Comments on: Do You Think This Chain Could Be Real Gold?

By: duke_of_

duke_of_ — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:21:23 +0000

To check for gold you need to measure the density. Gold is a rather dense element 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter. Lead is 11, mercury is 13, iron is 8 or something like that.
In order to check the density, you need to measure the size of the metal in the chain. To do this you would need a small tube partially filled with water. Mark the level of the water, then put the chain in, then measure the level of the water again. The difference in levels = the size of the metal in the chain! Then you need to weigh the chain accurately. Once you have both the size and weight, you can calculate the density which is weight/size. In metric, gold is 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter. You will need metric conversions if you didn’t use metric measurements. The density of silver is 10.5 so if you can measure the density of your chain, you could use math to figure out what % is gold, assuming the chain is an alloy of silver and gold. Gold jewelry is also often an alloy of gold and nickel which has a density of 8.9
I know this sounds difficult but scratching will tell you nothing.
A carat in terms of gold is 1/24 pure. So 18 carat gold is 18/24 = 75% pure. 14k is about 58% pure. To put it simply, if you measure the density of your chain and assume it is a gold-nickel alloy and is 58% of the way from 19.3 to 8.9 then it is 14k gold.
That calculation, if the density you measure is x:
the percent gold would be 100 * (x – 8.9) / (19.3 – 8.9)
The carat is percent / 100 / 24
For example, if you measure a density of 12.9 then
100 * (12.9 – 8.9) / (19.3 – 8.9) = 38 (38%)
The carat would be 38/100*24 = 9.2k
However, as you can see, it depends a lot on what the gold is alloyed with, since the density of nickel and silver is quite different, and the alloy may have other elements in it instead or in addition.
You really need a jeweler.

By: falk

falk — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:55:55 +0000

If you cannot tell if it is real gold from scratching it, and you don’t want to melt it down and have it analyzed by metal analyst company, the best thing to do is probably to take it to a pawn show where they will do an acid test.
It sounds daunting, but its a simple test that doesn’t harm your jewelry, it doesn’t cost a lot (sometimes they will do it for free), and they can even tell you what carat you’ve got. Pretty much the easiest thing to do, besides going to a jeweler and having them test it, although they are usually more reliable (and more expensive).
good luck finding out.

By: zakia r

zakia r — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:23:11 +0000

Well u probably have the answer by now rite

By: answerma

answerma — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:17:12 +0000

Burn it and you will know for shure.

By: mmk

mmk — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:02:09 +0000

It might of been half gold and half something fake. I had a chain like that, It stayed gold for like a few months and it turned orange..