How to distinguish gold from a fake at home

Unfortunately, today the following trend is observed in the jewelry market: the amount of precious metals mined is decreasing, and the number of salons offering jewelery to consumers is growing in an arithmetic progression. In this regard, each of us has a need to learn how to distinguish true gold from fake, so that one day it will not make for itself an unpleasant discovery - an acquired jewelry from precious metal is a usual fake. Meanwhile, the money given for it is considerable.

Experts note that other metals are very often mixed into gold to increase its service life and durability, since the precious alloy is quickly erased due to its softness. For this reason, even a high-quality product may not completely consist of gold.

If you are not sure that you can determine with a naked eye a fake, go for jewelry to company stores offering goods from well-known foreign and domestic manufacturers. In a large salon, the chance to buy a fake is kept to a minimum, rather than in a dubious stall on the market, as reputable stores value their reputation. Buying will be more expensive if, of course, the purchase of a fake product was not in your plans.

On the jewelery made from real gold there is always a sample. But in Turkey, for example, you will put any sample on the jewelry, such as you wish.

In addition to the sample, gold jewelry should have a stamp, a tag and relevant information about the manufacturer. Counterfeit products, of course, are sold without any tags or labels.

How to identify gold for authenticity

According to international standards, gold is considered fake if its net weight in a product is less than 10 carats. The surest way to make sure it is a fake or not, contact a specialist - a certified jeweler.If this is not possible, you can use the ways that our ancestors have successfully used.

Iodine
This is one of the most popular and simple ways, mostly it is used by the huckster when buying gold for scrap. Apply a little substance to the product and wait a few minutes. Then wipe off the iodine with a dry cloth and examine the decoration. If there is an imprint on the surface, then you have a fake. If the product has not changed color, then this is real gold.

Magnet
Fraudsters often covered with a gold plating ordinary alloy. Magnet will help to make sure that in front of you - a fake or jewelry made of natural gold. If the magnet attracts the product, then it is fake. This method is not one hundred percent reliable, as copper and bronze can also not be magnetic, however, by weight they are much lighter than gold.

Vinegar
This method acts as the previous one. Pour some vinegar into the container, lower the product there for 5 minutes. After the expiry of the allotted time, remove and carefully inspect. If the decoration is not dark, then you have gold.

Lap pencil

You can buy it in a pharmacy.Wet the object to be tested with water and draw a strip with lapis. There will be no trace on the gold jewelry. The advantage of this method is that the metal is oxidized instantly.

Nitric acid
This test will allow you to most accurately determine the authenticity of the gold product. However, it is rather difficult to purchase nitric acid, using this method mainly by jewelers. Nitrogen does not corrode gold, but if the jewelry consists of any impurities, it will be hopelessly damaged during the test.

In a clean, dry container, place the ornament and put a drop of nitric acid on it. If the product:

• turned green - in front of you is a metal coated with gold;
• turned white is the gold-plated silver of the highest test;
• did not change the color - in front of you is a genuine precious alloy.

Ceramic plate
If you do not have the desired plate, you may well use a piece of ceramic, this will be quite enough. Swipe the decoration on the surface. If there is a black mark on it - the decoration is fake. But the golden strip left on the plate will indicate that gold is real.

Bite check
This is the oldest method for determining the authenticity of the precious metal. However, this does not mean that it is the ultimate truth, because now gold is almost never found in its pure form, other metals are added to it.

After the bite on the gold, the teeth marks should remain, and the deeper the marks, the higher the sample.

Sound test
If you throw a gold product on a tin surface, it will make a ringing, crystal clear sound. This method, like the previous one, cannot be completely reliable.

Comparison method
Each person will find a product, the authenticity of which he is absolutely sure. You can conduct a comparative analysis using real gold jewelry. Hold them on any flat solid surface line. Next to draw the line product, which you doubt the purity. In theory, if both prints are identical, then both jewelry is authentic. But this method has a significant drawback - the sample may be different, therefore, the lines will differ.

Chlorine gold
When applied to pure gold, no reaction will follow. The alloy will begin to sizzle and oxidize.

Special device
Fortunately, today there is no need to use old-fashioned methods for defining fakes. There are special devices that allow for a rapid test for authenticity. The principle of their operation is the measurement of the electrochemical potential of the surface of an object.

Gold or brass

Brass is most often given for gold, and today's craftsmen have learned to do it so skillfully that it is almost impossible to distinguish a real jewel from a fake, consisting of zinc, copper, lead and other metals. Of course, only a jeweler can do it without fail, but knowing some nuances, it is quite possible to do it yourself:

1. Genuine jewelry has a perfect finish. Cracks, chips, notches should be alerted.
2. The opinion that brass visually looks dimmer than gold metal is wrong. With a quality performance, the copy will glitter no less than the original.
3. The reddish tint of the metal indicates that copper is present in the composition, and pale yellow indicates the presence of zinc.
4. Gold cannot be cheap.If you offer to buy jewelry at a low price, then, most likely, in front of you is a fake.
5. If you doubt the authenticity of the metal, scratch the product. If it is a fake, then under the upper layer a non-precious alloy may appear.
6. With variations in daylight, neither in the shade nor in the sun, real gold will not change color.

If after the tests you still have doubts, carry the jewelry to the jeweler who will make a comprehensive verdict - is this a precious metal or not.

Video: how to distinguish gold and silver from other metals