Gold Jewelry: Safe Shopping Techniques and Tests for Authenticity

According to ABC news, 20/20 launched an investigation in 2004 into the growing problem of counterfeit gold in America. Legally, "real gold" is defined by a piece of jewelry being higher than 10 karat-or about 42% real gold-as a minimum. "Anything under 10 karat(s) in the United States is a pretty yellow metal, bit it's not gold," Cecilia Gardener of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee told 20/20 investigator Jim Avila. The investigation by 20/20 discovered that roughly 50% of the "real gold" jewelry they tested was actually below the legal minimum in karat weight.

"Just looking at a piece of jewelry, you're not going to be able to tell the difference between nine karat and 10 karat," Gardener said in the 20/20 special, which presents a real problem for the average American trying to buy an authentic piece of gold jewelry. Investigators with 20/20 took pieces of gold jewelry to be tested by professional Jewelers; having an item X-rayed cost approximately $20 per item, but gave an indisputable result. According to the 20/20 report, Good Housekeeping magazine oversaw the test and reviewed the results to further validate the experiment.

Of course, the safest course of action is to be cautious when buying gold; choosing reputable retailers, especially large chains which rely heavily on word-of-mouth, can do wonders to help avoiding a gold scam. "Stores that scream out 'discount, discount, discount' -- these are the kinds of stores where we have found the problem really predominates," Gardener explained to 20/10, according to their report. Also, the presence of a hallmark indicating the number of karats is essentially meaningless; fake gold jewelry can easily have one applied, and occasionally authentic gold pieces lack a hallmark.

Many National retailers offer a quality-assurance program, and authenticate their gold jewelry inventory before offering it to customers; Wal-mart, Sears, and JC Penny all offer these programs according to 20/20's investigation. Avoid the "gold jewelry" kiosks at markets and malls whose faceless sales provide room for forgery; instead, always purchase your gold jewelry from Chains or local vendors who have a lot to lose by accusations of fake gold in their inventory-word of mouth is a powerful thing.

If you are concerned that your gold jewelry might be under the 10kt (42%) requirement, there are a few tests you can do at home. While consulting a professional is the most reliable method, and often the only all-inclusive testing, you can often confirm your gold jewelry is "fake" with these easy steps. For further information, this article at WikiHow has further elaboration on testing gold jewelry.

* Inspect for discoloration: Most often, gold-plated jewelry will start to lose plating at the areas of high friction. Signs of this extreme wear-and-tear are often an indicator of gold-plated jewelry; the absence of discoloration does not guarantee "real" gold, however.

* The magnet test: Gold is not magnetic, so if your gold jewelry sticks to-or is pulled by-a magnet, odds are your piece is less than "real" gold quality. Unfortunately, some faux-gold jewelry makers intentionally use non-magnetic metals, so the absence of magnetic attraction cannot guarantee "real" gold.

* The plate test: Obtain a non-glazed ceramic plate or tile at your local hardware store. This test is only recommended for "sturdier" gold jewelry, as delicate or flimsy pieces may be damaged. Take the gold jewelry in question and rub the gold against the unglazed ceramic surface. Fool's gold, or pyrite, will leave a black streak as opposed to a gold one (the latter indicating real gold jewelry).

Sources:
ABC News, "How Can You Tell If Your Gold Jewelry Is Real?"
WikiHow, "How to Tell if Gold Is Real"