If you are a gold merchant, you must have been skilled in spotting fake gold from a distance. However, if you are just a consumer or you intend to start trading in gold, you are likely not going to know how to spot fake gold. Sincerely, it will be to your advantage to know how to spot fake gold or else you may run at a loss in this type of business.
As a matter of fact, there are dubious business people out there who can sell gold platted metal for the price of real gold; the gold can even be marked as a 16 karats or 24 karats gold and they expect you to pay same amount you will get the original 16 karats or 24 karats as the case may be. It is not advisable to go into gold business without knowing how to spot fake gold when you come across one.
The truth is that sometimes you can hardly differentiate fake gold from real gold if they are placed side by side by just observing them with your eyes except in situation where there is discoloration of the suspected gold. Making profits as gold merchant starts when you can clearly spot fake gold from a distance with little or no stress.
Now let us quickly see some tips that is able to guide you to spot fake gold when you come across them;
5 Incredible Ways to Spot Fake Gold in Just 5 Secs
1. Making Use of Gold Testing Kits
One of the most trusted and universally accepted ways of testing for fake gold is by making use of gold testing kits. With gold testing kits, you would not need to doubt if gold is fake or real. Most people would rather make use of this method of spotting fake gold as against making use of other methods. This is the method that is commonly used by certified jeweler.
2. Subject the Gold to Bite Test (Bite a Part of the Gold)
If you have been to a market where gold is sold, you may have noticed that some customers make use of their teeth to bit a part of the gold. Truly, this is one of the fastest ways to spot fake gold in the market. When you make use of your teeth to bite fake gold, you will notice obvious marks that will point to the fact that the gold is a platted metal because the color of the metal that is plated will be revealed. But when you bite a part of real gold, you are likely going to get deeper marks and you won’t come across another color that is different from the color of the gold.
3. Making Use of Magnet
One of the qualities of gold is that it can’t be attracted by magnet, so in essence if you have a piece of gold and you want to know if it is fake or original, all you have to do is to place the suspected gold next to a magnet, if the magnet pulls the suspected gold, then it is obvious that it is a gold platted metal or a fool’s gold, but if the magnet fails to attract / pull the suspected gold, then it is obvious that it is an original gold. This method is one easy way of spotting fake gold.
4. Making Use of Jewelry Cleaning Cloth
Another easy means of spotting fake gold when you come across one is by making use of jewelry cloth to rub very hard on the suspected gold. If it is properly done, a gold platted metal will peel off, but if it is a real gold, instead of peeling off like fake gold, it will shine brighter. This kind of method is suitable if you know the needed pressure to apply when rubbing the suspected gold with jewelry cloth because if you don’t, a gold platted metal might not peel off at first and even second try.
5. Making Use of Sterling Silver Cleaner Solutions
Making use of sterling silver cleaner solutions to tell if gold is fake or not is not one of the approaches you would want to use if you need the result instantly. In other to make use of sterling silver cleaner solutions to spot fake gold, you would have to place the suspected gold in the solution for a while, in most cases the suspected gold will look very bright and shinning initially but if it is fake it will become oxidize and fade (become dull) the next day and if it is original it won’t fade; it will still remain shinny.
Some of the methods listed above might not be accepted by some people as a way of testing if the gold is fake or original; especially the bite test. No gold merchant would want anybody to use their teeth to test if the gold they put up for sale is real or fake because of the mark the bite will create on the gold. The universally accepted way of spotting fake gold and also identifying real gold is by making use of Gold testing kits.