Several Things That Should Come To Mind In Purchasing A Gold Test Kit

By Author: Jo Alelsto
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When buying gold test kits, there are a few things that should come to mind. The testing kit we are talking about does not come as expensive items, so they are a good investment to anyone who pursues business involving gold jewelry. Such an inexpensive kit can put back a significant return to you. A kit usually consists of a magnifying glass, acids, touch stone, gold-tipped needle, weighing scale, and magnet.

The most important function of a magnifying glass is to reveal details of the jewelry piece or metal object. Details and markings on gold can give clues whether it is genuine or false. Image magnification of a metal piece allows you to view physical features like plating. This allows you to determine if the royal metal piece is really made of pure gold or just another piece of cheap metal coated with gold. The most reliable magnifiers give a 10x magnification. Magnifying lenses usually come as loupes that can be folded and thus are quite portable. These lenses are quite cheap and are available anywhere, even on eBay. Anybody can afford them and even stamp or coin collectors use magnifying lenses. Some ...
... loupes may actually be compound lenses. For example, a triplet loupe has three lenses and this kind of magnifier costs much more than the single-lens magnifier but it gives higher magnification with less chromatic aberration, although you usually would find cheaper lenses quite useful for general metal inspection purposes.

A testing acid and touch stones are also important materials for a jeweler who wants to test authenticity of gold. The touch stone acts like an abrasive surface and scratches out the surface of the metal being tested. You rub the metal onto the touch stone and it leaves a visible line on the touch stone surface. Then you drop acid to determine if it is really gold and to determine the karat of the gold. There are different acid formulas for different karats of gold. For instance, there is one acid tester for an 18K gold and another for a 10K gold. Acids for gold testing come as 10K, 14K, and 18K kit with touch stone. Such kits can be purchased on eBay. Be careful when you are using acids because they can irritate your skin. You should wear protective gloves if you are doing the testing yourself.

When ensuring accuracy of gold testing, you need to know if the acid is working properly. Exposed acids can become inaccurate due to contaminants. The way to check whether the acids are still working is by using a gold tipped needle with a specific gold karat.

An accurate scale is going to be an important part of a testing kit for gold. It must be precisely calibrated to be able to measure accurately within the milligram degree. Reliable scales measure mass up to 200grams. They are generally handy and are powered by batteries. Some can switch from one type of measurement to another, say from grams to pennyweights. You can buy them online from different stores.

There are also tools that remove stones from your jewelry pieces. Such tools are wire cutter, needle nose pliers, and small steel hammer. The stones are removed from the gold piece to determine the true mass or weight of the gold.

Magnets are also used in checking the genuineness of gold. Remember gold is not a magnetic metal. If the magnet attracts the supposedly gold item then it may not be pure gold but a gold plated metal.

You can buy each item in the kit separately. But why buy each singly when you can buy all the items in one. Gold testing kit is available in different stores. There are standard and premium kits for jewelers, collectors, and antique dealers.
Jo is a content writer for 'Gold Testing Kit' (http://www.gold-testing-kits.co.uk), whereby one can find all you need for safe, reliable as well as simple to use gold testing. Their own gold testing kits are made in-house by their own experienced and knowledgeable chemists who are generally familiar with the safe handling of the required materials in their gold testing kits. In case you're shopping for a gold test kit which is safe and efficient to use then you should take a look at Gold Testing Kits.