Is Your Jewelry Made of Real Gold?

You have a ring that you believe is gold, but how can you be sure? Most gold jewelry will have an engraving (also known as a mark or stamp) indicating that it is gold and the number of karats (purity level, 24K being the purest form of gold). Unfortunately, you can't always trust it.

Laws for gold jewelry markings differ from country to country. Most countries do have laws which require gold jewelry to be marked with its karats or fineness. This marking is typically a physical stamping done with a punch, but laser engraving is also quite common. More often than not, this marking is made by the manufacturer without any verification by an independent third party. In the United States, jewelry is required to be marked accurately, but there is little or no enforcement of these laws. In other words, there is no guarantee of the gold content of your jewelry, even if it has been marked.

That said, there are some countries that legally require jewelry to be tested and "hallmarked" by an independent third party, usually an accredited assay office. In these cases, the assay office is providing a full guarantee of the jewelry's gold purity. If that analysis is found to be incorrect, the consumer can take legal action. Therefore, jewelry hallmarked in a handful of countries can be considered reliable.

Unfortunately, these cases are the minority, especially considering there are no such requirements or enforcement in the United States. Because of this, it is important to verify the purity of jewelry with at least one testing method against the jewelry's mark. Cash 4 Gold uses three trusted gold testing methods: the acid/scratch test, electronic testing, and an X-ray fluorescence scan. Regardless of the accuracy of the mark on your jewelry, Cash 4 Gold uses state-of-the-art equipment to accurately assess the gold content.

Acid/Scratch Testing
"Acid" or "scratch" testing is the oldest and most common form of gold purity testing. With this method, a tester uses needles that have been verified as having certain levels of gold as a comparison point to confirm the gold content of jewelry. The tester first scratches a needle that corresponds to a specific karat level as well as the piece of jewelry in question on a touchstone.

Next, low level acid that corresponds to the karat level being tested (if a 14K needle is used, there is corresponding acid) is dripped into each scratch. The acid will then cause a reaction with the metal and change color. If the color of the scratches from the needle and the jewelry are identical, then the gold purity level has been identified. If not, the tester will then try a different needle and corresponding acid until confirmation.

Electronic Gold Tester
Electronic gold testers are much faster and easier to use than the scratch test without the involvement of acids. In this case, a portable electronic device is attached to your gold jewelry with an alligator clip. After adding a few drops of test solution to the test area, the electronic tester will digitally display the jewelry's gold karat value.

X-Ray Fluorescence
If the scratch and electronic testing do not confirm clear results, an X-ray fluorescence scan is used. Such machines are state of the art and quite expensive when compared to the other two much more common methods. X-ray fluorescence is non-destructive, and takes about three minutes to scan. The machine measures the intensity of the generated gold X-rays by wavelength dispersion analysis. When complete, a report is provided measuring the content of gold and other alloying metals like copper, silver or zinc. This method is considered extremely accurate and is sometimes used for Hallmarking purposes.