Do you own or recently inherited some jewelry, but you’re not sure if its real gold or silver?
The best way to determine whether you have costume or real jewelry is to take your pieces to a precious metal buyer or assayer. But, there are also some steps, which we’ll take you through in this post, that you can do at home.
First, you can buy a gold and silver testing kit, and learn how to assay jewelry in just minutes. We even break down those steps here for you.
However, if you don’t want to invest in a testing kit, there are a few more tests you can try:
- Inspect for markings
- Check for wear
- Test using a strong magnet
- Check for real gemstones or diamonds
Jewelers and professionals follow all of these steps when assaying your items too. Some counterfeits do take a more practiced eye, but you can get a pretty good idea of what you’re working with by following these methods.
Let’s go through each.
1. Inspect for markings
Many metals, including plated base metals, look the same to the untrained eye, so the first step you want to take is to check the markings on each piece of jewelry. The markings can be tiny, so you may need a magnifying glass or loupe to do this.
The markings indicate the purity, or precious metal content, of the jewelry. For example, whether a necklace is 10K (41.7% gold) or 1/10 10K (plated gold).
(Plated jewelry is when a base metal is covered with a very thin layer of gold or silver.)
You can usually find these markings in the following locations:
- Clasps
- Earring backings
- Inside of rings
- Back of pendants
- Inside of bracelets
- Inside of pull-out clasps on bracelets
Markings for Plated Gold or Costume Jewelry
- 1/10 ___k
- 1/20___k
- HGE (Heavy Gold Plate)
- GF (Gold Filled)
- GB (Gold Bond)
- GP (Gold Plate)
- RGP (Rolled Gold Plate)
- Solid Gold
- Gold Shell
Markings for Gold Jewelry
- 10K, 10KT, or .417
- 14K, 14KT, or .585
- 18K, 14KT, or .750
- 21K, 21KT, or .833
- 22K, 22KT, or .917
Markings for Plated Silver or Costume Jewelry
- Silver-Plate
- English Silver
- German Silver
- Mexican Silver
- Sterling Inlaid
Markings for Silver Jewelry
- Sterling
- Fine Sterling
- 925
*There are other variations of gold and silver markings and various purities, but the ones listed above are the most common.*
2. Check for wear
If a piece is plated gold or silver jewelry, the real metal will begin to show after some wear and tear. Check your jewelry for discoloration, scratches, or any pieces that have been rubbed off.
If you see a different metal underneath, or if your skin has turned green from wearing the jewelry, it’s likely the piece isn’t real gold or silver.
3. Test using a strong magnet
Precious metals aren’t magnetic.
If you have a powerful magnet at home, you can try this method. But, please note, most magnets, like a refrigerator magnet or even a magnet that comes in your kid’s science kit, won’t be strong enough. We use a rare earth magnet which can you find here if you’d like to purchase your own.
Tap your magnet to each piece of jewelry. If the section attracts the magnet or pulls towards it, then it’s not real gold or silver. Though, keep in mind, many pieces have clasps or springs, so be careful to touch the magnet to the precious metal parts to not get a false test.
4. Check for real gemstones or diamonds
You won’t find genuine gemstones or diamonds in costume jewelry. They’re most often crystals, plastic, or simulated stones. Only on rare occasions will you find a real gem in costume jewelry, so if the metal isn’t real, the stone isn’t likely to be real either. And vice versa – if the stone isn’t real, the metal isn’t likely real.
If you aren’t sure, real gemstones and diamonds are durable, so you won’t find scratches on the surface. But they’re also most commonly flawed (unless you’re one lucky lady), so you’ll likely see scratches or imperfections within the stone if it’s real.
Assaying gemstones and diamonds are more complicated (you can learn more about it here), so you’ll want to take them to a buyer or jewelry to be assayed.
Conclusion
If you’ve tried all of these steps and you’re still not sure your jewelry is real gold or silver, you can come by our store anytime to have it evaluated for free. There’s no obligation to sell. We’d be happy to evaluate your jewelry, so you’re confident in what you own!