How to determine the fineness of gold?

Probably everyone knows that not all precious metals in jewelry are used in their pure form. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult for an ordinary person to determine the reliability of a sample on gold. But even without special components, and at home, you can find out the authenticity of the sample of gold jewelry.

In the production of any jewelry made of precious metals, test mark. Gold and silver have their own sample classification. But sometimes manufacturers try to save money on the materials used. They add less metal to the impurity than stated in the sample. The numbers on it show how many grams of pure metal (in our case, gold) are contained in the total weight of the product. The lower the number, the worse the quality of the product.

There are two main government systems for assaying jewelry.

The following markings apply here: 375, 500, 585, 750, 958, 999. This means that for 1000 grams of alloy there is a certain amount of grams of pure gold, depending on the declared sample. The rest of the difference is the added metals (silver, copper, zinc, nickel). For example, 585 gold items contain 58.5%, and the remaining 41.5% are alloys of other metals. In jewelry 375 samples of gold are only 37.5%, and so on.

The jewelry, which is 100% pure gold, is valued at 24 carats. Typically, such jewelry is rare due to its high cost and the physical properties of gold. The metal itself is very soft and easily amenable to external factors. Fineness 999 corresponds to 24 carats, respectively, fineness 375 is 9 carats.

And also, depending on the amount of added metal, the product will have its own shade... For example, with a high silver content, the jewelry will be lighter in color - the so-called white gold. With a high copper content, the color of the decoration will already be reddish.

All enterprises engaged in the legal production of jewelry undergo control in the state assay supervision... Before the test is stamped, the finished products are checked for gold content. As a rule, products are checked selectively or some part of them from each produced batch.

Often manufacturers, jewelry shops or workshops independently conduct an internal verification of the declared sample.

Before determining the fineness of gold, especially at home, you need to carefully consider the brand of the sample itself... It should be in the center of the product. For example, if you want to evaluate a sample on a ring, then it should be located at an equal distance from the edges of the circle. All numerical designations should be of the same size and clearly visible as the sample outline itself. If these requirements do not meet, there is a likelihood of an inaccurate mark on the product.

At home, you can independently find out the sample of gold and check its authenticity.

Below we will consider several ways to check a sample.

One of the most popular ways to test a gold sample is by using iodine. For decoration you need to drip a few drops of iodine, if it darkens, we can conclude that there is practically no gold in it.

Similarly, you can check the decorations and using vinegar.... It is only important that the declared sample is not lower than 585. If you have a fake, it will immediately become darker.

It takes 2-3 days to determine the authenticity of the sample in this way. The decoration is rolled into a crumb of bread, and after a few days it is unrolled. If the bread turns greenish, then the sample is true.

You can use unfired stoneware to check the sample, such as a plate. If you run it with a gold ornament, there should be no dark stripes. If stripes appeared on ceramics, then the jewelry does not contain gold.

This is the easiest way, as the magnet does not attract gold. If you bring a magnet to a piece of jewelry and it will be attracted to it, it means that it contains other metals besides gold.

However, there is also a more reliable way to check the sample at home. It requires special components: nitric acid or chloric gold. If a gold piece, interacting with one of these substances, changes its color and becomes dark or even blackens, then it is a fake.

To be sure of the authenticity of gold jewelry, it is better to consult a specialist. Products can be checked either at pawnshops or at places of purchase of gold. There I use for checking touchstone... It is a black slab of siliceous shale. Two lines are drawn on it, one is a product, the second is a reference sample. Then it is dipped in a special solution. If both features are the same color, then there is no doubt about the authenticity of the product.

Do not get carried away with the process of checking the gold jewelry, otherwise you may simply ruin it. To prevent this from happening, you need to remember some points:

• it is better to carry out test checks from the inside of the jewelry, its external side has the same composition;
• it is not worth checking the products in those places where there are small parts or locks, since these places must be checked by specialists before selling the product;
• a test is never put on gilding, so it is better not to waste energy on it;
• if the decoration consists of several parts and parts, then the samples may stand separately on some of them.

And even when buying gold in jewelry stores, you can stumble upon a fake. The test is mainly put on the locks and fasteners of jewelry; an unscrupulous seller can take away only these individual parts for control. When the appropriate test is affixed to them, then they are inserted into a fake jewelry.

In order not to find yourself in an unpleasant situation when buying gold, you need to know simple rules.

• Visit famous stores or stores with a large retail network... If in doubt, you have the right to ask for certificates and documents for the decoration. No decent store will risk their reputation by refusing to provide them.

• If the seller claims that the gold came from abroad, and therefore there is no mark on it, this is incorrect. Every country in the world puts its own test in the manufacture of jewelry. Another thing is that in each - it has its own, for example, in Europe, and specifically, in Belgium 585 assay is denoted by the number 3, 750 - the number 2, 833 - 3. In the USA, the carat method is used.

• The most popular samples are 750 and 585. Nowadays it is rare to find sample 583, it is no longer used, but you can still find products with it. Such a test was made back in the days of the USSR, and today it is a kind of quality guarantee. If you come across such a piece of jewelry, do not doubt its authenticity.

• If you buy jewelry, and the seller claims that it is an alloy of titanium with gold, then there is no gold in such jewelry. This is just a marketing ploy to attract buyers.

• You need to understand that high quality products cannot have any defects. No scratches, no unevenness, no chips, and even the color should be uniform throughout the product. If you notice a defect, it means that the sample on the jewelry does not correspond to the declared one.

• And most importantly, jewelry with a high gold content cannot have a low price... Gold itself is an expensive metal. The higher the percentage of gold in the jewelry, the more expensive it will be. And also the price will depend on the complexity of the jewelry, from the country of origin and the total weight of the product.

Understand that not a single store, or even more so in a pawnshop it is impossible to find items made of pure 999 gold... As noted above, gold is a soft metal and lends itself easily to physical pressure. Otherwise, it would not have been mixed with other metals for jewelry or coinage.

You can learn more about another way to determine the sample of gold at home in the next video.