How to Spot Gold Plating
Throughout history, gold has been a precious metal and one of its primary uses has been to make jewelry. The karat measurement refers to the purity of gold. In jewelry, 10 karat is the lowest purity (and the densest), while 24 karat is very soft and nearly pure. Sometimes a karat purity mark is on jewelry, but a simple test can resolve any questions.
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Instructions
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Look for markings on the piece. Typically, gold jewelry has a number plus the letter K, to signify the karat purity. The marking 10K is 10 karat gold and 24K is 24 karat gold. This will typically be on the clasp for necklaces and bracelets, on the inside of a ring and on the post of earrings. Mostly marked jewelry truly is of that karat purity.
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Make a test scratch. Gold is a soft metal, alloyed with other metals to improve its durability and strength. When alloyed with other metals, the karat measurement indicates the amount of gold present. Twenty-four karat is pure gold, and alloys can take it down to 10 karats. Items less pure than this are gold-filled, gold plated or gold washed. Scratch the jewelry with a file. Scratch in a protected area, such as the inside the clasp, as it is a destructive test. Next, you apply an acid to this scratch to test the purity of the underlying metal, so you do not want the scratch to be in a prominent place. You are scratching the item to see what the underlying metal is because a gold plated item means the underlying metal is not gold.
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Test for purity using a gold testing kit with acid. The kit will have instructions about the exact usage. A typical kit has separate bottles for 10K, 14K, 18K, 22K and 24K gold. Apply a drop of the acid to the scratched area and note any color change. Pure gold will not change color. Any alloy metal in the gold will react to the acid. This will create a color change on the area and provide a guideline about the purity of the gold. Because you have scratched below the surface, into the underlying metal, this will detect if an item is gold or simply gold plated.
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Tips & Warnings
There may be mailing restrictions on acid kits depending on the state where you live.
Make sure to make your test cut in a protected area.
Do not attempt to use acid tests on coins as doing so may diminish their value.
Take care when using the acids as they are highly toxic.
References
- Photo Credit Jewelry image by Sergey Yakovenko from Fotolia.com
