5 Simple Ways to Check the Authenticity of Your 24KT Gold Jewellery

If you ask me, then I think the quickest way to check your gold’s authenticity is to check for an official stamp or hallmark.

Despite all this, people are tricked and end up buying fake ornaments. This article is for the people who’ve faced such things in the past and want to avoid it in the future.

Apart from biting down on a gold piece to check the purity, you need to know the basics of identifying pure gold.

As the festive season is around the corner, most of us will purchase gold ornaments, especially around Dhanteras. However, it should be known that all that glitters is not gold.

You need to check if the gold that you have purchased is pure or not. The fact is that gold is a precious metal that comes in a variety of colours and different levels of purity. The price of the jewellery depends on its level of fineness.

All About Gold

Pure gold is considered to be smooth and malleable. It has an intense warm yellow colour which cannot be altered even without changing the purity to less than 24kt.

Due to its smoothness, pure gold is rarely used to make jewellery as it can bend easily and cannot be worn as an adornment.

The gold used in jewellery is actually gold alloy which is a mixture of pure gold and other metals added to make the alloy harder.

In this post, I will be discussing simple tips to tell if your gold is real such that you won’t get tricked the next time.

According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), a government body that certifies the purity of gold delivered to you. The entire process of certifying the purity of your gold is known as hallmarking. The BIS states two principal objectives of the hallmarking scheme.

(i) Protect the public against adulteration

(ii) Obligate the manufacturers to maintain legal standards of purity

After browsing their website, I found that four components ensure the purity of gold. It’s as follows:

• BIS Hallmark

Every gold jewellery should bear the BIS logo, indicating its purity. Also, it should be verified by one of its licensed laboratories. BIS is the only government agency in India that is responsible for hallmarking gold ornaments.

Several jewellers who aren’t verified by BIS use their in-house hallmarking of jewellery. Never fall for such things!

The government will be making BIS hallmarked gold jewellery mandatory starting from January 2021 according to the news report.

• Purity measured in ‘Karat’ and Fineness

Gold purity is measured in Karat and fineness number. In Karat, 24KT is considered to be the purest form of gold. However, 24KT is deemed to be the purest form of gold and is hard to convert into any jewellery as said earlier. Thus, metals like silver and zinc are added to mould it into jewellery.

The fineness number is measured in purity in parts per thousand. The World Gold Council has stated that 24KT should be 1.0 (i.e. 24/24).

As there are slight impurities in gold, it can be refined to a fitness level of 999.9 parts of thousand.

These are two determinants that should be present on your gold jewellery to certify the fineness level and purity of the metal.

• Identify the Assaying Hallmarking Centre’s Identification Number or Mark.

Your jewellery should have the logo of the centre where your gold ornament has been assessed. Make sure it has a logo of only licensed laboratories of BIS.

Firstly, you should check if the hallmarking centre is licensed by BIS or not. Check the logo of the hallmarking centre at the back of your jewellery. Don’t hesitate to ask your online retailer about the same.

• Know the Jeweller’s Identification Number

Right after the hallmarking centre’s mark, you need to search for your jeweller’s identification mark. This justifies that you’re buying from a BIS certified jeweller or manufacturer.

• Year of Marking

It’s a code letter representing the year of hallmarking of jewellery decided by BIS. For instance: ‘A’ is used for the year 2000 and ‘J’ for the year 2008.

Simple Tips to Determine if the Gold Is Real or Fake:

• Pure gold comes with special markings stamped on it. Watch out for it.

• Lookout for any noticeable discolouration. Any slight difference in colour means that you have a piece that’s gold plated.

• Pure gold is heavy; thus, always feel the weight on the jewellery in your hands.

• Gold has a distinct acoustic sound to it.

• The smell test is ideal for small ornaments. Just hold some gold jewellery in your hands and notice if you’re getting any awful smell from your hands.

• You can even opt for a magnet test wherein you hold a magnet to your gold piece, and if your jewellery pulls towards the magnet, then it’s fake totally!

• You can even take the acid test wherein you can have your jewellery tested for purity at your jewellery store itself.

There are several pieces of equipment that help in testing the purity of the gold. Some of the standard tests are Electronic gold tester and X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF). Ask your jeweller for the same.

These are some of the easiest methods to test your gold. Several skilled craftsmen can replicate gold qualities using other elements. Thus, it’s important to conduct tests that guarantee pure gold.

Disclaimer: Rely on a professional to perform the above testing on your jewellery piece.

Your next obvious question should be: Where to buy gold jewellery?

Look for a reputed and certified online jewellery store that takes a 360-degree look at the stone before setting it in gold. It’s advisable to choose a trusted online jeweller before making any purchases online.