Checking Your Gold Jewelry Using A Gold Testing Kit

By Author: Jo Alelsto
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Even if you are not a jeweler, you should be concerned about the authenticity of the gold items you are purchasing. Buyers should know how to spot a fake gold. However, you cannot always rely on your senses to check if a ring or bracelet is really made of genuine gold. Most people cannot exactly tell a genuine and fake gold apart. This is why a gold testing kit is necessary.

If you are able to recognize the signs that your precious metallic piece isn't precious at all, you have the advantage over the others. There are many reasons why gold should be tested for purity and genuineness. For jewelers, this is a valuable skill because gold items come with a high price and they cannot deal fake gold items, as that would destroy their reputation. It's ideal that even small jewelry sellers test their gold items to find out if they are authentic.

A test kit consists of a set of acids for testing different karats of gold, a touchstone, and test needles. The acid serves as an indicator of the quality of gold. There is a specific acid for a particular karat of gold. An acid for testing 10 karat gold can only be used ...
... to test a 10 karat gold and it cannot be used to test a 14 or 18 karat gold. You can simply put a drop of acid on the gold item to be tested. Note that the acid should be used sparingly as you don't need to pour the entire bottle on the jewelry item for testing.

Generally, a testing kit can be used at home and you don't need special devices when using them. Of course, a complete set of testing devices can give you a better analysis. But you don't need all of them if you are only verifying the karat or if you are verifying whether the item is made of true gold.
Gold test kits come with a black square touchstone, against which you rub the gold item to be tested. You drop the acid on the streak mark on the stone. An authentic item will leave a streak on the stone that does not react with the acid. If the line fades when the acid is added, either it is not gold or it's made of gold with a lower karat than the karat marking it bears.

If you don't know what the karat of the gold piece is, then you can start doing your test by starting with the test acid for 10 karat gold. Since it may probably not cause a reaction, try the next stronger acid like the 14 karat gold acid tester. If the streak on the touchstone disappears with a 14 karat gold test acid, then it must probably be a 10 karat gold. If there is still no reaction, try the acid for 18 karat.
You will find that testing kits have gold needles. These needles are used to test whether the acids are working or not. A kit has a 10 karat, 14, karat, 18 karat, and 24 karat needle.

Test kits may also include a magnifier and a magnet. Jewelers typically use loupe which is a special type of magnifying lens that is commonly used by jewelers and watchmakers. It gives a higher magnification than a typical magnifying glass. Anyway, this lens magnifies tiny details on the gold piece. You can clearly see the karat mark on the gold piece if you look through the loupe. You can also see scratch marks and imperfections on the gold piece through the magnifier. A magnet can instantly tell if the allegedly gold item is really made of pure gold as magnets do not attract gold at all.
Jo is an author and publisher for 'Gold Testing Kit' (http://www.gold-testing-kits.co.uk), where you'll find all you need for reliable, safe and simple to use gold screening. Their gold testing kits are especially produced in-house by their own experienced and knowledgeable chemists that are usually used to the safe handling of the component materials of their gold testing kits. In the event that you are in need of a gold testing kit which is safe and efficient to work with then you ought to have a look at Gold Testing Kits.