Recently, a regularity has been noticed: the rate and quantity of extracted precious metal are decreasing, but jewelry stores, salons, and stalls are growing like yeast. What is the reason for it? Is the demand for gold jewelry so high? Unfortunately, more than 40% of gold jewelry on the market is fake or plated. This is a big problem despite the relatively low cost of the latter metal. Therefore, it is hard to counterfeit it.
To avoid buying fake gold jewelry, it is important to know how to distinguish real gold from even a very good fake. Tests listed in this article will take your time (you will possibly have to invest your time in them instead of enjoying games like book of oz free play!), but they are worth it. Real gold jewelry is a good investment.
Tips On How To Tell If Gold Jewelry Is Fake
The simplest and most effective way to protect yourself and your wallet is to buy jewelry in “reputable” jewelry stores that value their reputation. Most likely, buying a ring or chain in such a store will cost more than, for example, in the market, but the risks of getting a fake are minimized. Fake gold jewelry basically can be one of the two main types. It can be an alloy of bijouterie metals, which is covered with a thin film of gilding, or an alloy that has gold, but its percentage is too low for a quality piece of jewelry.
When buying a piece of noble metal jewelry, be it gold, silver, or platinum, first of all, you should pay attention to its grade and the presence of a stamp. However, many people end the whole examination of the product, which is wrong, because even such seemingly inviolable identification marks can be counterfeited. Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish such a fake from a real piece of gold. However, there are some ways to do it.
- Remember that the stigma and everything that is placed in it – must be clear, and located parallel to the edges of the product. It is good if next to the branding is also the name of the manufacturer, this fact significantly increases the chances of buying a quality product. For example, in Turkey, in the markets you can find products made of precious metals, on which there is no sample, it will be put only when you buy the product, and such a one as you want. Draw your conclusions.
- When choosing a product, carefully inspect it, and pay attention to the “underside” – it should be smooth and shiny, this indicates the quality and skill of the manufacturer. If you have already purchased a piece of jewelry and, coming home, doubt its authenticity, several simple methods will allow you to deal with this issue.
- Gold has one important property – it is not magnetic, and therefore it is easy to distinguish it from a fake with the help of a magnet. However, this is not a hundred percent guarantee, as the common alloy is sometimes added metals that also have the property of not being attracted, these include copper, aluminum, or bronze.
- One of the most famous ways to test gold jewelry is a method with the use of iodine. Just drop a couple of drops on the product, then wait a little: if the metal has not changed its color, then you have the original, if the color has changed, you are probably holding a fake.
- You can also use vinegar for the same purpose. Pour it into a small container, then run the object required to check. If after a couple of minutes, it darkened, then in front of you again fake.
- Sometimes you can Aldi tell if gold is real in a very simple way. Take a piece of gold jewelry, the quality of which you are sure of, and run it on a hard object, such as glass. The result should be a line. Then do the same thing with the suspected sample. Now it is necessary to compare the prints, they should be approximately the same. The error of this method still exists, as samples with different samples will leave different prints as a result.
Tip: All these tests are useful but the only foolproof way to find out whether a gold item is real or fake, is to contact a professional appraiser.
Also published on Medium.
