How to distinguish gold from brass

Today, the fake jewelry – a fairly common phenomenon. For clandestine manufacturers of counterfeit gold has become a profitable business. Often, instead of the precious metal sold by brass, an alloy of copper and zinc. Some brass products are extremely difficult to distinguish from gold. Try to identify a counterfeit of their own, in difficult cases, consult an experienced jeweler.

You will need

• - gold product for comparison;
• - magnifier;
• is a sheet of glass;
• - lyapisny pencil or a special reagent;
• - scales;
• water;
• - professional expertise.

Instruction

1. Inspect a piece of jewelry that you intend to buy. Good decoration of well-known manufacturers you'll be the ideal treatment: a shiny surface on the obverse and reverse sides; the absence of burrs and cracks; clear drawings; brand stationary inserts. If you – badly crafted decoration, the chance to buy a fake is very high.
2. Do not trust the first impression from the inspection of an expensive item, especially if it is sold in a little-known store-day or market. It is believed that brass dimmer gold. However, a mixture of copper and zinc is perfectly amenable to polishing, can simulate the glitter of the precious metal. Some sophisticated forgery in appearance no different from the gold alloy 585.
3. Fake low quality easier to identify. You should alert a suspicious shade of the product. Red color gives copper (zinc in brass is less than 20%); pale yellow- increased proportion of zinc (20-36%). The "Golden" ring may be of the so-called "yellow brass", or tombak is a cheap grade of brass.
4. Explore gold prices in the current period. Impressive discounts on jewelry can also be a sign of a fake.
5. Find the Golden ring, which you do not doubt. With its help it will be easier to spot a fake brass decoration of the same size. Gold and brass – different density (19.3 g/cm3 and 8.2 - of 8.85 g/cm3, respectively). Precious product must be heavier than a fake. However, for this examination you need accurate scales, for example, pharmacy or jewelry.
6. Throw a sheet of glass conventionally gold and the Golden ring. If you have a good musical ear, you should hear the characteristic crystal chime – it is a noble metal. The sound of the fall of the two ornaments should be similar.
7. Take a magnifying glass and look closely at the State assay mark on the jewelry – the sign of the wizard or firms (names) and the number of samples (the amount of gold in the alloy). In Russian products, you can see the numbers 375, 500, 583, 585, 750, 958. Imported - carat samples and marking GOLD (gold) or Gold-feld, Goldmult (alloy with gold). The presence of the sample, and check the seller's permit to trade in gold must accompany an expensive purchase. In a large jewelry store all jewelry have labels with information about the manufacturer and the article number of the sample, the mass of the product and price.
8. If no sample, it indicates a fake. However, the brass, the product may be a fake brand. Compare it with approved designations. You should alert a crooked set number and the blurred figures on gold jewelry, that's rare.
9. Moisten a piece of jewelry with water and wipe pharmacy lyapisny pencil. Copper, part of the brass will darken. Golden alloy 583-585's samples will not change color, because this inert material does not react with most acids. You can get in a specialty store for professional jewelers reagents and to verify the authenticity of gold.
10. All of these people's ways to distinguish gold from brass will not give you a 100% guarantee, if the forgery was made with a jeweler's thoroughness. The final verdict can only be made public or private expertise in a specialized institution, such as the assay office or jewellery shop with a good reputation.