Buying gold can be a great long-term investment, as long as you are buying real gold. Gold is a precious commodity, and for that reason it is frequently faked. The best way to determine whether your gold jewelry is fake, is to go to a jewelry store and try it on, however, this could cost you some money. Before heading out to purchase gold, you can read about a few simple ways to tell if gold jewelry is real.
- Magnet
- Jewellery cleaning cloth
- Silver cleaning solution or bleach
- Face powders
- Powder brush
The first way to tell if gold jewelry is real or not is to place a magnet next to the piece of gold. Real gold is not attracted to magnets, however, fake gold or gold-plated metals are. It should be noted that this method is not foolproof, as some fake gold items may be made of non-magnetic metals.
Rub the gold with a jewelry cleaning cloth. If the gold is fake, a few rubs with the cloth will be enough to remove some of the gold. You can also do this with a white plate. This method helps reveal any layers of plating that might be present.
Place the gold in a silver cleaning solution. After a day, real gold does not rust, however, gold plated metals will. Additionally, another more drastic method that involves chemicals is using bleach. Use rubber gloves to handle everything. Pour a drop of bleach on the ring. If it's fake, bleach can destroy the ring whereas it won't have any effect if it's real.
This is not a recommended method if you want to keep and wear the jewelry no matter if it's real or fake, as this will damage your jewel if it's a fake. Consider this option carefully before proceeding.
Rub face powder on the gold jewelry with a powder brush. Rub the powdered gold on your skin. If it makes a black mark, you've got real gold on your hands. This technique is based on the chemical reaction between real gold and certain compounds in cosmetics.
Pieces of gold jewelry all have to be marked to indicate their realness. Get a magnifying glass and search for a mark on your jewel, which should indicate the amount of Karats that your gold jewel has. For example, common markings include 10K, 14K, 18K, etc., which denote the purity of the gold.
If you have a piece of jewelry that is older, it may not have this mark. In such cases, further testing might be necessary to determine authenticity.
Have you ever seen the iconic image of people biting a golden ring to make sure it's real gold? This is because, when bitten with slight pressure, fake gold jewelry will have dents or markings, whereas real gold will not. However, this method is not recommended if you want to preserve the integrity of your jewelry.
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- Your best bet if you want to rest assured if a gold jewel is real or not is to take it to a professional, especially if you don't want to damage it. Jewelers have the tools and expertise to accurately assess gold jewelry without causing harm.