How to check the authenticity of gold at home?

June 3, 2021

Testing gold for authenticity is one of the mandatory and not always simple procedures that every owner of jewelry and other accessories made of precious metal should be able to carry out. Unfortunately, along with production technologies, methods of counterfeiting gold products are also being improved. Today, no one is immune from being deceived by an unscrupulous seller, so you need to know at least a few home inspection methods.

In this article, you will learn how to identify real gold, how it differs from a fictitious shiny alloy, and how to conduct a quick test without leaving home.

How to visually distinguish gold when purchasing in a store?

Before removing your bank card from your wallet, please note the following:

Each product made in Russia must be marked with a hallmark of 375 or 585 together with the logo of the Federal Assay Office - a woman’s profile in a kokoshnik. The print should be clear, without blurred edges. To view, use a magnifying glass - there is nothing “criminal” about consumer meticulousness.
If the decoration is composite with a complex openwork shape, then you will see solder at the joints of the elements. Upon closer inspection, there is a slight difference in shades - this is due to the use of a purer composition, this is a good sign.
Hold the product in your hands for a few minutes to warm it up, and then smell it. Real gold does not emit any odors, unlike copper alloy jewelry.

After examining the item itself, we proceed to inspect the accompanying documents - tags and catalog cards, where key information about the product is always indicated:

Article, full trade name, type: T108023275 Earrings with pearls;
Legal name of the manufacturer, head address, city of Yaroslavl, Sobinova street, building 47a
;
Mark of the technical control department: quality control department stamp and examination number;
Technical information about the product - sample, weight, type of insert;
Date of manufacture;
Barcode;
QR code with an encrypted link to the product position in the electronic catalog.

Only after making sure that all formal requirements are met should you make a purchase in a retail store and then begin a home inspection.

Reliable ways to test gold

Take the chain to the jeweler. The authenticity and purity of gold can be determined in any jewelry workshop; such services are provided in some jewelry stores. The service is paid.
Take the chain to a pawnshop. When accepting jewelry at a pawnshop, their value is assessed, and for this it is necessary to determine the precious metal and its purity. You can get a professional’s opinion for free, and you don’t have to hand over the jewelry - just say that you changed your mind because of the low price offered.

How can you test gold at home?

We have collected several of the safest methods that, if all rules are followed, will not cause harm to either the product itself or the human body due to potential toxicity.

Iodine

Perhaps the most harmless and simple method, consisting of elementary rules:

Take a regular pharmaceutical iodine solution and dip a cotton swab in it.
Gently apply a small dab onto a flat surface.
If the spot begins to lighten or turn white, there is more copper or brass in the product than gold. Remains dark brown – 585 standard is real.

You can clean gold from iodine with an aqueous solution of hyposulfate (ampoules are sold in pharmacies), or a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ordinary laundry soap. The only caveat is that soaking can take up to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the contamination.

Ammonia

The method is similar to iodine, with the difference that you will have to use a cotton swab soaked in ammonia as an eraser - rub the jewelry with it for at least 15 seconds, and then look at the mark. If the snow-white cotton wool takes on a bluish-dark tint, then the purchased item is fake. When the color does not change and there are no unpleasant traces, copper is within normal limits.

lapis pencil

It can also be found in most pharmacies at a price that is ridiculous by drug standards. It’s even easier to use than with liquids - open it, draw a small line and carefully observe the result. There should be no traces left on the gold.

Vinegar

This method is not recommended for use at home, because the result requires vinegar essence heated over an open fire with a concentration of 80% or higher. Only then will the excess copper in the alloy color the liquid a pale blue hue. Regular table vinegar is useless - 6-9% is not enough to react with metal.

What is passed off as gold?

Occasionally there is no gold in the jewelry at all, but instead there is:

alloys with the addition of copper;
bronze products, in particular aluminum bronze;
red brass;
Belgian;
bijouterie;
mosaic gold;
gilded items.

A gold-plated ring looks like gold.
At first glance, it seems that it is easy to distinguish gold from a fake, but when a beautiful product is offered to you in a store under artificial lighting, many people forget about the possibility of fraud and the differences between gold and other metals.

How to check white gold for authenticity?

The best and relatively inexpensive way to distinguish white gold from a skillfully made counterfeit made from a low-quality silver alloy is the potassium dichromate reagent, better known since Soviet times as chrompic. You can buy it at any specialized store, and one bottle is guaranteed to be enough for several dozen tests.

The test algorithm consists of five steps:

Prepare the glassware on which you will conduct the test.
Degrease the decoration using ethyl alcohol and a dry paper towel.
Apply 1-2 drops of Chrompic to the back of the product and wait a few seconds.
If a red spot appears, you have silver below 925 standard. On a gold surface, the color of the chemical practically does not change, or becomes greenish.

Important: Chrompik is an extremely toxic and carcinogenic reagent. When it evaporates, it emits a pungent “smoke” with a specific odor, which causes severe burns to the respiratory tract. When working with the composition, follow all safety rules - ventilated area, thick rubber gloves, breathing respirator.

Where is the risk of buying a fake?

Risk groups for purchasing counterfeits include:

Pawnshops, where the gold they are trying to sell you is often unknown.
Trade counters and private jewelry manufacturers. They also lie about the amount of gold in the product and its presence there.
Gold markets abroad, for example in Turkey. Turkish sellers test the product directly in the store at the buyer’s request. They will never tell you how to distinguish real gold from fake gold, because they themselves sell low-quality goods.

