How to check if a gold chain is real. How to check gold at home

Gold is one of the most coveted precious metals on earth. It is used not only in the production of jewelry, but also in various fields of science, in the production of technology, various equipment. Pure gold is rarely used, as it is a soft, ductile material. It is usually mixed with other metals to form alloys. In jewelry, quality is assessed by the gold content of the item. For this, a test is used in the form of a stigma. Fineness 999 - means almost pure gold, without impurities.

On gold jewelry, for the most part, there are tests - 585 and 583 tests. 585 fineness means that the product contains 58.5% gold and 41.5% admixture of other metals. Deception in the production of gold jewelry consists in indicating, for example, 585 assay value, but in essence the gold will be several times less. There are also complete fakes, when there is not even a percentage of gold in the product at all. How can you tell if gold is in front of you or not?

How to check gold at home

There are several methods:

The above methods for determining gold at home are only suitable for distinguishing a rough counterfeit. The method using iodine and ammonia is best. To determine impurities, laboratory tests are suitable or you can contact a pawnshop.

The vinegar test is a myth, not a working method.

How gold is checked at a pawnshop

Buyers of gold, check gold jewelry with acids. First, gold is carried out on a test stone (silicon shale), and, depending on the sample on the product, a certain acid is used. A bit of metal remains on the stone, and a drop of acid is dropped on it. The counterfeit will be acidified, leaving traces of real gold in place.

The first thing they do in a pawnshop is to examine the sample. It must be clear at all corners and be branded by the manufacturer. Then the specialist applies the jewelry to the magnet. This is such a quick method to eliminate gross forgery. Gold does not magnetise, and if another metal is gilded, it will be attracted to the magnet. Well, then the specialist uses chemistry to determine the quality of the product.

How to find out the sample of a gold product at home: the Archimedes method

To carry out the test, we need an electronic scale, a calculator, and water. The method is based on Archimedes' law, according to which we determine the density of the product and compare it with the reference. To calculate, we need to know the weight of the product and the weight of the displaced liquid. Then perform a mathematical operation and compare with the table of the density of metals. More similarly, it is described in the video - how to determine real gold and sample by water.

Checking the authenticity of gold is required not only for treasure hunters and coin collectors, but also for those who have doubts about the purchased jewelry. To be guaranteed to "expose" a fake, it is better to go to the jewelers.

To instantly determine the authenticity in the absence of the opportunity to contact a professional, you can try independent methods and test the precious metal at home. To do this, you will need available means: a magnet, iodine, vinegar, a lapis pencil ... To your attention, there are several very effective methods that will help you independently check gold for authenticity.

Ways to check gold at home

Before you start checking, you need to understand that in the manufacture of jewelry in its pure form, gold is never used, one way or another you are dealing with an alloy of metals. Hence, there is such a concept as "test", expressed in numbers. Alloys are created by mixing with less expensive silver, copper and nickel. However, there are also known substitutes for gold, very similar to it.

Fakes can be made from silver, copper and brass, bronze and aluminum, or tin, plated with gold plating. All this suggests that it is often difficult to find out where the real jewelry is, and where is only a fake. for complete confidence, you need to conduct professional tests with the help of instruments.

But let's try our best to test gold at home.

Iodine authentication

This method is one of the most effective, because no other metals, except gold, react with iodine.

clean the surface of the product well with a dense, for example, denim cloth or fine sandpaper, a file;

using a cotton swab, apply iodine to this place;

wait a while, monitoring the reaction of the metal.

It will take about half a minute so that at the place of application of iodine the surface has darkened- in this case, you have a high standard gold. If the surface has lightened, and the iodine has begun to turn white and evaporate - alas, this is a fake.

Testing gold with iodine is one of the most reliable. The disadvantage of this method is that the metal will now have to be cleaned, and as soon as possible. To get rid of the stain, use the magic properties of Coca Cola or Schweppes. You need to leave the decoration in the drink for half an hour. You can also brush it off with toothpaste.

Dipping in vinegar

Someone also considers vinegar to be an indicator of the authenticity of gold. The product must be dipped in vinegar for 2-5 minutes, the fake will darken, there will be no reaction on the noble metal. But experts unanimously argue that this method of verification is not effective.

