Homely Solutions for Distinguishing Gold from Imitations

Gold is among the ornaments that has successfully attracted people’s attentions. Therefore, many attempts have been made to misdirect and deceive people by producing imitations which is why the authenticity of gold has become important and it is important to distinguish gold from imitations.

However, gold ornaments have remarkable differences which are quite helpful in distinguishing them from imitations. Gold ornaments have features which can’t be found in imitations. Yet, we shouldn’t forget that sometimes, imitations are made with such craftsmanship, that one can’t distinguish them from gold at first sight. However, there are several ways that can assist you in distinguishing gold from imitations. 

Recognizing Gold by Marks

One of the ways that can be helpful in recognizing gold from imitations is that, none of these marks should be found on your piece of jewelry. 

GP

GF

GE

GEP

HGP

HEG

Each of these marks means a downside in your piece of jewelry, but usually people know nothing about these marks. Actually, all these marks suggest a kind of impurity in your piece. It means that a low portion of the piece of jewelry is formed by gold and the rest can be anything or any metal and it is in fact an imitation.

It is possible that the pieces of jewel are only coated and plated with a layer of gold. If so, the jewelry box is not much different from an empty box. When you buy a piece of jewelry, which has been plated, it is like you have bought nothing. In all these cases, what you see only looks like gold, which can cause those who don’t know authentic gold well make mistakes.

To distinguish gold from imitation, you need to pay attention to gold carat. Because it is only the gold carat that can reveal whether your piece of jewelry is pure gold or has impurities. When is piece of jewelry, is pure gold, it should be 24 carat. The next level of purity goes to 18 carat gold, which has a purity level of 75%. In other words, only 25% of this type of gold is made of alloyed metals. It should be also mentioned that, gold can’t be ever 100% pure. The purity of gold, can at best be 99.9%. If gold is 100% pure, it will be so soft that can’t be easily shaped. Thus, it can’t be used for making coins or jewelry. As a result, 24 carat gold is known as the pure gold.

Considering how important the purity of gold is to you, There are several ways for the people to examine their pieces of gold and thus make sure about the purity of gold. What follows is a brief guide on how to distinguish gold from imitations. If you are looking for ways to distinguish authentic gold from imitations, read this article.

Recognizing Gold by Your Skin 

This is not a useful way for imitations which are only coated by gold. This is mainly because, there won’t be a proper result in recognizing gold. Since this examination concerns the outermost layer coating the jewel, it won’t work well in case of plated gold. To run this test, you should keep the piece of jewelry in your hands until your palms sweat. When your palms began sweating, look at your palms. In case of authentic gold, or even plated gold, nothing will happen and your palm will remain colorless. But if you notice a color on your palm, you can conclude that you have gold imitation jewelry in your hand.

Gold imitations usually leave colors like black, green, and blue on your palm. That is actually because of the chemical reaction between the fake piece of jewelry and the sweat. However, authentic gold doesn’t react to the sweat and leaves no marks on your palm.  

Recognizing Gold by Cosmetics 

So far we have concluded that gold doesn’t have reactive features and won’t react to anything easily. But we can use cosmetics to have the imitation gold react. In order to do this test, put the piece of jewelry in some liquid foundation cream and rob some powder on it. After the cream dried out, you can take it and press it on your skin while paying attention to the different color it leaves on your skin. If you noticed a black mark, you can make sure that you have bought an authentic piece of jewelry.

But this examination is just very probable, and there might be some errors as well which misguide you. However, the test error percentage is actually low and most often, it provides you with the correct answer.

Distinguishing Gold by Written Codes

One of the main methods for distinguهshing gold from gold imitations is by the codes which are written on pieces of gold, in two different ways. The first number which is very frequently used in Iran is 750 and represents the standard carat of gold, which is carat 18 in Iran. There are several ways for distinguishing the gold carat, and show the purity level of pieces of gold.

Another code which is even more reliable, is the gold standard code and represents the company which has produced the piece. As an example the standard code for all gold products made by EG is T905. These codes can be tracked down through relevant references.

Recognizing Gold by Size and Weight

Gold is denser than other metals and its density can be evaluated by some tools like the special jewelry scale.

Recognizing Gold by Magnet Test

As you know, gold does not have the magnetic attraction feature, as a result of which it won’t be attracted to magnets. Thus, you can use a magnet to attract gold. With regard to the point which was said about the magnetic attraction feature, it can be concluded that pure gold won’t be attracted to magnets and doesn’t react to them. On the other hand, if the gold is not pure, there might be other metals within it that have magnetic attraction feature. Therefore, depending on this method per se is not that reliable. Since you can’t trust this method completely, it is a good idea to try this method side-by-side with another one. This way, the possibility of error will be reduced and you can recognize gold correctly.

Recognizing Gold by Buoyancy Test

As mentioned previously, gold has a high density level, which prevents the piece of jewelry from floating. Therefore, to perform this test, you only need a dish full of water. In other words, you should drop the piece of gold in the water and watch its condition closely. The piece of jewelry should rest on the bottom of the dish, without floating. But if the piece of gold remains floating in the dish, it actually means that the piece is an imitation. This test sounds simple, and you can easily do it to make sure about the authenticity of your piece of jewelry. But you must also take it into consideration, that all metals have less density in comparison with gold.

Recognizing Authentic Gold by Scratching the Surface

To recognize gold, you can use a tile in this method, and scratch the surface of the piece of gold. If the piece is not made of gold or has a high rate of impurity, it will leave a black trace after being scratched. Whether the piece leaves a trace or not, indicates the authenticity of the piece of gold.

Vinegar Test for Recognizing Gold

This is another method for recognizing gold, which can be practiced very easily. You only need to pour a little vinegar, even a drop, on the piece of gold and wait a few minutes. If the piece of gold is made of pure gold, it will make no reactions and so nothing will happen. On the other hand, if the piece is not made of pure gold, there will be a reaction between the vinegar and the piece of metal, as a result of which you will see some stains on the metal surface.

Performing Machine Tests for Recognizing Gold

Sometimes people can use special machines which are necessarily designed for distinguishing gold from gold imitations. With regard to the importance of gold, this method can be much better. But you should also remember that, this method can’t be used at home, and this test can’t be conducted easily. As a result, people prefer to conduct two or three tests at home, and decide based on a conclusion of the results. If the tests are conducted carefully, the results can be quite reliable. These tests are only some of the applicable tests for recognizing the authenticity of gold. Each of these tests can bring about a more dependable result if it is done side-by-side with another one.

Different methods of Recognizing Gold Karat, manually and mechanically.

Conclusion

In this article we tried to suggest a few methods for recognizing gold and distinguishing it from imitations. However, it should be also taken into account that, in all these methods, a percentage of errors unavoidable. So none of them can be trusted as the sole gold recognition method. It can be finally concluded that the best and most dependable way to recognize gold from imitations is taking your gold ornaments to experts. They have not only enough experience, but also, professional tools for distinguishing gold from imitations. But if you prefer to shop safely and be certain about the purity of the piece of gold, which you want to buy, shopping for gold at EG is a good choice.