonds Los Angeles, CA for your diamond needs.
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