Line from a pencil

This pencil is sold in pharmacies. The method will be effective if the jewelry is pre-moistened with water. You need to draw a pencil over the surface. There should be no trace left on it, because this substance enters into a chemical reaction with most metals, but not with gold. The presence of a pencil mark exposes a fake or low purity gold.

Magnetic way

All ingenious is simple. Noble metals are not attracted by a magnet, but fakes from an alloy are easy! However, copper, tin, bronze and aluminum also do not magnetise, and fraudsters use this property to make fakes. In this case, the deception can be exposed, noticing suspiciously light weight products, because all of the listed metals are from among the light ones. But here you need to, as they say, "fill your hand."

Gold has always attracted not only connoisseurs of precious metals, but also charlatans. Fraudsters, using modern and ancient technologies, have learned to create skillful forgeries. In order not to fall for such tricks, it is worth getting acquainted with simple, but proven ways to determine the authenticity of gold. Variants with the use of magnets, mechanical and chemical effects on the precious metal, which are easy to apply even at home, will come in handy.

When purchasing a gold item, the buyer is guided by the presence of a sample - a specific stamp confirming the authenticity of the metal and the percentage of gold in the alloy. On sale you can find gold 375, 500, 585, 750, 958 and 999. But even such a mark cannot confirm the authenticity of a product. Only a branded imprint of a well-known manufacturer of jewelry or ingots can act as a guarantee. In other cases, especially in the absence of a stigma, it will be useful to know how to determine the fineness of gold at home.

Mechanical inspection methods

Knowing the physical properties of gold and other metals used to make counterfeits, you can accurately distinguish the original product.

Magnet

Check how the jewelry reacts to the magnet. The noble metal does not respond to this test. If the sample is attracted by a magnet, then there is iron in it.

Important! In the presence of copper, aluminum, bronze in the alloy, the reaction to the magnet will also occur.

Sound

Try to throw a ring or earrings on a stone surface from a height of human growth. At the same time, precious metal produces a unique ringing sound, similar to the sound of crystal. It will be problematic to use a sound check in the absence of a musical ear and, if necessary, assess the authenticity of light chains or real gold bars.

Scratches

Gold is a relatively soft metal. Take advantage of this quality to test its originality. Swipe the sample over the glass - real precious metal will not leave marks on it.

You can try drawing a line on unglazed china with the decoration. The trace from the noble metal will remain yellow, from other alloys - dark.

Take a ring, the authenticity of which you do not doubt. Swipe the reference and questionable sample over any solid object. Compare the marks left on the surface. If the test piece is real, the scratches will be identical in appearance.

Chemical test methods

You do not need to recall the chemistry course to learn how to determine the authenticity of gold at home. It is enough to know that gold is an inert material that weakly reacts with various reagents, oxygen and use the following methods.

1. Iodine. Apply a drop of regular iodine to the cleaned surface. The reaction may be surprising. After removing the solution after a few minutes, you will see a dark mark on the precious sample. Therefore, it is better to conduct the experiment in an inconspicuous area. There are no traces of iodine on copper and brass. The mark on the high-standard gold will also be subtle.

   Important! Iodine cannot be used to test products of 583.585 samples. Otherwise, the decoration will be irretrievably damaged.

2. Vinegar. If you keep a real jewelry made of noble metal in a container with vinegar for at least half an hour, there will be no plaque on the surface and no color change.
3. Lapis pencil. This product contains silver nitrate. It is the reaction of the gold sample to this element that we will look at. Genuine noble metal does not react to it. But the fake will begin to oxidize and darken.

The oxidation reaction will occur when the counterfeit interacts with nitric acid.

Grandfather checks

Even in the old days, the authenticity of gold was "checked for a tooth." Our ancestors were not mistaken in the choice of the method, as a dent appeared on the soft gold in the place of the bite.

Don't bite into ingots or jewelry. It is enough to rub over it with a harder material, such as copper, and a noticeable mark will remain on the soft surface. It is possible that even under a real spraying, a metal of a shade unusual for the original will be found.

A quality counterfeit cannot be distinguished from the original. Therefore, the main advice is
purchase gold jewelry only in trusted salon stores with a good reputation. And in case of doubt, contact a professional jeweler to check the value and quality. Start your self-diagnosis of gold for authenticity by studying the basic properties of the yellow metal.

