2 Steps To Verify If Your Gold & Diamonds Jewellery Is Genuine
Investing in any kind of jewellery is a big step. You have to think long and hard before purchasing. Finding the right jeweller, the perfect design, the right metal and the right person (if you know, you know) is the key to owning the right jewellery. You have to trust your instincts and know what you’re getting is, in fact, genuine. Can’t let them fool you in the jewellery business!
So here are some steps to help you find the right jewellery and more importantly, the genuine jewellery.
STEP 1: TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE
Find a trusted and genuine source to buy jewellery from. Know your target and don’t act like a newbie, do your research! Ask around and locate the best of the best. Generally, the elderlies- your grandparents or great-grandparents guide you to the trusted jeweller; these jewellers work because of hierarchy.
STEP 2: EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS
Buying jewellery, especially diamonds, is often emotional. If you are being too sentimental about it in front of the vendor, they might just trick you. So show your emotions but don’t lose it entirely. Try to customize your jewellery so that you connect to it more closely and the investment is worth it even after decades.
STEP 3: VERIFICATION FOR DIAMONDS
There are a few steps to on your own if your diamonds are, in fact, genuine. They aren’t completely accurate or fool proof so it is always a good option to get it tested at a jeweller. But just for your own sake, here they are:
- Breathe out on your diamond: Hold your diamond close to your mouth and breathe out on it. If the fog stays on it for more than a few seconds, it is most probably a fake. If it goes out almost abruptly after breathing out, it’s an original, congratulations! Real diamonds don’t let fog collect easily because the condensation doesn’t stick to the surface.
- Use a black light: Turn off all the lights in a room. Place the diamond somewhere on a pedestal. Turn the black light on and point it towards the diamond. The diamond, if it is real, will emit a blue fluorescence or a medium to strong colour of blue. If you see the diamond emitting shades of green or yellow, then it is most probably not a real diamond. But, this test isn’t always true for all sorts of diamonds.
- A flask of water: As the method suggests, pour water in a flask and then submerge the diamond in the water. If the diamond sinks to the bottom of the flask (due to the density difference in their masses), it is a real one. If it floats or stays somewhere in the flask, it’s a fake one then.
STEP 4: VERIFICATION FOR GOLD JEWELLERY
Similarly like diamonds, gold jewellery also can be tested to see if it is real or a fake. And again, these methods can only be relied upon so much because they are not always true. Anyways, here you go:
- Find the hallmarks: Gold jewellery is always made with a hallmark that tells the content and manufacturing details of it. These are stamped on the
jewellery in very congested places, in tiny, tiny writing. The valid or verified numbers stamped on jewellery are 8k, 9k, 10k, 14k, 15k, 18k, 20k, 21k, 22k, 23k, and 24k, for Karat. And 333, 375, 417, 583 or 585, 625, 750, 833, 875, 916, 958 and 999 for purity numbers.Numbers other than these are usually false.
- The Skin Test: This test is simple. Just hold a piece of gold against your skin for a few minutes or rub it against your skin for some time. If your skin gets black, blue or green rashes of some sort, then understand that it is fake. Real gold will never show discoloration of any kind.
- Magnet attraction: This is the easiest and foolproof way to test your gold. Keep a magnet near your jewellery, if the gold gets attracted towards it then it is fake. Real gold is not a magnetic substance and so it doesn’t get affected by magnets.
While these are a few ways to check if your diamond and gold jewellery, getting it checked at an authentic jeweller is the best way!