how can i tell the diffrents between real gold or plated or costum jewel ?

Answer 1

Real gold is more of a dull look to it than gold plated all gold plated is silver dipped in gold like painted in a way and gold plated jewelry is heavier that real gold i went to school to be a jeweler / gemologist because it is solid medal dipped in gold


If you're planning a gift of gold or gemstone jewelry for your sweetheart, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Start with the basics. Carats and karats. What's the difference? Simply put, a carat is a unit of weight for gemstones, including diamonds; a karat is a unit for measuring the purity of gold.

Gold
The higher the karat rating, the higher the proportion of gold in the piece of jewelry. For example, 24 karat (24K) gold has more gold content than 14K gold. But because 24K gold is soft, it's usually mixed with other metals to increase its hardness and durability; 14K jewelry contains 14 parts of gold, mixed in throughout with 10 parts of base metal.

There's a big difference between karat-gold and gold-plated jewelry. Gold-plated describes jewelry with a layer of at least 10K gold bonded to a base metal. Gold plating eventually wears away, depending on how often the item is worn and how thick the plating is.

Source(s):
Historically, gold was a rare metal afforded only by the wealthy. In the mid-19th century a new dimension of gold supply was uncovered in California and Australia, which coincided with the development of machinery for making chain and other articles. Thus the consumer market rapidly expanded and in many industrial countries is today seen as a fashion item.

Color
Gold does not tarnish or corrode, and while being a very strong metal, it is also the most malleable. Gold is therefore usually mixed, or alloyed, with other metals. This not only hardens it, but also influences the color. For example, white shades (and thus white gold) are achieved by alloying gold with silver, nickel or palladium. Yellow and white gold have very similar malleability and strength.

Pure Gold
The proportion of gold in jewelry is measured on the karat scale, 24 karats designating pure gold. 12 karat gold is therefore 50% gold and 50% alloy. The chart below depicts the level of "fineness" by which gold is defined:

Karat % Gold
24 100
22 91.67
18 75
14 58.3
10 41.67
9 37.5

In the United States 14 karat and 10 karat are the most popular forms of gold jewelry, while 18 karat is also popular as it is rich in color and durable.

Answer 2

The lack of a hallmark (10k, 14k, 18k etc.) is not indicative of whether your piece is gold or not. In the United States it is against the FTC's regulations for the jeweler to hallmark a piece of jewelry unless it is accompanied by a maker's mark. So, when I first began making jewelry and did not have a trademark of my own, I did not hallmark my jewelry. Now that I have a maker's mark, I hallmark my jewelry with the appropriate metal hallmark and my maker's mark.

A jeweler cannot just look at a piece and tell you for certain whether it is gold or not; the jeweler will do a test to determine it.

To be scientfically accurate a sample of the metal in question must be assayed in a testing laboratory, but the following two tests have been used for many years and often are sufficiently accurate for a craftsperson or the owner of the metal in question.

To answer "Is It Gold?":

With a small file, make a scratch in an inconspicuous spot. While wearing rubber gloves, use a wooden, glass or plastic stick to apply a drop of nitric acid to the filed spot. Observe the reaction. When done, rinse everything well in running water.

If there is no reaction, it's gold.
If there's a bright green reaction, it's base metal.
If there's green in the scratch, it's a gold layer over base metal (goldplate).
If there's a milky reaction in the scratch, it's a gold layer over silver.

To answer "What Karat Is It?"

Determining karat requires a testing kit containing nitric acid, aqua regia, samples of known karat, and a touchstone of slate or ceramic.

The gold object to be tested is rubbed on the stone ("touched") to leave a streak. A parallel line is made with one of the test pieces of known karat. Both marks are flooded with acid and the reaction are observed. When the sample colors at the same rate as the test streak, a match has been made. Nitric acid is used for low karat golds; aqua regia is needed for higher karats.

Please note: these tests are for your information only. They are not accurate enough to rely upon when representing a piece for sale. Most jewelers have testing kits to use when determining if something is gold or not and its approximate karat. It is probably easiest to take the item to a jeweler than to set up the testing kits yourself.

Answer 3

the insigna inside the band... plating has different letters.. sometimes an GP or an H (depends on the gimmick the company is using) gold fused with other metals has a K after the number that means how much gold per other alloys.

IE: 14k, 10k.. 22k.. the higher the number the more gold there is in the other metals.

Answer 4

99% of the time, if something is solid gold, it is marked with the weight (i.e 18K) either on a tag if it's a necklace or inside a ring. Nine times out of ten if you're purchasing something that is advertised as gold, there is someone there you can ask. Don't trust the word of someone selling gold jewelry out of a paper towel on the street :)

Answer 5

All real gold has a stamp on the inside of the ring. It will either say 10K, 14K, 18K or 24K. 24K is almost pure gold, while 10K is more alloy than gold. The most popular gold jewelry you will see in a store will be 14K gold.

Answer 6

well real ones are kept put away in a case locked up or very close to the clerk/worker and if you were to rub a real diamond against glass it will scratch the glass but a fake one wont and you can tell by the way it shines and the color. hope this helps and you can also go to a jeweler and ask

Answer 7

real gold will have a stamp on it somewhere 10K, 14K, etc. if its plated it will be stamped 10KP, 14KP. etc. you could always take it to a jewelry store and ask them.