Gold Bracelets?

Question

Does real gold HAVE TO have 14k on it???
I Have 7 bracelets that are supposed to be together, and none of them have 14k on it. Ive had them for 2 years, and they havent scratched or anythng. They still look like gold. They dont cause itchiness or rashes. Are they real gold or not?

Answer 1

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 2

In United States, real gold is considered to be 10karats or more.

24karats is pure gold. This gold is VERY VERY yellow, almost fake looking.

From 18k down to 10k, the number stands for the amount of actual gold in the jewelry.

Therefore, the lower the number, the paler the gold color will be.

If your jewelry hasn't changed, you may have either 18k, or 10k, depending on the color.

Another option is gold plated. There's jewelry that's made with cheaper metal, with a final gold top layer. Gold-plated items take longer to rust as well.

Hope this helps!

ACTUALLY, I WANT TO EDIT THIS:

Chinese jewelry is 24k, pure gold. Indian jewelry is 22k, the next closest thing to pure gold. Indian bangles are typically sold in 7's or 12's....it may be likely that you have 22k Indian bangles.

You can never be sure until you verify this with a jeweler. They'll be able to tell you for sure.

Answer 3

24K gold is pure gold.

18K gold contains 18 parts gold and 6 parts of another metal(s), making it 75% gold.

14K gold contains 14 parts gold and 10 parts of another metal(s), making it 58.3% gold.

12K gold contains 12 parts gold and 12 parts of another metal(s), making it 50% gold.

10K gold contains 10 parts gold and 14 parts another metal(s), making it 41.7% gold. 10K gold is the minimum karat designation that can still be called gold in the US.

Gold won't tarnish, rust, or corrode, and though it's very strong, it is also the most malleable of all metals.

Pure gold is too soft to withstand the stresses of every-day wear, so it is alloyed with a mixture of metals like silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to give it strength and durability.

Karatage, noted by a number followed by "k" indicates purity, or how much of the metal in a piece of jewelry is gold. Karatage is expressed in 24ths, making 24k gold 100% gold.
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Answer 4

It is not a gold unless and until it has some stamp on it like 10kt, 14kt, 18kt or 22kt.
May be it is a gold platted jewelry. On gold plated jewelry you don't find any stamp as it does not have gold in it.

Answer 5

ask a professional but I dont think so myslef

Answer 6

go ask a jeweler

Answer 7

they are not real unless they are stamped 14 k