How Can You Tell If Your Ring Is Real Gold?

It's important to know if your gold ring is real.

When you are outlaying a fair amount of money for jewelry, it makes sense that you want to make sure that it's real. Per ABC News, sales of gold jewelry increased to approximately 16 billion as of 2003. Gold jewelry is not just a fad but a staple in jewelry design. Jewelry that is less than 10 karats of real gold is illegal to sell in the United States. However, you can't always tell that the jewelry is not real by just looking at it.

Instructions

1. Closely examine your ring. The workmanship of the ring may be able to indicate whether or not it's real gold or fake gold. One way to know if it's a real gold ring is if the edges of it are frayed. If so, the ring is likely fake gold.

2. Check for the karat mark. The mark will state that the ring is 18K, 14K, 10K and all other values. Every piece of jewelry that is real gold has these stamped on them.

3. Examine the ring for the trademark of the manufacturer. Real gold jewelry will always have this trademark.

4. Look at the ring and check for discolorations. This is best to do with older gold jewelry. Some tell-tale discolorations that are indicative of fake gold are black marks. But, any discoloration should be cause for concern.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy gold rings from stores that have solid reputations.

• Use a magnifying glass when examining the ring.

• Other countries do not have the same standards for gold.

References

• ABC News: How Can You Tell If Your Gold Jewelry is Real?
• Financial Planning: How to Tell if Something is Made of Real Gold
• Horlach Jewelers: What You Should Know About Karat Gold