As the saying goes: all that glitters is not gold. Your grandma has left you a piece of gold jewellery from the family collection and you want to know if it's real gold. Of course you can take it to a jeweller, but you can also test the gold yourself at home.

 

Here are a few simple tests you can use to find out whether a piece of gold jewellery is real gold.

Test 1

You can carry out a simple initial test with a high-quality magnet. Press the piece of gold against the magnet. If the magnet attracts the piece of gold strongly, it is not high-carat gold. Genuine pure gold is not magnetic.

 

Test 2

Take a piece of unglazed ceramic, for example the underside of a ceramic tile. Real gold is half as soft as ceramic and therefore leaves a golden line on the ceramic surface. A fake piece of gold is usually made from pyrite (fool's gold), which is harder than ceramic and therefore leaves a scratch.

 

Test 3

Make a small scratch in an inconspicuous place in the gold. Dip the gold with the scratch in vinegar. Real gold does not react with vinegar. Caution: This method damages the gold piece and is therefore not recommended for jewellery.

 

You can also buy various test kits for home use, which use chemicals to find out whether the gold is real or not.