How to Test Gold Jewelry

The magnet test is a simple way to verify if an item is platinum, gold, silver or palladium, all precious and valuable metals. These metals are non-ferrous so they are not magnetic. If your jewelry attracts a magnet, it is not real gold. Keep in mind some jewelry clasps on real gold chains have magnetic parts, including internal springs, that may be picked up by the magnet. This doesn't mean the pain portion of the jewelry is fake, however. If you want to sell jewelry and it attracts the magnet, it is not made of a precious metal and will not be worth anything. If the jewelry passes the magnet test you can move on to an acid test.

There are two acids tests for gold. You can buy a kit yourself to test jewelry at home, but if you plan to sell gold in Miami try contacting a jewelry store or pawn shop. They'll perform the test for you to verify the gold's purity and then make you an offer. Here's how to perform the test yourself:

1. Put a paper towel on top of a rag underneath the jewelry to avoid damaging any surface below.
2. Choose the acid that corresponds to the karat you're testing for. If you want to sell gold jewelry with no marking, start with an 10k acid test and move up. If the jewelry is marked 14k, start there. If the jewelry doesn't respond to the acid test it confirms it's at least the karat tested for.
3. Add a single drop of acid to the jewelry. Fake jewelry will usually make green fizzing bubbles or the plating will come off or discolor. Gold jewelry that turns a darker color may be a lower karat than you're testing for.
4. Use clean water to wash away the acid as you go so you can easily see the reaction of the gold.
5. When you get to the highest possible karat acid test with no reaction from the jewelry, you've identified the gold purity.
6. If necessary, use a small file to make a tiny scratch in the jewelry for testing.
7. You can also test gold purity by first scraping the item on a testing stone and using acid on the stone. Scratch far enough down that you get past any plating or coating the jewelry may have.

Testing your jewelry before you contact gold buyers in Miami is a good way to verify the purity and understand how much you can expect to get. The process is fairly simple, although many people prefer to take their gold to a jewelry or gold buyer for testing. Either way, the purity effects the value of your gold, so make sure you understand this relationship before you accept an offer.