Properties and features of metal

The history of the noble metal can be compared with the history of civilization: the Old Testament contains the lines about gold. In jewelry, metal has been used for over 5 thousand years: cult things, utensils were made from it, and clothes were gilded. There is no 100% pure gold - it is impossible to completely clean it from impurities of other metals (even bank bars are 99.99% gold, which is obtained exclusively in laboratories). Gold stands out in three ways.

1. Strength. Aurum is a soft, ductile metal, similar in hardness to that of a nail. Exclusively due to this property, the gold alloy can be given absolutely any shape, it is easy to process. The new product is sold perfectly polished. Worn jewelry is scratched and worn. If you scratch gold with a pin, a trace will remain. After checking the metal "for a tooth", a light impression will also be preserved.
2. Smell. Real gold doesn't smell. If, after rubbing in the hands, the metal product has a characteristic odor, then it is unlikely that it is a real gold object.
3. Colour. Pure gold is yellow in color with a warm shade and noble luster. Gold with an admixture of copper has reddish tones. The joints of the links will be slightly different in color: the soldering is always brighter. True, this can be seen on the braided elements of chains and bracelets. The color difference is not noticeable on earrings and rings.

Views

Pure metal is not used to create gold jewelry due to its softness. In the original alloy, the percentage of the noble metal is 37.3; 58.5 and 75%. This indicator determines the sample. The rest are impurities that are responsible for color and hardness. Currently, there are ten types of gold of different shades, which are obtained by alloying. This is the name of the process of attaching alloys of other metals.

1. Yellow. Classic look. The popular 585 assay contains 58.5% gold, 18% silver, the remainder of which is copper. The lesser known 750 is 75% gold, 17% silver, and the remainder is copper.
2. White. It is obtained by combining gold with manganese, palladium or nickel. The latter metal is allergenic, so nickel has been banned in jewelry in Europe for over 15 years.
3. Pink. Trendy copper and silver connection.
4. Red. The alloy contains a lot of copper (half). In European countries, it is considered low-quality.
5. Green. An exotic alloy of gold, silver and potassium.
6. Blue. Compound with indium.
7. Blue. Compound with iron and chromium.
8. Purple. An alloy with aluminum, which is used as inserts in decorations.
9. Brown. It is also called chocolate and is created by special treatment of the surface layer. Canadian jewelers call the new compound 584 fineness.
10. Black. Another trendy jewelry trend. It is either an oxidized alloy of gold, chromium and cobalt, or a special technology of coating a gold jewelry with a layer of amorphous carbon or black rhodium.

Authentication

Visual assessment is the fastest, easiest and certainly the first way to self-check a product for authenticity. Pay attention to two points.

1. Try. Study the inside of the jewelry carefully. With the naked eye, it is easy to distinguish between the sample stamp and the manufacturer's impression. They are mechanical and laser. A magnifying glass or magnifying glass will help you better see the brand. The print must have clear contours, numbers and markings must be readable and understandable. Fakes can also have a stamp with a test, and in this case, only a competent jeweler can distinguish a fake. Jewelry without sample - 100% fake.
2. Tag. The jewelry passport is a tag, which is also required. The manufacturer puts the OTK stamp on it and indicates the following parameters: name, name of the metal, sample, size, weight, description of the inserts.

Pay attention to the weight of a prospective precious purchase, especially a massive one. Large jewelry can be soldered with foreign metals to increase weight. You are unlikely to find out what is contained inside a voluminous chain or ring and will purchase ordinary costume jewelry instead of jewelry. Outwardly, a massive gold piece cannot be light: it means that it is hollow or made of dubious alloys.

Magnet

High-grade gold will not stick to a powerful magnet, since it has anti-magnetic properties. Aluminum and copper are slightly attracted.

If a chain, earring or ring sticks strongly to the magnet, it means that it contains an impurity that is susceptible to the influence of the magnetic field. If 585 gold (or higher) is highly magnetised, the home test for authenticity has not been passed. This is a fake, which contains iron, nickel, steel, cobalt or their alloys.

