How to Tell if Gold is Real

It is no secret that of all metals, gold is considered to be the most reliable and luxurious for making jewelry. It’s not just the shine and luster of this metal that makes it attractive, but the fact that it doesn’t tarnish, rust or corrode is another reason that gold jewelry is an everlasting and timeless accessory.

Gold, in its purest form, has a deep yellow color and is highly malleable. For jewelry making, it is often alloyed with other metals to harden it and make it sturdy. The combination of gold with other metals like zinc, copper, silver, platinum, nickel, palladium, etc., allows it to create several different shades. This is why you may often come across gold jewelry with a reddish or silverish tinge.

Gold is known as one of the most sought-out commodities on this planet, any item that contains even small quantities of gold is deemed valuable and immediately considered expensive. Dealing with real gold is a big investment, so to avoid getting ripped off, you might want to do proper research. If you’re looking to purchase gold, educating yourself on the basic differences between real and fake gold will save you lots of money in the long run. Here is what you need to know:

Look For a Hallmark:

All real gold jewelry has a hallmark, a small stamp indicating the karat weight of gold present in the item. Different countries have different measurements. For example, it is likely to be a fraction of 24 in the US. 24k indicates that the item is pure 100% gold, while 12k may suggest that the item is 50% gold and 50% alloy. In Europe, the measurements are numbers between .000 and 1.000. Keep in mind that hallmarking gold is relatively new. If you’re purchasing old heirloom, chances are it was made before this practice became common.

Check For Letter Marks:

Some jewelry items may contain small quantities of gold but not sufficient enough for the item to be considered as gold itself. In such cases, you’ll notice small initials engraved or stamped on the item, each indicating something different. GP means that the item is gold plated, while GF means it’s gold filled and GEP suggests that it is gold electroplated.

Do A Nitric Acid Test:

Nitric acid is a dangerous chemical that corrodes even the strongest of metals. However, you can use its toxic properties to your advantage. Create a tiny scratch of the item that you want to test. Make sure the scratch is deep enough to have removed the top layer of gold. Apply a small quantity of dilute nitric acid and if the item is pure gold or mostly gold, you’ll see no reaction. But if the area gradually turns green or milky, it is a clear sign that larger concentrations of another metal are present in the mix.

Perform A Ceramic Tile test:

While this test involves rubbing your desired against a ceramic tile, if the item is gold, you’ll get results with negligible damage. Purchase an unglazed tile and gently start scraping your gold item on its surface till the gold starts flaking off. If the gold is indeed real, it’ll leave behind a gold trail while all other metals leave a black trail.

Test Against Your Skin:

Gold is preferred over other metals because it is relatively non-reactive. A simple test to check whether the gold is real or fake is to hold the item between your palms for a few minutes. Real gold will not affect the skin in anyway. A clear sign that the gold jewelry you’re testing has considerable quantities of other metals mixed in it is that you’ll notice your skin developing a bluish-purple or slightly green tinge. This change in color is a result of the metal reacting to the perspiration of your hands.

Real gold is heavy:

Gold is dense and heavy. A fool-proof technique to check if the gold is real is to compare its weight with the weight of an item of you already know is pure gold. The two pieces being compared should be of similar sizes. If the jewelry you’re testing appears to be too heavy for its size or too large for its weight, chances are that you’re being ripped off.

Gold Doesn’t float:

As mentioned above, gold is a heavy and dense metal. Therefore, it doesn’t float or hover when dropped in a container filled with water. In fact, real gold should sink directly to the bottom.

Check Its Density:

Although this test requires some calculation and math, it is one of the easiest and most reliable ways to determine the purity of any item. There are three steps to the process;

1. Weigh the piece of jewelry using a scale
2. Take any container of water and measure the water levels before and after dropping the item in it.
3. Now subtract the two values to determine the density of your gold item.
4. The final step is to divide the weight of the jewelry by its density.

You can click here to use a calculator intended for this purpose. The density of pure gold is 19.3 grams per milliliter. If your calculated answer is close to or equal to this value, then you’ll know for a fact that it is real gold.

The Magnet Test:

Place the item you want to test near high-quality a strong magnet of good quality. Unlike other metals gold in non-magnetic, which means it shows zero attraction to even the strongest of magnets placed around it.

Our Final Thoughts:

While these tests can give you a good idea of how pure the item you’re testing is, none of them are entirely conclusive. The only way to be a 100% sure is to get the piece inspected by a professional. Purchasing or selling gold is a long-term investment and it’s best to visit a reputable jeweler and have your item tested there, they have various sophisticated machines to check the authenticity of the item.