Gold jewelry
Therefore, in order not to encounter problems with the authenticity of the product and not once again check the presence of gold in it, it is better to purchase gold bars in banks and jewelry from trusted jewelry factories. In addition, do not forget to monitor the availability of all documents and quality certificates. Real gold must contain a hallmark in the form of a stamp on the reverse side. The seller is obliged to provide all warranties, as well as provide all information about the product. The seller’s words must be confirmed by a tag that indicates not only the sample size, but also the weight of the jewelry. If any information is not true, this should alert the buyer, and it is better to refuse to purchase the product.

Gold is counterfeited because it makes economic sense. Often, buyers are faced with the problem of not counterfeiting a gold item, but an inappropriate gold standard. Sellers often inflate the purity of the product so that it contains more gold as a percentage than the ligature. At the same time, the appearance of the product does not deteriorate, but its real cost is much cheaper.

The sample must be documented by a passport or product tag. If it is missing, it is almost impossible to verify the seller's word and you will probably end up with fake gold. And with documents, you can prove in court a case of fraud in a store. The price also depends on the sample: the higher it is, the more the final cost increases and it is profitable for the seller to raise it. But large factories do not want to risk their reputation and inflate the purity of the product, so when purchasing precious metals they seem more trustworthy.

Is gold magnetic?

For many decades, the famous “grandmother’s” method of testing gold was considered one of the most reliable and safe, because products made of precious metal are not magnetic at all. However, this technology is becoming less in demand every year, and here’s why:

Most counterfeits on the market began to be made from a special copper-lead alloy, which in its structure is similar to a diamagnetic material.
For the most accurate verification, an expensive neodymium magnet is required - miniature decorative jewelry “from the refrigerator” is absolutely unreliable.

The best modern tester is the once popular toy Neocub. The composition of its balls is the same neodymium alloy, which has the required attractive power.

How to determine whether it is silver or not?

Pour vinegar into a suitable container and place the metal product in it. A few seconds are enough to see the result. If the metal does not react with vinegar, then it is silver

. If there is a reaction, then this is a fake.

Interesting materials:

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How do they check gold in pawn shops?

Specialists in the purchase of precious metals use their own methods of precise examination:

Touchstone and nitric acid - first, a control trace is made on a silicon block from a previously tested product. A line is drawn next to it with a second decoration, after which one or several drops of an acid composition are applied to both stripes. If the shade is the same, there are no questions about authenticity.
Hydrostatic method - it is based on calculating the specific gravity of a thing in air and distilled water. The first step is a control weighing on a jewelry scale, and then in a glass filled with liquid. The method is absolutely safe for any products except antique decorative watches.

Reputable institutions use a device called a spectrometer. In fact, this will already be a professional examination. Gold jewelry is placed in a chamber where, under the influence of radioactive waves, its spectrum is recorded, reflecting the percentage of a particular metal. The procedure is not cheap, but it is as fast and accurate as possible.

Where to put it?

Owners of precious trinkets, without testing, are wondering where to put it. Testing is done if the product is made to order by a private craftsman. An unassayed gold ring, chain, earrings and other trinkets can be assayed at the Assay Office after melting down. Mostly legal entities send products there, but individuals can also contact this authority.

Some conditions for carrying out this process.

The services of the State Assay Office for individuals are only possible to re-mark a piece of jewelry.
The provision of foreign-made jewelry is possible only in quantities of no more than three items (or one set).
An application to the Assay Office is submitted only on one designated day per month and only at the specified time.
The sample installation process lasts a month.
The cost of the service is not cheap.

The final decision on testing is made by the owner of the product. The presence of markings does not always increase the price of jewelry.

Buying Tips

A few recommendations before checking gold for authenticity:

Always, in addition to the store receipt, save tags, labels, etc. before starting experiments. This will guarantee the most conflict-free return possible - after all, you have a legal two weeks to “try it on.”
If the seller refuses to admit that it is obviously fake, do not be afraid to contact a laboratory for an accurate expert opinion. Only this can become a valid basis for an application to Rospotrebnadzor and transfer of documents to the court. Even taking into account the costs of the examination, not a single store will oppose the exact figures.

In turn, the Line of Love online store, as well as the network of our branded stores throughout Russia, guarantees 100% quality and authenticity of gold jewelry, confirmed by all quality certificates. The prices for the current catalog will pleasantly surprise you, and regular discounts, sales and the opportunity to create a unique product design in the author’s online designer will turn shopping into a pleasant and exciting experience.

What jewelry should you not buy?

If there is a decoration on the surface:

Scuffs.
Roughness.
Chips.
Fuzzy sample.
The product has an uneven color.

Jewelry has a characteristic cold shine. They should be even and smooth, the color of the product should be the same with tints of shade. No dark stains or stripes are allowed.

The higher the standard, the better the quality of the product, but it is impossible to find pure gold in the store. The most popular hallmarks are 585 and 750, these jewelry are of high quality, but the precious metal is mixed with silver, copper and other metals that have no value. All in order to increase the durability of the decoration.

According to experts, gold from Turkey most often turns out to be fake and of low quality. The Turks can test any test for fake gold on the street. Therefore, you should be careful when purchasing gold products and avoid dubious sellers and points of sale. An unscrupulous merchant will never tell the buyer how to recognize a piece of jewelry. He will simply praise his product.