At SAMARA JEWELRY, gold is one of the main raw materials for the manufacture of our jewelry, we have allies that comply with rigorous processes for the extraction of minerals, always supporting sustainable mining in our country.
One of the most frequent doubts when buying a gold jewel is to know if it is made of this noble metal or if, on the contrary, it is about accessories that are made of other materials such as steel, brass or bronze but with a gold finish. Since in this lies its difference in price, quality and durability.
That is why we bring you several tips so you can check if your investment will be the best.
You can do a basic review with the naked eye:
Purity Seal: It is a first impression of the quality of the jewel, the pieces in gold usually have an official seal with three figures, which in the case of 18K gold is 750, this seal is accompanied by the manufacturer's isotype or logo, for our jewelry we use the “S”.
There is another type of home test:
Rub the jewel: You can do it by rubbing the jewel against a piece of ceramic, preferably unglazed, and rubbing the jewel against it. If, when rubbing the piece, it leaves a trace of gold, it is very likely that it is a gold piece, if, on the contrary, the trace left by the jewel is black or gray will not be gold.
Tests that you can request from an expert:
Use a magnet: Gold and silver have a type of magnetism known as diamagnetism, this property repels the magnetic field. That is why when analyzing a part, certain steps must be followed:
- The person who wants to do this test must first scratch the piece on a "touchstone", usually non-gold jewelry can slip more, since gold has greater resistance.
- Subsequently, this line will be impregnated with an acid, if it disappears and also, when the jewel is approached to a magnet it is attracted, this is an indicator that it is not a gold piece.
But this test is not entirely infallible, since the problem is that today a practice is continued that consists of nickel-plating white gold pieces before giving them a rhodium plating.
Nickel is a ferromagnetic metal and is very easily attracted to a small but powerful neodymium magnet. In many rhodium plating, the piece is first nickel-plated and then rhodium-plated to make the plating more durable. Which eventually causes the piece to be attracted to the magnet.
Use nitric acid: Nitric acid is a highly corrosive chemical substance and can be dangerous if not handled carefully, which is why we suggest that this test be carried out by an expert person. To check the authenticity of gold, simply immerse the jewel in this substance. If it turns green it is made of another metal, if it turns white it is made of gold plated silver and if it does not change the piece will be made of gold.
Digital proofs: There are a number of instruments on the market that allow testing of this precious metal, consisting of placing the piece on an LCD screen and reviewing it using a pencil probe.
The analysis will show two values, one in karats and the other, with the approximate percentage of gold. Among the best valued is the Gemoro Auracle Agt3 Gold 624k, which can provide a detailed analysis of the piece in seconds.
Request a review by an expert:Finally, and our best advice, is to seek advice from a trusted jeweler or jewelry workshop, where they will use various methods that will give you the certainty that the investment you are making is the correct one.
We hope that this information will be very useful to you when checking the authenticity of your jewelry!