Don't Miss These Quick Tips To Check Gold Purity Amid Festive Buying

People in India have strong love for gold and look for occasions to buy the precious metal. Buyers make a beeline to jewellery shops on festivals like Akshaya Tritiya, Pongal, Bihu Karva Chauth, Dhanteras, and Diwali among others. It is worth noting that gold has been a perfect hedge against inflation.

Investors consider it as an integral investment. As prices of gold has been falling in India for the last 3 days, it is an ideal moment for gold lovers to make some investment in the yellow metal.

22K gold price today witnessed a decline of Rs 250 at Rs 46,650 per 10 grams in India while 24K gold price in India declined by Rs 270 at Rs 50,890 per 10 grams in the country. Check the essential quick tips below to check if you are buying real gold:

1. Stamp Test

When you buy a piece of gold, you should notice hallmark engraved on it as it will identify its content or manufacturer. You will normally find hallmark engraved inside of your jewellery piece like inside of your ring. You should always begin with Hallmark test, popularly knowns as magnifying glass test.

Hallmark will include Karat systems like 10k, 14k, 18k, 22k 24k etc. It may also include 333, 375, 417, 583, 585, 625, 750, 833, 875, 916, 958, and 990. If you have any other numbers on your gold jewellery, you are carrying fake jewellery piece.

If you see numbers like 800, 950, or 925, it is not a gold item but a silver as 925 is never engraved on gold.

2. Skin Test

This is yet another simple test to check gold purity. You need to hold the gold jewellery item between your hands for a few minutes. The sweating from your hands may either react with the metal and alter the color of your skin or just leave it as it is.

When gold comes into direct touch with your skin, there should not be any discoloration. If the gold jewellery piece is unreal, it will turn your skin either green, blue, or black at the point where it is contacting the skin.

3. Acid Test

You need to carry a few drops of vinegar to conduct acid test for identifying purity of gold. Apply a few drops of vinegar to the jewellery piece. If it is a real gold jewellery piece, you will not notice any change. If it is fake, the color will be changed to black.

4. Ceramic Scratch Test

In this test, you need to hold an unglazed ceramic place or a piece of tile. Now rub a piece of gold across the surface of ceramic plat. If the gold is real, it will leave a gold mark or trail. Fake gold jewellery piece will leave a black mark.

5. Float Test

You may conduct this test to find out purity of gold. All you have to do is just drop the gold item in a water container. Gold is dense and if the jewellery piece does not float or hover around the bottom of the container, you are in possession of real gold.

6. Magnet Test

It is one of the most popular methods of identifying the purity of gold. Gold is not magnetic and therefore it should not get attracted to magnets. If gold gets attracted to a magnet piece, the possibility of carrying a fake jewellery piece remains very high.

It is worth noting that this method is not foolproof to get the idea of purity of gold as some base metals may also be mixed with gold. It is ideal to check it in combination with another more accurate testing method.