Another way is to roll the decoration into the crumb of black bread for a maximum of half an hour. If the item is oxidized and darkened, your gold is not gold at all.

Iodine

Gold, being an inert metal, practically does not oxidize and enters into a chemical reaction with only a few substances. Iodine is one of them. It is considered a good marker for precious metals. Be as careful as possible and proceed in three steps.

1. Application. On the back side or an inconspicuous area of ​​the product, apply a drop of iodine (you can use a toothpick).
2. Expectation. Let's wait one or two minutes. Remove the iodine with a cotton pad.
3. Evaluation of the result. If a chemical reaction occurs and a stain remains, this is the original. In general, jewelry is “afraid” of iodine: it darkens even if it just lies next to the bubble. Remove the stain immediately with toothpaste or tooth powder. The absence of traces of iodine or light milky stains are typical for a fake.

There is a known method of checking the naturalness of the metal with another antiseptic preparation - brilliant green. The procedure is similar. On precious metal jewelry, the applied green spot will change color to purple or purple.

Lapis pencil

In home examination, you can use this antiseptic, silver-containing agent, the main function of which is hemostatic. On a decoration soaked in water, draw a line with a lapis pencil and erase it after a few seconds. The remaining trace will indicate a fake.

If the item, placed in a container with vinegar, becomes dark or changes color, you have a jewelry imitation in front of you.

Acid

The chemical properties of the metal are such that it does not interact with acids and alkalis. Therefore, the method is considered one of the most reliable. To distinguish a real piece of jewelry from a fake one, nitric acid is used. Proceed in two steps.

1. Application. Place the item in a clean metal dish. Using a pipette, apply a drop of nitric acid to the decoration.
2. Result evaluation... If the gold turns greenish or becomes stained, it is a gross fake. The color will change slightly, it will acquire a milky hue - on a gilded product or if there are impurities in the composition. The color and appearance of real gold will remain unchanged.

You can also use a special acid kit sold in jewelry stores and chemical reagent stores, laboratory supplies.

Since Aurum is one of the heaviest metals, its quality can be determined by immersion in water. Real gold sinks very quickly, and products with a large amount of impurities or fakes sink slowly and smoothly.

White Fashion Test

The reason for the popularity of white gold is fashion and its features: it is much harder than yellow, which allows you to reliably fix and frame precious stones.

The alloy contains palladium, manganese or nickel, which color it in a matte silver color. In everyday life, platinum is mistakenly called white gold, which is actually much more expensive. In appearance, white metal is very similar to silver, so they can also be easily confused.

Sulfur ointment, which is sold in pharmacies, will help to check white gold at home. The decoration should be smeared with a thick layer of the preparation for a couple of hours. Silver or an alloy with a high content of it will definitely turn black, and white gold will retain its original appearance, that is, a chemical reaction will not occur.

White precious metals can be distinguished from each other and from steel by their density. To do this, the volume and weight of the product are determined, then the density is calculated using the formula, and the indicator is compared with the "native" densities of metals. If the decoration, besides the metal itself, also has stones, this method will not work.

The time of special demand for jewelry is on New Year's Eve (the main peak is the last week of the end of the year). According to statistics, the number of fraudulent cases has at least doubled since the first days of December. In order not to run into a fake - be vigilant, pay attention to the presence of a sample and a tag. And most importantly - under no circumstances buy jewelry in underground passages, on the beach, in the markets from dubious sellers. Make jewelry purchases only at specialized stores. If you doubt the authenticity of the jewelry, contact the professionals who, using special equipment, will accurately determine the quality and price of the metal. It is clear that this service will be paid. But the purchase of gold is also a kind of investment.

The question of how to check gold at home may arise when purchasing jewelry on the Internet, from hands or in non-specialized retail outlets, especially abroad. When buying a gold item in official stores, you need to ask the manager for certificates and documents for the goods. If doubts remain, you can check the authenticity of gold with home remedies, without resorting to complex examinations. The everyday method may not allow you to distinguish white gold from silver, in such cases, the jewelry should be handed over for laboratory research.

