Does gold magnetise and what does it mean?
Gold items have long been a symbol of wealth and success, indicate the status of their owner. The price of gold is quite high, so items made from it can be counterfeited. Many gold-colored items are similar in appearance to gold, but they are not. There is an opinion that gold does not magnetise, so it is worth finding out what magnetic properties a precious metal has and how it reacts to a magnet.
Magnetic properties
Gold is a special metal with unique properties. It is highly resistant to acid and oxidative processes. Gold items have a high density, and at the same time they are quite plastic. The main properties of gold include its softness, malleability and inertness. If you bring a magnet to a gold bar with a fineness of 999, it will not magnetize, since such a metal has anti-magnetic properties.
Pure gold is not used in jewelry, since the metal is fragile and will not be suitable for frequent wear.
To create jewelry, special alloys are used, where, in addition to this metal, others are used, called ligature. Due to this, the alloy has high wear resistance.
If you bring a magnet to items made of gold, silver or bismuth, then it will not only not be attracted, but, on the contrary, will repel... This suggests that products made of high-grade metals do not magnetise.
If the alloy has a fineness of 585, then it is considered high-fineness.... In this case, 58.5% will come from gold, and the remaining 41.5% will be split between copper and silver. Combining with each other, they do not fall under the influence of a magnet, since neither gold nor silver is magnetised, while copper, in turn, adheres insignificantly.
A sample engraved on a piece of jewelry will indicate the composition.
For such jewelry, an alloy consisting of 37.5% to 75% of a precious metal is chosen. The percentage of silver can vary from 5 to 15, and palladium is also present - from 3 to 20%. The rest goes to copper.
Sometimes you can find reviews that only the clasp in the chain is magnetised... This is due to the fact that carbon steel is used for the manufacture of spring fasteners. In the event that the product itself is not magnetised, you can buy it.
Why can gold react to a magnet?
Before buying gold jewelry, many buyers often take a magnet with them to the store, trying to find out if the product is genuine. The use of a magnet helps in some cases to identify an ornamental specimen.
Some unscrupulous manufacturers produce fake jewelry. Even if there is a test on a gold piece, this does not always mean that it is genuine, since there is a possibility of a fake. It is not difficult to put a sample on a product, and it cannot be an indicator of the authenticity of the product..
If you bring a magnet to a chain, earrings or bracelet made of gold, then it will not take them.
If the composition contains cobalt, iron or steel, then such a product will become magnetized, and it can be considered a fake.
According to experienced experts, there are several reasons why products begin to adhere to a magnet, and a chain or ring is capable of magnetising to itself.
- When using gold alloy with cadmium or nickel... Most often they are used in the manufacture of stamped thick chains.
- Using gilded jewelry... Now there are effective methods of applying a protective coating to the product, in which a film forms on it, it is firmly attached to the base.
There are metals that are outwardly similar to gold, but do not have special properties.
- Aluminum bronze alloys, which are 90% copper and 10% aluminum.
- Bartbronze variantscomposed of 50% tin and bronze.
- Goldine alloyswhere copper and aluminum are combined. Goldin is used by jewelers in many European countries in the manufacture of costume jewelry.
- Platinum alloybased on copper. In addition, platinum, silver, nickel and zinc are present here.
Copper has weak magnetic properties and is similar in appearance to gold. Quite often, unscrupulous manufacturers make fake copper jewelry.
To make such items similar to gold jewelry, they are covered with gilding.
All of these alloys imitate gold perfectly. A magnet will not help to identify the authenticity of such products, since these non-ferrous metals are not always attracted to it. Checking chains, rings and earrings made of gold at home cannot give one hundred percent results in establishing authenticity.
The color of the products and checking them on a magnet are not a reliable indicator of the quality of the product.
In its pure form, gold is not magnetized, therefore, when the jewelry reacts to a magnet, it must be checked for authenticity. In that case, if the product reaches for a magnet, you should not purchase it. Alternatively, it is recommended to check it for authenticity with a specialist jeweler..
There are several ways to test precious metal products for their authenticity. This is their laboratory research, and the use of various reagents. Using reagents and special equipment, specialists will check the products and assess their authenticity.
It is recommended to purchase jewelry only in reputable jewelry stores that value their reputation. It is also worth making sure that you have a certificate for such products.
These precautions will allow you to purchase a natural piece of jewelry, and not a cheap fake.
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that it is not advisable to check the authenticity of a product made of precious metals using a magnet, since this will not provide a 100% guarantee of their authenticity.
Checking the authenticity of gold with a magnet - in the video below.
