How to verify the authenticity of gold and check its test, even at home

When purchasing jewelry, you need to make sure of the quality of the product by requesting from the seller all relevant documents, certificates and technical specifications. Only such a responsible approach will make it possible to dispense with recommendations that will help how to verify gold at home for authenticity and to verify the correctness of this test. On the other hand, today there are many proven fraudulent schemes in which even self-respecting manufacturers try to get big profits from consumers.

It is worth considering that real, pure gold is a very soft material that is not resistant to wear and tear, therefore it is customary to make jewelry from a more durable, but no less beautiful alloy.

Some organizations take advantage of this, adding too many impurities. But not even the most sophisticated lover of the beautiful is able to approximately determine the level of quality to which the product belongs.

The most affordable scientific approaches to the process that you can apply yourself

The basis of such tests are the simplest physical and chemical experiments, which even a schoolchild can cope with. You just need to stock up on a number of tools and reagents.

These approaches will make it possible to verify gold only if it is necessary to verify its high or low quality, and not establish the exact mass fraction of the content of impurities.

• Iodine. Gold treatment with iodine is the most popular and reliable home method. We put one drop of the solution on the product, wait three minutes and evaluate the results of the chemical reaction. If after removal of the reagent the surface has not changed its color, then we can say with confidence that it is a high-quality metal. If necessary, you can even make a scratch on the surface and drop iodine into it. If any trace other than the original remains on gold, this is a sign of a fake.
• Vinegar. If it is not possible to use the option with iodine, then ordinary vinegar will help. Pour it into a dry, clean container, do not dilute it with anything and immerse the selected decoration. We are waiting for half an hour - the item that has changed its color is just fake.
• Chlorine Gold. Not the most affordable, but very effective way. The chemical composition is applied directly to the product. Quality gold will not react with it, and no changes will follow. A fake will betray itself by a color change or hiss.
• Lapis. A pencil of this material can be purchased at a pharmacy. We take the experimental product, wet it with water, apply a small dot with the acquired reagent. If there is no reaction, we are dealing with gold. If the oxidation process or other chemical manifestations has begun, then gold is not real.
• Magnet. If the gold coating is applied directly to the metal base, then this will help determine a large magnet. Unfortunately, most of the materials used as the basis for fakes do not respond to this test.
• The method of Archimedes. Nowadays it is used very rarely, because valid only for large items. And the process of conducting mathematical calculations based on physical formulas is quite troublesome. It is necessary to calculate how much water will be displaced by the product, based on which the density of the composition is determined.
• Unbaked ceramic tiles. We take a golden object and draw it along the surface of the tile, then evaluate the quality of the trace. If it is black or gray, then this is the most common metal. Gold leaves gold marks.

You need to understand that using the above methods, you can slightly (and if it is a fake, then very much) damage the surface of the object.

Folk methods for determining the authenticity of gold metal

There are several other approaches that will help you evaluate the gold product. True, they are less accurate and informative than previous variations.

• By sound. A good solution for those who have a subtle ear. Practice shows that people who regularly use this approach are able to determine the quality of a product with a high level of accuracy. You just need to drop the selected item from a small height onto a very flat and dense surface. Real gold will make a sound comparable to the ringing of two crystal glasses. True, for soft and fluid products (bracelets, chains), this option is not suitable.
• Test of strength. Even in ancient times, everyone knew that it was necessary to check gold for a tooth in order to evaluate its authenticity. But then this was done to verify the softness of the material, which indicated the absence of impurities. Today, it is customary to scratch an object with a very sharp instrument, this allows us to verify the uniformity of the metal. The presence of a dark layer under the coating indicates a poor quality of raw materials.

Tip: The described method has special specifics. You need to scratch hidden areas, this will save the attractive appearance of the product. But at the same time, you should not use small parts (cloves, fasteners) for the test, they are most often checked during the evaluation and certification of the product, so they can be of high quality, unlike the main part of the decoration.

• Contact with gold. It is necessary to draw two lines of the same size and depth on the test sample and a high-quality gold product. If the resulting prints are completely identical, then the product is genuine.
• Reaction to the sun. Real gold glistens equally expressively both in the sun and in the shade. If you first examine the object in the shade, then take it out in direct sunlight, you can easily determine the difference in the appearance of the jewelry under various conditions.
• Black bread. The crumb of black bread is bred with a small amount of water and knead to a homogeneous state of gruel. We place an experimental specimen in it, we try to stick metal well around it. Set aside the product and wait until the composition dries. Then we break the product and examine its inner surface. If the gold is of high quality, then it will not leave any traces. Otherwise, traces of oxidation can be detected.

If the above methods did not help determine the quality of the product, you should not achieve the result by increasing the concentration of the reagents, increasing the duration of their exposure, increasing the indicators of the applied force. It is better to contact a professional and establish all the indicators of interest with his help.