Visual check

Before checking gold for authenticity, you should carefully examine the product. Any jewelry product is marked with a sample indicating the percentage of precious metal and the manufacturer's mark (the initial letter of the manufacturer). The sample should have clear outlines, numbers and letters can be easily read when enlarged. The stamp is applied parallel to the edges. The bulk of jewelry in Russia is produced in 585 samples. Products 750 and above are elite and are distinguished by a high price. The budget option is 375 assay products. Products with a lower content of precious metal are jewelry. The gold chain or gold ring inherited from my grandmother is marked with 583 fineness - such a standard existed in the USSR.

The newly purchased product comes with a thick paper tag with a seal. The label indicates the weight, sample, name and location of the manufacturer. You need to know how to check gold at home for authenticity. There are several signs:

1. Processing quality. The surface should be polished to a high shine, without cracks or chips.
2. Homogeneous uniform gloss over the entire area.
3. Workmanship. Counterfeit goods may have traces of rough processing and soldering, the stone (if any) does not hold firmly.

Checking with improvised chemicals

To understand whether you purchased gold or not, you need to carefully examine the product. After a visual inspection of the product, you can check for authenticity at home using the chemicals at hand. It is not recommended to use the ancient method of testing "for a tooth", since it is possible to distinguish gold from a fake in this way only in the most primitive cases, even without taking into account the aesthetic component of such a test. The following methods are common:

1. Reaction with iodine. Real gold reacts chemically with iodine to darken the metal. To distinguish gold from counterfeit at home, just drop the drug on the product or moisten the surface with a cotton swab. The darkening of the surface of the jewelry at the point of contact with iodine will serve as evidence of the presence of gold in the tested object. The interaction of gold with iodine causes a persistent darkening of the metal, which can be removed with a 30% solution of sodium hyposulfite (drug, sold freely in pharmacies).
2. Acetic acid. The acetic acid test is a proven way to identify gold at home. The product is placed in a 70% solution for 5 minutes. If the surface darkens or another reaction begins (up to the release of gases), you have a fake decoration in front of you. Gold does not react with vinegar. Impurities contained in manufactured products will also not give a reaction in standard samples. If the counterfeit contains small amounts of precious metal, the reaction will occur, but the darkening will be uneven or in a separate part. Jewelry with standard fineness will not change. After the experiment, do not forget to rinse the product with water, avoiding getting vinegar on exposed skin. Vinegar can have negative effects on silver and pearls, so products with these inclusions should not be tested this way.
3. Reaction with silver nitrate. Silver nitrate reacts with any metal other than gold. The drug is known in pharmacies as a lapis crayon. For testing, the jewelry must be moistened with water and a substance must be applied to its surface. Gold will not react on contact with silver nitrate, other metals will change color (darken). Checking low-purity gold with a lap pencil is not advisable, the reaction can occur due to the high content of impurities in the product.

To check gold for authenticity at home and not be mistaken, you can watch a video on this topic.

Other home testing methods

Gold verification at home can be done in several ways:

1. Checking with a magnet. Rough forgeries are made by gold plating on a steel base. In this case, the product will become magnetised.
2. To determine the authenticity of gold at home, you can use another gold product, which is beyond doubt. To do this, scratch the hard surface with the gold piece and the object to be tested. There should be no differences in the marks left. It is possible to scratch the gold piece and the test piece with the same hard object. The tracks must be identical.
3. The item under test must be scratched on the ceramic tile. The precious metal will leave its characteristic golden color, otherwise the band will be dark.
4. A simple test can be done with rye bread. The pulp should be soaked in water to a homogeneous semi-liquid state, and the product under test should be glued with the resulting mass. After drying, traces of oxidation will appear on the fake.
5. People with a subtle hearing can be advised to test the sound of gold products. The easiest way to check the quality of the rings in this way. It is necessary to throw the jewelry from a small height onto the glass surface. Precious metal will emit a melodic crystal ringing, fake products will clang.
6. Polished gold looks the same in the sun and in the shade. If the test sample shines in the light but fades in the dark, it is a fake.
7. A deep scratch should be made on the test piece with a hard object (for example, a diamond glass cutter). If a metal of a different color is found under the scratch, then the product is made by gold plating.

Determination of the authenticity of jewelry in domestic conditions, at best, shows the presence of a precious metal, but does not give an idea of ​​the fineness and the amount of impurities. An accurate conclusion can only be obtained in laboratory conditions.